Cracked Hands and Fingertips

[rmaynard 15,530]

All my life, when winter comes, I have suffered with cracked fingers, and hands. I have tried every remedy in the book. Udder Balm, Zins Crack Cream, Burts Bees, etc. I have even tried prescription medications from my doctor.

 

Nothing works.

 

The problem is particularly bad when I am working with anything that has gypsum in it, like drywall, concrete, plaster, etc. This makes it very problematic when you are in home improvement. If you suffer with this problem, you know how painful it is, and how difficult it is to use your fingers for even simple tasks like buttoning a shirt.

 

So, if you have any remedies that work, post 'em up here. There are many of us that would be eternally grateful.

 

[sorekiwi 761]

I have the same problem in winter, and you are right about gypsum being particularly bad.

 

Moisturising cream helps a bit, but I don't put it on often enough.  One guy I know says he applies a lot of it before going to bed, and puts socks over his hands to avoid it getting all over his sheets!

 

The thing I do that seems to help a lot is sanding off the thick hard skin on my finger tips on a big (bench mounted) belt sander we have at work.  Thinning out the skin around the cracks, and removing the little dags that seem to catch on things.  You have to get the grit just right, too fine and you burn your fingers, too coarse you rip too much skin off.  I try to find a coarse belt that has been just about used up. 

 

Try this at your own risk!

[oaktown1987 82]

vasoline

[C-101plowerpower 1,605]

i know what you're talking about, i've worked a few summers mixing concrete getting a lot of slaked lime(is that the correct word?) on my hands, after half a day my hands were so sore i couldn't even wash my hands anymore. i've used handcreme and that worked for me.

 

Koen

[JimD 3,345]

I get the same thing from the water based coolant in the CNC machines I work with. When it gets bad I use neosporin on the worst areas and to remove the hard dry skin that sorekiwi talked about it use a pedegg. It's made to remove dry skin from your feet but my hands don't know that. They are sold at walmart and drug stores everywhere. For you guys in the home improvement or drywall game it's like a small surform tool, but might offer a bit more control of how much you remove than the belt sander.

Edited January 13, 2014 by JimD

[KC9KAS 4,741]

I use a Gold Bond brand hand cream..Seems to work better than most others.

[Coadster32 793]

I lotion up my hands daily, and try to use not screaming hot water in the shower. I too deal with CNC machine coolant. Seems to work well for me.

[Martin 2,132]

belt sander?

 

what?

 

do you do your nails on that thing too?

 

why don't you kiwi's just reach out the window of your cars and drag your fingers on the blacktop while driving on the interstate? 

 

if i want to grind on my fingers like that, i just grab some small parts that need wire wheeling and go at it.......

 

seriously though, i use aveeno hand cream that i steal from my wife. works great, i try to remember and put it on before going to bed, but usually forget. I'm reminded about it the next day at work when they start to itch and crack, or theres something that involves dexterity and i can't muster up any.......

Edited January 13, 2014 by Martin

[dclarke 4,032]

belt sander?

 

what?

 

do you do your nails on that thing too?

 

why don't you kiwi's just reach out the window of your cars and drag your fingers on the blacktop while driving on the interstate? 

 

if i want to grind on my fingers like that, i just grab some small parts that need wire wheeling and go at it.......

 

 

   

[neil 2,409]

 I use a good barrier cream before i do any work with cement of plastering is prevents the dryness from absorbing into the skin & also pretects the skin from absorbing other chemicals . 

I also use surgical gloves when doing certain types of work and just before i put them on i put hand cream on so that it also makes it easier to remove the gloves .

Because the gloves are soo thin it allows me to feel whatever i am working on correctly . I also saves me from inground dirty oils or paint .

 

I remember working in the garden one particular autumn , collecting the walnuts from the ground & peeling the pith from the shell & my hand ended up with a lovely sun tanned look from the natural dyes in the walnut pith .

It took about two weeks before the tanned look on my hands to disapear

[AMC RULES 37,132]

belt sander?

 

what?

 

do you do your nails on that thing too?

 

 

 

[neil 2,409]

 OMG Belt sander?????????????

 

you dont use a wood planer to shave beard by any chance

[Trouty56 567]

I work in a corrugated board factory.....I lot of guys use gloves but back in the day the older guys used glycerine on their hands.....rubbed it in all day.  I think it was used more for its tackiness but also kept the hands from drying out....

I never had too much trouble except when I get into solvents and oil....I quit using that anti-bacterial stuff and use soaps my daughter makes and sells on her online store.....

[rmaynard 15,530]

...lot of guys use gloves but back in the day the older guys used glycerine on their hands...

I can remember back in the 1960's, my mother would buy Corn Husker's Lotion for herself and my father. The main ingredient in that was Glycerin. I have tried that as well. I don't think it's made the same as it used to be. It too does nothing for my fingers.

