Cracking bleeding hand skin

[shootingstar]

Ever since I moved out to the prairies where the air is drier, my hands seem to acquire a small crack somewhere at least once a month - especially in the winter. Enough that my skin breaks and bleed.

I'm getting tired of wearing bandaids.

Yes, I use hand cream --twice daily at least. Does anyone have the same problem? What do you do? (Now don't tell me I have to wear mittens with hand lotioned immersed hands when going to bed.)

[deeaimond]

(Now don't tell me I have to wear mittens with hand lotioned immersed hands when going to bed.)

haha shootingstar, maybe you should. on alternate days at least? use oil/ shea butter instead of just handcream? cracks must hurt!

[OakLeaf]

Is it possible you have eczema/dyshidrosis? If it's an autoimmune issue, then reducing your overall allergic load should help, as will sparing use of steroid creams. Sun exposure usually helps too, if it's not too cold where you are.

Also make sure you're hydrating enough from the inside. It's always hard for me to drink enough water when I'm cold.

And +1 on checking the ingredients of your hand cream. If you're sensitive to an ingredient it will only make things worse; IME petroleum based creams damage the skin and get me "addicted" to them. Pure shea butter before bed works well for me, too - it's too heavy to use throughout the day if you need to be touching phone screens and/or computer keyboards, but if there are days when you're onsite using fiber-based information storage systems ;) you could use shea butter any time.

[Blueberry]

+1 on 100% shea butter. We're packing/doing house chores for getting our house on the market and my hands were a mess last night - much better after a liberal application of shea before bed. If I actually get cracks, I use something like neosporin on them to help them heal.

I also find that I need to use a light lotion throughout the day in the winter (after washing).

[malkin]

For me the magical and beloved hand sanitizer and 'germ killing soap' is the culprit. Can't use it at all, which is a pain, because it means toting my own little soap dispenser at work.

I also avoid normal house cleaning chemicals by wearing cleaning gloves with cotton gloves inside.

It makes me feel like a complete priss, but at least it keeps my skin from falling apart.

[shootingstar]

Marni, I try to avoid using hand sanitizers. I don't work in a hospital so going around using hand sanitizers often doesn't make sense to me. I get cold/flu once a year or not even that.

Just washing my hands under the tap is great with a touch of soap.

Very interesting Murienne. Thank you for this thorough list!

[Sky King]

as I type this without using my right thumb because the crack it deep and it hurts :) I use liquid bandage and have a friend who uses super glue (but I think that stings too much) Muireen thanks for the tips, I will on "non soap" and other lotions

[goride]

I normally get painful/bleeding cracks on the tips of my fingers and thumbs from October through April (roughly the winter heating season). I also react badly to hand sanitizers as others here have mentioned. This season, I have been massaging a small amount of vitamin E oil into the tips of my fingers at night. During the day, I use CeraVe moisturizing lotion. It is light and soaks in so doesn't leave a greasy or oily residue. I have developed very few skin cracks this season, and they remained small, not too painful, and healed quickly. Murienn - outstanding list. Looks like you speak with the voice of much experience.

[zoom-zoom]

If you're not using a humidifier, start. Without a humidifier I will constantly have cracked and bleeding knuckles. Our house is old and poorly insulated, so the heat runs a lot and dries the air terribly. I also lotion up my hands before bed, every night.

[NbyNW]

+1 on a humidifier.

And if my skin were cracking, like what you describe, I would use a bit of antibiotic ointment on the worst areas while they heal.

[OakLeaf]

Depends on the cause, though - humidity triggers my dyshidrosis, and especially sudden increases in humidity like the beginning of summer. It could also spur growth of airborne molds and dust mites, which would stress the immune system and could make it worse. If you get a humidifier, either get one with a humidistat or just install a hygrometer and monitor the humidifier to keep indoor humidity between 50% and 60%. That's normally high enough to hydrate skin and mucous membranes but low enough that molds and dust mites won't go nuts.

[Owlie]

I have eczema, but it's stress-related rather than allergy related.

Liberal application of hand cream (foot cream is even better) after I wash my hands. And in between. I've put mini bottles of lotion in my purse, next to the bathroom and kitchen sinks, backpack, etc for any time they feel a bit dry, especially after using the evil institutional soap. What are your gloves made out of? Fleece and even Thinsulate linings suck moisture right out of my skin.

Hydration is also important. I've got electric baseboard heating (hate it!) and it dries the place out. It's like living in poorly-insulated toaster.

[Biciclista]

You need to move to the tropics!
You are a dry person (check out ayurvedic stuff) and need way way way more moisture in your diet. Lots of rice porridge, lots of drinks...

[Selkie]

Cetaphil Restoraderm Body Lotion. That stuff cleared up some eczema that I had on my neck in the summer. Since I swim 6 days a week, my skin is drier than usual. It really is wonderful---absorbs quickly and never ever feels greasy.

[soprano]

+1 on the shea butter.

