Hairdresser's hand

Thirty hairdressers working in small salons (maximum 10 employees) and two barbers were examined, with special attention being given to their hands. As many as 22 of the 32 subjects were found to have hand dermatitis, nail disorders or callosities on the fingers, while the remaining ten had no signs of such occupational skin disorders. Softening scaling and curving of the finger nails was found in 17, dermatitis on the knuckles and in the fingerwebs and adjacent skin areas in 12, and callosities in 5 persons. The disorders caused some discomfort but no absence from work to the persons affected. Irrelevant nickel allergy was encountered in two persons and paraphenylenediamine allergy in one. Inactive atopic disorders were noted in 8 persons but they atopy showed no correlation with the presence of hand dermatitis.