What to do if your hands itch after washing yam

When washing yam, if you are not careful, your hands will become itchy. This is because the juice of the yam contains saponin, which is a mucus that can irritate the skin and cause allergic reactions. When the yam juice comes into contact with human skin, it can cause dermatitis and may also cause redness and swelling. At this time, you can just wash it with vinegar in time, or you can choose to wash it with rice water.

1. What to do if your hands itch after washing yam

1. Apply vinegar

Wash your hands first, then apply vinegar on your hands, even in the gaps between your nails. After a while, the itching sensation will gradually disappear. This is due to the neutralization of acid and alkali.

2. Fire roasting

You can also roast your hands over the fire, turn your palms over and over to heat them, which can relieve the pain and itching. But be careful not to burn your skin.

3. Rub the rice

Rubbing your hands repeatedly in rice can also relieve itching.

4. Hot water soak

Soak your hands in hot water for 5 minutes and the itching will go away.

2. How to wash your hands without itching?

Wear gloves to wash the yams. After washing the yam skin, it is best to wear gloves or put a plastic bag on your hands before peeling it. Or you can wash the yam with boiling water and boil it directly in the water. In this way, the yam skin is basically cooked, the original allergens are destroyed, and you will not cause allergies if you come into contact with it again.

3. Why do yam hands itch?

Yam contains saponin, and after peeling, there will be a kind of mucus. The protein and diosgenin in it will irritate the skin and cause allergies.

Since yam mucus contains saponins, which may cause allergies, contact dermatitis may occur after human skin contact. The most common symptom is itchy hands. In severe cases, symptoms such as redness, swelling, and tingling may occur. The time when allergic symptoms appear often varies slightly. Some people react quickly and feel itchy when cutting their hands; others take some time to react. This is why many people feel their hands itchy when peeling and cutting yams themselves. At present, there are indeed many clinical cases of contact dermatitis caused by yam.

The good news is that saponins, which are prone to allergies, are relatively heat-sensitive. Therefore, if you are afraid of allergies, after peeling or cutting the yam, you can wash your hands, and then bake them over the fire to relieve the itching; of course, you can also prevent it from happening: before handling the yam, you might as well wear rubber gloves, or put a plastic bag on your hands, and then peel or cut it, so as to prevent contact with substances that may cause allergies, and you don’t have to worry about itchy hands.

In addition, if you do not want to eat the crispy texture of yam, but want to stew or roast yam, you can steam the yam with the skin and then peel it, so that the saponin components will not cause itching.