cracked finger tips

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It's that time of year, dry skin and cracked finger tips. I don't get it as bad as I used to when my hands were in water a lot but I still get cracks. I should put lotion on regularly, but I just can't seem to take the time that it takes to rub it in because you can't do anything else with that stuff all over your hands. BUT, I have figured out how to put lotion on and not lose the time. I took a tube down to my shop, and about once a week I put the lotion on good and heavy and then put latex gloves on. An hour or two or three later when I take the gloves off, the lotion is all absorbed one my skin is back to normal. No more cracks.
 
I had that problem, and did about the same thing, only thing is I wore the lotioned gloves to bed at nite.
 
I sand my feet with a roloc disc and air sander,works great,doesnt tickle or hurt one bit,then apply bag balm and socks
 
I just started using O'Keeffe's Working hands hand cream this winter. Seems to work quite well. Is about $5.00-6.00 but a lot goes along way. Not fun having cracks on the end of your fingers and trying to do things.
 
Screw the lotions. Bag balm is the answer. If used sparingly it is not greasy. Put it on in the morning and at each meal. If it is real bad wrap the finger after applying it.
 
First thing with me is I run a little humidifier all the time in the living room. Helps a lot with dry nose, nose bleeds, scratchy skin, and that cracking. I use vaseline deep moisture. Picked up a pump bottle of Nivea cocoa butter lotion. Both work well IF you haven't messed your fingers up. NOW if you have deep cracks first thing I do is use some fine sand paper and gently grind down that thick hard skin. It is that hard skin with little flexability and then it tears. Same as an emery board. I also have the bigger model nail clippers for toe nails. Put on a pair of magnifier goggles and CAREFULLY trim the thick calus away around the crack. Someone last year used crazy glue to close the crack. What ever floats your boat. Jeffcat
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Had my checkup yesterday, doctor, who I respect greatly, told me use super-glue on big cracks on feet. Seriously.
 
(quoted from post at 22:40:52 02/27/15) Screw the lotions. Bag balm is the answer. If used sparingly it is not greasy. Put it on in the morning and at each meal. If it is real bad wrap the finger after applying it.

Since when is Bag Balm not a lotion? Same deal. You need a serious amount to do the job, then your hands are greasy. I used some last week when away from home.
 

I have a table with every lotion available I have to switch around.. I have had to deal with this issue all my working life.. The crack forms around dead hard skin I use a single edge razor blade and trim the dead skin off then the crack will heal.. For my feet I use a hand held grader made for this and use it in the shower while my feet are wet..
 
(quoted from post at 22:40:52 02/27/15) Screw the lotions. Bag balm is the answer. If used sparingly it is not greasy. Put it on in the morning and at each meal. If it is real bad wrap the finger after applying it.

I have splits on my fingers and thumbs BAD!Bag balm is about the only thing that works half well. I'd hate to think what my fingers would look and feel like without bag balm.
Another thing that helps me is ,after washing my hands in hot water I rinse in cold water and let it run.
 
I use Udder cream lotion. Have to get the stuff in
a jar. It's thicker and coats better. The greasy
feeling is gone in a few minutes. I tried the
Okeifs stuff but it doesn't absorb well leaving a
greasy feel and for me it doesn't work near as well.
 
This works good if my hands get really dry and cracked.
Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, Fragrance-Free
 
I crack my thumbs at the corners of the nails. Figured out how I
do it: Either by pushing hard on things with the end of my
thumb, pushing on a tire to check pressure without a gauge for
one example, and or using things like brake parts cleaner or
especially Chem tool carb cleaner which takes all the oil out of
your skin.

I use Ourdoor Hands brand Intense Skin Therapy Cream that the
farm stores usually carry. $10 tube but it only takes a dab and
works great.

Other thing that works great is udder cream. I used the stuff
with the holstein spots on the container. That works great too
but is not as convenient to use as the other.

When I work with my grease gun or do the above I just slip on a
pair of blue rubber gloves I get at Home Depot and that solves
the drying out part and grease all over you for the grease gun
usage, just pull them off when finished and walla....clean hands.