I have found that if I grease them up with Neosporin as JimD said, then cover them with bandaids, they will heal quicker. However, it is hard to work with bandaids on most of your fingertips and thumbs.

I can't wait until spring. A change in season is the only thing that really works for me.

[meadowfield 2,571]

I don't suffer so much from cracking, but from extreme wear and burns....

I work in an office at a computer all week, and I get so many remarks as to my scarred, mangled and dirty fingers!

I just can't get on with creams and gloves so seem to have a tendency to let them get so tender I have to go to work for a rest

Here's my finger this morning, with most of the fingerprint melted away because I keep forgetting that small bits of metal get hot very quickly when welding them....

[Anglo Traction 761]

I feel for people who have this problem. I now suffer from dry skin/hands on a seasonal basis, but have also now developed an Auto Immune form of dermatitis. Manifested itself in a local area on my right hand palm. I get tiny blisters and then it partially heals, lose skin and becomes very sensitive and sore before I can grow another layer. Can't bear pressure of a workshop tool or handle on it. 

I use various creams like E45 regularly. I was prescribed Doc - Neutrogena Cream for it's high glycerine content and a Betamethasone Cream (Steroid  based) for night application, but that cream only helps to endure the problem, it's not a cure . 

 

In the Workshop, I now use PVC gloves inside High grip or Riggers gloves, depending on certain jobs. I also have to use a fingerless Cycling glove that has a padded palm for everyday use when it's bad.

At night , I use a PVC glove, and because it is only my right palm, I cut the glove fingers off and a section out of the back to allow the skin to breathe, but not get the cream on the bedclothes.

 

I can only endorse using any form of hand protection whenever they can be worn or applied.

That goes for Eyes, Ears or any other bit.

When I think back to my first working years where I subjected my hands to all kinds of chemicals and solvents, the distinct lack of protective equipment supplied or available at that time, compared to today is something to take note of and use them.

 

I had shiny fingers and no prints from using stuff like Bleaches, Hydrogen Peroxide, Zylene and Carbon Tetrachloride !.

I still use the latter, but with Goggles, Mask and Gloves outside.

 

Use the Hill Street Blues Sergeant's recommendation of   'Hey , Lets be careful out there!'   .    

[Stormin 9,981]

 

By eck! Wish my fingers were a clean as yours, Mark. And I'm retired.

[rmaynard 15,530]

That finger looks fine to me. The only time my fingers look that good is after I have been on vacation at the beach for a week or more.

[neil 2,409]

Being a Bricklayer for over 35 years , one of the occupational hazards was to get little cuts what bricklayers call ( Birdseyes ) because the little cuts looked like Birdeyes.

These were  caused by constant rubbing all day long from the rough edges of bricks & the dust used to wear the skin to a raw state . The pads of the fingers were especially affected , each day i would go home almost crying with the pain .  If you imagine having tiny papercuts on every finger & in the creases of the fingers , then thats what it used to feel like .

It was extra specially painful when wet bricks were being laid & the constant attack from Lime that was in the mortar

[rmaynard 15,530]

...each day i would go home almost crying with the pain. If you imagine having tiny paper cuts on every finger & in the creases of the fingers...

 

Neil, I feel your pain...literally.

[meadowfield 2,571]

That finger looks fine to me. The only time my fingers look that good is after I have been on vacation at the beach for a week or more.

Like I said, I work in an office.... :)

[rick 233]

My fingertips will develop painful cracks when cold weather comes around. I fail to use the Gold Bond hand cream like I should and the thick tough skin dries out and splits. Of course, then I remember to moisturize! In the meantime, super glue seals the cracks long enough for the skin to heal and alleviates the pain. Never had a crack get infected when sealed with super glue, the pain relief is instantaneous. The gel doesn't flow into the crack as well as the liquid type of super glue. As far as the glue causing neurological damage, twenty years of beer, bourbon and good moonshine plus Camel cigarettes didn't leave much to damage.

[smoreau 658]

The only thing I have found that works is a product called "working hands"

 

I have used 120 grit sand paper many times to thin out the thick and cracked skin for years. Then put on working hands.  Only thing that I have found that works for me.

[rmaynard 15,530]

The only thing I have found that works is a product called "working hands"

I have a tin of O'Keeffe's Working Hands that my wife got for me last winter. It is better than some, but still doesn't do what it is purported to do in the ads.

[shorts 182]

 I use Aquaphor, it is a vasaline  type product, different additive package, with gloves at night to protect everything from grease stains.  I still like Bag Balm when working outside in the cold especially when fuel and or fuel systems are involved. It takes the sting and tingly feeling caused by the evaporating fuel away, also helps keep the cold wind off my hands when gloves are not an option.