It might be helpful to learn a bit about surfactants so you can pick a gentler hand soap. A lot of what is being called "soap" on this thread are really detergent cleansers, such as sodium laurel/eth sulfate. This stuff will strip the heck out of your skin if you use too much (very common with liquid hand soaps) or it's not mixed in with a good conditioner/moisturizer. SLS and a few of its related cousins are the surfactants found in most shampoos, hand and bar soaps, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, etc. It's what we all started using when we gave up lye soap. Incidentally, we didn't make that mass change because detergent cleansers are any easier on our skin, because they aren't. What detergents do better is rinse away in hard water conditions, which are very common in the US; they're easier on our clothing, plumbing and appliances.

"Real" soap, which is saponified with sodium or potassium hydroxide, had an underserved reputation for being caustic. A hundred+ years ago, this was true for most homemade soap because it was difficult to control the strength of their homemade lye. Today almost all handmade, high-end soap is made with commercially produced powdered sodium hydroxide (lye) or potassium hydroxide, which allows us to tightly control the amount of fat/conditioners in the finished soap. You really might consider trying a superfatted handmade soap, which you can pick up at just about any natural food store. It's more expensive, but if you just use it on your hands and not in the shower it'll last forever.

[OakLeaf]

It's more expensive, but if you just use it on your hands and not in the shower it'll last forever.

It'll last forever if you use it in the shower, too, as long as you get over the obsession with suds. ;) Real soap doesn't foam very much, but you still don't need to use very much of it. I think a gallon of Dr. Bronner's lasts us five years, and that's shower and sinkside both.

[Lauralyn]

I use bag balm on my hands and gloves at night. You can get this at most equestrian tack shops. I have also used the Shea butter and that is good.

[Owlie]

It'll last forever if you use it in the shower, too, as long as you get over the obsession with suds. ;) Real soap doesn't foam very much, but you still don't need to use very much of it. I think a gallon of Dr. Bronner's lasts us five years, and that's shower and sinkside both.

I've also heard of people using it for hand-washing hand-knit wool things. It's a pity I can't find it here.
Edit: How well does it work in hard water? We've got super-hard water here.

[OakLeaf]

I've also heard of people using it for hand-washing hand-knit wool things. It's a pity I can't find it here.
Edit: How well does it work in hard water? We've got super-hard water here.

Your water can't possibly be any harder than mine. I have to filter out the precipitates that form when I boil water, before I can even brew tea. :p Again - you just have to get over the obsession some people have with suds.

I don't use it on my hair, it's a little harsh for that IMO. Just body and hands.

You can use it to wash Gore-Tex or other moisture barrier fabrics, too. NikWax Tech Wash is expensive, hard to find and smells awful. The only thing those fabrics really need is not to be washed in detergent. Any real soap will do.

[deeaimond]

Wow ladies, That is loads of great advice. I have super sensitive skin too and sensitive to most 'soaps' and 'shampoos'> Dr Bronner's has helped me a lot. when I go to drier climates (here is 60% to 90% most of the time, 100% when it rains) i get microcracks on my skin, even my regular creams and lotions stung like crazy.

One of the all over lotions I liked was Bonds Gold.. something or the other..

Shootingstar, u gonna try the gloves?

[VeloVT]

Best hand cream ever... L'Occitane Shea Hand Cream. Very moisturizing, and not greasy. My boyfriend gets dry skin on his thumbs so badly in the winter that, without this hand cream, he ends up putting A&D ointment on them and covering them with band aids for weeks at a time - this hand cream, but not others, prevents that. He can also use it during the day without feeling that it make his hands too greasy to use the computer.

It also smells lovely - he is comfortable wearing it because the scent is not excessively feminine, but I love using it too (and smelling it on him). I think it smells like expensive French baby powder, in the best possible way.

[Melalvai]

My mom & daughter & I all have that same problem. We swear by Eucerin. (Ok not really. We swear around lots of things. Rarely do we swear nearby the hand cream.)

Not the lotion in a tube, the cream in the jar.

[Maye]

My daughter suffers from Eczema and dry skin year round but it gets worse during winter. Every night after I bathed her, I lather her body with Vanicream (local Walgreens) and then I put her onesies. Its like wearing a huge glove all over her body and it works wonders on her skin!! I swear by this cream since I really hate to use steroid prescribed creams on her body. I use it as well for my super dry and cracked hands in addition to the L'Occitane Ultra rich body cream which is rich in Shea butter. The cracked hands is for using dish detergents, heat and sanitizers, sigh...

[Scrappy]

Pure extra-virgin coconut oil will do wonders for dry skin. It's a solid at room temp, melts in your hand and absorbs very quickly. Almost all grocery stores carry it these days - it's yummy in baked goods instead of butter.

To help heal the cracks add a drop of Frankincense or Geranium Essential oil to whatever you use 2-3 times per day. PM me if you'd like info on reputable brands of essential oils that do actually work - not just smell nice.

Scrappy

[TsPoet]

I had that problem almost my whole life until I stopped using soap, and reduced the allergen load (as Oak said).
:)

I just wanted to +1 this - except I don't use anything. My hair hasn't seen anything other than water in 2 years. No soap, not even bathroom soap to wash my hands (studies have shown it doesn't do anything to 'clean' your hands anyway, friction and a good amount of water and you are good to go).
I very very rarely use the purist aloe vera I can find. That's it.
Soap is designed to dry, and removes natural body oils - so it isn't necessarily even an allergen load.
BTW - my hair looks fine. It feels a little different, but I don't look like a grease ball.