Mark
 
Same thing for me, inside corners of the thumbs. Seems the dead skin is thicker in that spot, dries hard, then cracks. If you trim it off, it seems to be worse than leaving it. I have not taken it any further than the aloe fresh vaseline or intensive care. Both of those seem to soak in and not be slick, so if you keep up on it, it does work well. Seems I wash my hands enough to dry out the skin, so that works against you. Some winters I did not seem to need to use much lotion but this winter with all that cold dry air its been a daily affair. That dry air does a number on ones skin. Humidifier would likely help too. If you let them dry out for too long, it takes a few days to catch up.

I have used painters tape to wrap the ends of my thumbs, gloves on or not, one layer, not too tight, keeps the crack from getting worse and keeps the area moist. The other thing is keeping the fingernail trimmed back, seems when they get longer, it makes the problem worse as the nail bottom side edge wants to run right into the crack.
 
My dad used to put lotion on his hands and then slip a pair of socks onto his hands before he went to bed, he said it worked good and didn't get lotion all over the sheets.
 
we use the all natural lotion bars from Randol Honey Farm. You can find them on the web best stuff since ice cold water.
 
Mine used to be so bad this time of year that I could make a tight fist and my knuckles would start to bleed.
Since we installed a water softener I dont even get a crack by the fingernails anymore.
 
I have been playing with the fingernail length in an attempt to get the edge of it positioned away from the slots which seem to be permanently in my sub-skin as the skin opens at the same spots time after time. Part of my solution is prevention and keeping my mind on what I'm doing and not doing what causes the cracking.
 
This is the best stuff ever made. It is not slick. It is the consistency of water. Dries in a couple seconds and will have your cracks healed up in about two days. Just put it on when you can think of it.

It has a strong ammonia smell for a few seconds but goes away immediately. Ive tried all sorts of things but this is magic.
Walgreens hand healer lotion
 
My fingers cracked and I used a lot of the remedies that are mentioned, they gave some relief but nothing like what a lady told me to do. She said to use VICKS vapor rub at night and putting it on sort of thick and wearing white cotton gloves to bed, sure done the job, try it.
 
Not fingertips for me. My knuckles will get dry
and crack to the point where they will even
bleed.Its not too painful but after awhile it
really starts to annoy me.
 
Fingertips cracks and fever blister--- best thing to do is pee on them. Just kidding I have use kerosene on cuts for years works real good on wire ropes sticks and catfish spine sticks too.
 
After I left the Marine Corps, I worked as a printer for 5 years. Chapped and cracked hands and fingers are endemic to the printing trade 'cause you're always washing your hands. You'll make adjustments on a press, and then have to handle the finished product.

We had a sink in the shop activated by a foot pedal, and we kept a big jug of "Cornhuskers" hand lotion on the sink. Don't recall what was in it, but it sure worked.
 
I second the O'Keeffe's Working Hands in the green container. I have used Bag Balm, super glue, tape and various other things. I have had a minimum of problems this winter with the O'Keefe's - just dip the corner of your finger in the jar and rub it in.

I suspect one just has to try various things until you find something that works for you.
 
I am diabetic and have skin problems from dryness and soap residue in clothing. I use Fruit of the Earth with vitiam E and aloe. It is CHEAP at Dollar General and not greasy. Smells very good also. I have tried them all and this is next to cortisone for itching.
 
(quoted from post at 20:47:20 02/27/15) I had that problem, and did about the same thing, only thing is I wore the lotioned gloves to bed at nite.

I'll second this - thin cotton gloves at night after plastering a good hand cream on. We get a Norwegian brand hand cream here advertised as what the fishermen on trawlers use.
 
I have those nasty cracked fingertips right around the nail. The
fingers seem to take turns. The SuperGlue suggestion was super.
Relief at last.

Many thanks to FBH44 and MarkB_MI for this solution.
 
I use sand paper to keep the edges down, and hand lotion when I can, the sanding helps more than you would think, I sand down the edges of burn wounds and other minor injurys, my Nurse wife thought I was crazy till she saw the results, she is a city woman that is starting to see how well "Hillbilly" ways work. When my hands get real bad I clean them up good and before I go to bed I load them up with Vaseline and put a fresh pair of jersey brown gloves on they will heal a lot just over night. I do the same with my feet,,only socks instead of gloves ;^)
 

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