Please help my hands!

[Nerissa]

My mom gets horrible cracked/bleeding thumbs every year plus very dry hands. I gave her some CJ's butter. She slathers is all over her hands/fingers and put gloves on to sleep at night. Works wonders.

[~happy2Bamommy~]

I haven't read replies but try lanolin or CJ's butt-er

You may want to be sure you are getting enough essential fats in your diet too. Sometimes when it comes to skin issues, it can be a sign of your inside needing a little more help.

[KdEMomma]

Most things that I would suggest have already been suggested except for bag balm. It can usually be picked up a wal-mart or a feed store. It would be something that you'd use at night with gloves but it works really well.

[Hillargh]

Cornhuskers lotion. My grandpa swore by it when he farmed and had deep cuts.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DS Forum

[DalesWidda]

Here's a link about eczema and gluten/dairy issues:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/16...gluten-issues/

[DCAMama]

Originally Posted by DottieHarley I do it with regular hand lotion, but I bet lanolin would be really, really nice. I soak my hands in warm water, pat dry, lather up with lotion. Like so much that it won't all rub in. Then I put on plastic gloves (get a big box of cheapies from home depot) and then regular gloves or mittens (I just use our winter stuff, hence the plastic gloves). Leave on overnight! I do the same thing with my feet, using the plastic bags that our newspapers come in, and big thick socks.

I just took DS2 to the doctor on Tuesday because his hands were awful. The bolded was one of the things the doctor stressed NOT to do for eczema.
A few things that he was told:

1. Use a good lotion such as Aquaphor or Eucerin in thin layer
   
2. Do NOT put anything that will not breath, like rubber gloves.
   
3. Do not use hot water because it is more drying the warm water.
   
4. When he's drying off, don't completely dry his hands and put lotion on them when they're still damp so the moisture will be absorbed.

[somo_chickenlady]

I have super sensitive skin, and I'm allergic to a lot of soaps.

When I wash dishes, I use gloves. You can get a pair of dish washing gloves for pretty cheap at places like Walmart and Target in the cleaning section.

As far as hand washing, I live in the country and deal with chickens, ducks, outdoor pets, etc, and I wash my hands a lot. There are some soaps that I just cannot use. For you, it just may be a problem of using the wrong soap. You may need to try a few before you find one that you can use. Softsoap is one that I CAN use without my hands becoming the way you described - sore with little cuts all over from my skin ripping b/c my hands are so dry. I absolutely CANNOT use "antibacterial" soaps, they are just waaayy too harsh. (and honestly, ANY soap is antibacterial if you use it correctly)

I also keep a giant bottle of hand sanitizer on the counter for situations where I don't necessarily have to actually wash my hands. That helps A TON also. The kind they sell at Sams, and the GREEN Target brand (NOT the clear one) are gentle and I can use them over and over again and they don't hurt my hands. I keep a small bottle of the green Target kind in my purse so I don't have to use soap while I'm out after using the restroom.

If you want or have to keep washing your hands and you cannot find a regular hand soap that works for you, you can always use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. I used to work in childcare, and had to wash my hands A LOT, and with that much washing, Cetaphil was the only thing I could find that didn't destroy my hands. It doesn't suds, and just feels like you are washing your hands with thin lotion, but it works. They sell a matching lotion also.

[EveryDayIsANewDay]

My go to: Chapped Hands remedy by C.O. Bigelow from Bath and Body Works.

I wrote a post like this last year and happens to me every winter, into summer. It was the hand washing and dry climate (winter here). This stuff is a miracle worker.

[LauraJane429]

There's already so many suggestions... so here's one more! I found out I was allergic to formaldahyde and formaldahyde releasing agents (DMDM Hydanation, etc) and surprisingly, they're in almost all soaps and lotions! Anyway, the best cream I have found is CeraVe - get the cream, not the lotion. It's awesome and doesn't make your hands feel all tacky like Eucerin cream, vaseline, lanolin, or anything like that. Apply some every time you wash your hands. Wear gloves when you wash dishes. Shoot, when my hands were really bad, I even wore gloves when I bathed my children! I hope it gets better soon for you! If it's eczema and not just dry skin, you may want to go to an allergist for some tests. That's the only thing that helped me - the dermatologist was NO help! GL!