My hands are driving me insane with dry skin

[myhorriblehands]

Is it eczema? Nothing helps, nothing. Doctors have prescribed different steroid creams/antibiotic creams and nothing makes a difference. Using washing up gloves doesn’t make a difference. I get these horrible little cuts and they’re so painful! Always itchy and stingy. Any ideas ?!

Looks exactly like my hands, I think mine is contact irritation from foaming agents - hand soap at work and kids shampoo really set it off.
I've started taking a daily antihistamine and it has really helped. I've got steroid cream from the doctor when it gets really bad. It has died down a lot but the skin is still dry so moisturiser is a must.

Someone up thread mentioned nail varnish. A few years ago I had an outbreak of contact dermatitis on my face under my eyes. The skin specialist I saw told me to avoid nail varnish.

@BrambelI’ve got some Simple Bar soap in the cupboard so have started with that. So far so good

Thanks, good idea - I quite like Simple products for my face so I may try the soap too!