Many persons with hand eczema are uncomfortable while wearing rubber gloves even though they wear cotton gloves next to the skin. The accumulated sweat and the moist cloth appear to be the main causes of irritation.
Colloidal oatmeal has a soothing effect upon the skin,1 and patients were instructed to dust oatmeal powder on their hands before putting on the gloves. Nine housewives who could not tolerate rubber and cotton gloves were made comfortable by the addition of the oatmeal powder. The hand eczema improved more rapidly after the addition of oatmeal powder to the previous therapy.
Certain persons (jewelers, dentists, etc.) cannot wear two pairs of gloves, since they must retain the feeling and dexterity in the fingertips. Four such persons tried a variety of powders inside rubber gloves and found that colloidal oatmeal powder made them most comfortable.
SUMMARY
A coating of colloidal