Medical professionals’ hands are exposed to a grueling routine —especially when working in a hospital operating room. Before every surgery—up to ten times a day—these doctor’s and nurses spend five minutes scrubbing their hands with strong soap and abrasive sponges.
Research indicates that an ICU nurse should wash his or her hands 200 times a shift in order to follow proper infection control practices. This means washing before touching a patient and washing after touching a patient. The proper method requires a nurse to smear the alcohol rub around for 1 minute during each washing. That’s more than 3 hours of hand-washing a shift!
A more typical range of hand washing is 100-120, and most use an alcohol-based gel that quickly sanitizes and dries while moving on to the next task. Research also shows that a lot of nurses and doctors are skipping washing their hands after every new patient. Some reasons for them skipping hand washing were their hands are too full when they walked into a patient’s room, too much soap dried out their hands and the placement of sinks and gel dispensers were inconvenient (taken from a 2009 report from the Joint Commission, a group that accredits more than 19,000 hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers).
This is a serious problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 20,000 patients die each year from infections that could have been prevented if hospitals had enforced strict hand-washing policies.
The reality is that when washing procedures are followed the hands take a severe beating. They become dry, chapped and cracked. These conditions can become so severe that bleeding may occur on a daily basis. After researching the above and before creating YASOU vegan hand cream, I came to the realization that the hand cream should be something that can be used for medical professionals as well as the average patient (consumer). I began with the following criteria (benefits) and ingredients in mind.
• Certified Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Jojoba Oil soothes and moisturizes. Olive oil’s antioxidants form a protective barrier, trapping moisture on your skin. Jojoba oil’s vitamins, mineral and fatty acids promote elasticity and radiance.
• Shea Butter is vitamin-rich and one of the best anti-aging moisturizers.
• Glycerin is a good re-hydrant that helps moisturize the skin without making it oily. It attracts moisture and holds it within the skin making skin supple.
• Coconut Oil is a powerful moisturizer that helps restore dry or flaking skin. It helps to strengthen skin tissue more deeply and eliminates dead skin cells while absorbing quickly into your skin. Containing Vitamin E, coconut oil helps delay wrinkles and can soothe skin conditions such as eczema, sunburn and psoriasis.
• Certified Organic Aloe Vera moisturizes and hydrates the skin.
• Evening Primrose essential oil can help with age-related structural and functional changes in skin tissues such as redness, firmness, roughness, and fatigue resistance. It is also effective in relieving many symptoms of eczema.
• Lemon Extract exfoliates, brightens and diminishes acne for smoother skin. It naturally bleaches the skin and quickens the rate in which dark spots, scars, sunspots, acne scars and age spots fade.
• Grape Seed Extract boosts collagen development in your body. Collagen helps your skin stay firm, supple and moisturized. It aids in the renewal of skin cells. Grape Seed Extract contains compounds called procyanidins, which bond with collagen resulting in healthier and more elastic skin.
• Tocopherol also known as vitamin E, is an antioxidant that protects and repairs your skin. It also promotes cell regeneration, creating an anti-aging effect making your skin look and feel younger.
• Vitamin A/ Retinyl Palmitate has great anti-aging, superb anti-oxidants and moisturizing capabilities. It accelerates cell renewal and stimulates the fibroblast and collagen in the skin, helping to reduce wrinkles and fine lines. It helps promote softer, smoother skin.
• Mastic essential oil contains antioxidants along with antibacterial and antifungal properties. It possesses therapeutic benefits for the skin due to its soothing, softening and healing properties. Mastic oil is used in many personal hygiene products for its antiseptic assets.
I wanted to include the Mastic essential oil in the product with doctors and nurses in mind. Why? Because it’s a bacteria fighter! It has antibacterial and antifungal properties so instead of sanitizing the hands constantly they could be moisturizing them and keeping them bacteria free. Can it replace a hand sanitizer? No it cannot, but it can reduce the usage of hand sanitizer. This can be extremely beneficial to doctors, nurses and patients (general public). In addition, we wanted to leave the hands feeling moisturized, silky, soothed and grease–free. YASOU vegan hand cream gives hands the TLC they need and deserve!
Visit us at www.yasouskincare.com. Learn more about us and our hand cream.