# Does it hurt your hands to wash them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116 "2017-06-04T16:18:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/1 "2017-06-04T16:18:25Z")
Maybe the water is too hot or too spiky. You could have a cut or a rash or a scar. Does it hurt when you wring your hands together? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/2 "2017-06-04T16:33:28Z")
I voted no, but honestly, I don’t know. I’ll have to try it some time to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/3 "2017-06-04T17:02:05Z")
It feels pretty good, actually. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/4 "2017-06-04T17:07:57Z")
How can water be spiky? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/5 "2017-06-04T18:07:23Z")
Only on the right. I had a small/minor stroke and the left is sort of numb to many sensations. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/6 "2017-06-04T20:23:53Z")
When I feel stressed or nervous or ill at ease, washing my hands with hot water and soap is very therapeutic. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/7 "2017-06-05T00:44:02Z")
It feels good. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/8 "2017-06-05T02:17:39Z")
Feels fine to me. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/9 "2017-06-05T04:41:15Z")
I wash my hands slightly less often than Lady MacBeth (dozens of times a day) and they’re fine. You’d have to scrub hard and often in order to cause any discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/10 "2017-06-05T08:23:42Z")
No. Sometimes the water’s too hot, but that’s not really pain so much as normal levels of sensitivity to temperature. ---
**Author:** ![KatTP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@KatTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KatTP)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/11 "2017-06-05T14:32:42Z")
I feel extremely uncomfortable rubbing my hands together when they are dry, but I’m not bothered when washing them. However if i wash my hands with soap from a public washroom(or certain creams, shampoos, hair gels, sunscreens, etc…)i will get a very bad rash on the palm of my hands that stings and itches, causing blisters that burst, and finally drying out leaving peeling skin for a couple weeks. THAT hurts. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/12 "2017-06-05T14:49:06Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > How can water be spiky? When it’s got frozen ice crystals in it. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/13 "2017-06-05T15:16:50Z")
Not all the time, but it can happen in midwinter, when my hands get cracked and dry and the water’s too hot. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/14 "2017-06-06T01:30:42Z")
Yes, mostly in winter. It suddenly stopped one week when I was housesitting. I figured out it was my soap at home. Softsoap liquid (or generic versions of it). I can’t figure out which ingredient specifically bothers me, but it’s something in SOME soaps, but not all. I’m ok with Dial and Method. And I can use softsoap, just not exclusively. I have a lot of pain washing when my hands are really cold, like after handling raw meat. But if there’s no meat and no softsoap, I’m usually ok. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/15 "2017-06-06T01:55:00Z")
Not unless I’m on the verge of frostbite. Oh, except like **Fair Rarity** , when I worked somewhere they used Softsoap exclusively. That caused all my fingertips to peel and crack. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/16 "2017-06-06T05:37:54Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > How can water be spiky? I don’t know how to explain it, but I know exactly what the OP means. Sometimes the water does feel spikey, but usually if it hurts to wash my hands it’s because I nearly always have a cut or torn cuticle that hurts when it gets wet. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/17 "2017-08-04T03:28:01Z")
I jammed my finger (sprained it) and now it hurts to wash my hands. ---
**Author:** ![gimme10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@gimme10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gimme10)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/18 "2017-08-04T12:49:08Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > How can water be spiky? That’s what I thought. There’s no way that washing your hands would hurt them, unless you used stinging nettles or rose thorns as the washing detergent. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/19 "2017-08-04T13:57:33Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Maybe the water is too hot or too spiky. You could have a cut or a rash or a scar. Does it hurt when you wring your hands together? It might hurt when I wring my hands together if my hand is cut or the water is scalding hot. But I think that’s normal for anyone. Under normal conditions however, I feel no discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116/20 "2017-08-04T14:12:17Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I jammed my finger (sprained it) and now it hurts to wash my hands. **CIB** : Doctor, it hurts when I do this. **Doctor** : Then don’t do that. Or at least do it more gently and carefully. That’ll be $100 please. Pay the nurse on your way out. I’m not quite understanding the point of the OP. Unless you (any you) have an injury or chronic condition, nothing about daily life should ever be painful. If it is, either you’ve got one of those conditions or you’re doing it wrong. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-hurt-your-hands-to-wash-them/788116.md?page=2)