Reprinted from the ACJ - January, 2001
"Hey Jimmy, it's time for lunch, come wash up." "It's about time I'm starving. Hey Bob, that's a good looking cut of meat." "Like that Jimmy? Grade A prime. Little bit of aging around the edges, deep red, juicy center. Nice marbling, not too tough." "Yeah Bob, my hands get pretty beat up this time of year too, let's eat!"
Take a look at your own hands. Ground chuck, right? Winter time is hard on your skin. Cold, dry air can wreak havoc on our most important hand tool, our hands.
The miracle plastic wrap we call skin is actually made up of three layers; epidermis, dermis, and a subcutaneous fat layer. The epidermis is the outer layer and is only a couple of cells thick. It serves as the sacrificial lamb to the outside world. Supplied with oil from glands below, it acts as a water/solvent/dry air barrier, protecting the `steak' below. It also provides a cover to keep fluids in, while keeping germs and dirt out. Below those cells lies the workhorse of the skin, the dermis. The dermis is a millimeter or two thick and houses the `physical plant' of sweat glands, oil glands, blood vessels, hair follicles, and nerves. The pain, redness, and swelling associated with chapped, cracked, knuckles and fingertips is due to us `butchering' the dermal layer. This causes blood vessels to swell and nerves to scream out at the outside worlds intrusion. Below the dermis is a layer of fat molecules that cushion the skin and help keep it pliable. But fat is smart and usually migrates to our stomachs, safely out of harms way. Our hands are left to battle on with less padding.
OK Dave, thanks for the physiology lesson. But, why do my hands ache in winter and not in summer? The simple answer is humidity, or actually, a lack of it. The dry air of winter can pull moisture out of our skin faster than squeezing a sponge. We perspire less in the winter and cheat our skin of the constant water bath. Also the oil glands in our skin constrict due to the cold and provide less oil to the skin, like a Mideast cartel restricting supply. Now, soak your already vulnerable hands in moisture robbing solvents and fluxes. Then wash them in oil greedy soap and we reduce the elasticity of our skin to something akin to shoe leather. A little bump, nick or scrape stretches the skin to it's yield point. Cracks and splits and nicks, Oh my!
Short of using real plastic wrap how do we keep our hands from looking like ground beef? Prevention and treatment. Prevention is the first line of defense. Be sure to use impermeable gloves whenever possible. They act as high tech plastic wrap. Try to use the mildest chemicals that will do the job, and keep your hands out of them. Don't wash up in gasoline. Use a mild soap instead. Always dry your hands thoroughly by patting them instead of wiping them roughly down the front of your overalls. As for the treatment portion of the show, we must replace the moisture and oil stolen by the harsh elements. The easiest way to accomplish this is with hand/skin cream. The number of cream types available is enormous and the claims made on their behalf even greater. It's hard to choose which one is best. Suffice to say, they all work about the same. As with politicians, the proof is in what they do for you. Not the fanciful rhetoric spouted by the package. Generally speaking all creams contain light mineral oils emulsified with water (just like the light brown foam on the underside of an oil filler cap). Then they add some wax to make it pasty. This is the most important part of the lotion, the oil/water emulsion. Some soak in well but don't last. Some stay on your skin forever but you can't hold a wrench because of greasy fingers. Beyond that, science turns to magic with the inclusion of additives. Vitamin D, vitamin E, aloe, lanolin, alpha-hydroxy something or other. Everyone has their own formula to transform elephant skin into a baby's bottom. Do they make any difference? Yes/No/
Maybe. I am a fan of aloe. I say this preference is because I heard somewhere that it aids in healing. Really, I think my choice is based on the fact that I have an aloe plant at home, so I know it's real. I have never seen a methyl paraben tree. What will work best for you? Only you can answer. Start with the cheap stuff and try new creams until you find something that works. Then write the process off as R&D. You could jump right to the high end `Oil of Old Age' type creams. But most shop guys aren't looking for their hands to look `years younger', they just want them to stop bleeding. The most important thing is that you use the cream often. Easier said than done. A good method is to rub in a generous dose first thing in the morning and after each hand washing. That way your skin soaks up the `good' grease instead of the used oil and spent flux it spends the rest of the day wallowing in.
With the right cream and the diligence to use it often, we can get through the dry months without `hands tartar'. Simply put, we just want the best cut of meat at the grocery store to be on the butcher's side of the glass counter.
The above article was written by David M. Brown, Chief Engineer of Johnson Manufacturing Company, Inc. and is published by JOHNSON with the expressed approval of the National Automotive Radiator Service Association and the Automotive Cooling Journal. Other reproduction or distribution of this information is forbidden without the written consent of JOHNSON and NARSA/ACJ. All rights reserved.
JOHNSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY
114 Lost Grove Road / PO Box 96 / Princeton, Iowa 52768-0096
Phone 563-289-5123 or Fax 563-289-3825