His Tiktok video showing off his hand has reached 1.5 million views

A video post of a swelling hand that looks burned and dry yet tender and shiny has earned, as of this writing, 1.5 million views on TikTok.

Filipino poster Marlon Dwayne says he can no longer use his hand to unlock his cellular phone because his fingerprints can no longer be detected. Marlon says this may be because he’s been liberally using alcohol and bleach to clean them.

Manila Bulletin Lifestyle columnist and dermatologist Dr. Kaycee Reyes-Bacani identified his symptoms as a condition of contact dermatitis, which has two types, allergic and irritant. The former occurs when skin allergy develops to specific reaction-causing substances like metal such as nickel, preservatives in creams and cosmetics, chemicals in perfume and hair dye and many more. The latter happens only when the skin is regularly in contact with irritating substances, such as solvent, detergents, fertilizers, pesticides and our favorite weapon against coronavirus—rubbing alcohol and bleach.

Marlon’s case is irritant dermatitis. He says, however, that he didn’t have common symptoms like severe itching and red rash. 

The swelling has also caused his fingerprint papillary lines to be undetectable, just like pores on a perfectly filtered profile photo. 

If he wants to be able to unlock his cellphone using his fingerprints again, Dr. Reyes recommends that he avoid the factors that trigger the condition. If he must clean the house using bleach, he should wear quality gloves. And if he wants toprotect himself from Sars-CoV 2, handwashing with mild fragrance-free soap and warm water for 20 minutes is the best first thing to do, apart from being mindful that he should avoidtouching his face with unclean hands.

This advice is meant for everyone, because Marlon’s case is a proof that as much as these disinfectant products keep us clean enough to prevent transmission of the virus, excessive use can really be harmful.

So when will he get his fingerprints back? This skin disease may take several months before it settles. If there is a severeinflammation of the skin, consult your dermatologist. You may need steroid creams and moisturizers. In worst cases, oral medicine will be prescribed.

If you really rely on sanitizers most of the time, you can improve skin barriers by applying non-perfumed emollient creams several times a day. It is important to find one you can tolerate well.

Many concerned netizens also wished Marlon well, telling him not to mix alcohol and bleach because the combination could result in chloroform, a powerful chemical that when inhaled can make someone pass out.

In these uncertain times, some would argue (like his Tiktok followers), that it’s better to have swelling hands than to suffer from Covid-19. But remember you also don’t want to have to make an emergency call, only to realize you can’t easily useyour fingerprints to unlock your cellphone.

Click this link to watch the video: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSf8NDT2