sore backs of hands in winter

[fourkidsmum]

i wonder if anyne can shed any light on this or advise please?

dd is 8. ever since she was a baby she has got sore hands in winter. the backs of her hands and occasionally the backs of her fingers go really dry and red and sore. it stops abruptly at the wrists and the line between the backs and the palms of her hands (iyswim)

i don't think it is eczema because it doesn't itch or crack or bleed. i use copious amounts of emolliant cream but without a huge amount of success

i just wondered if anyone has experienced anything similar?

could they be chilblains? Don't know much about them but remember people suffering from them when I was a child in icy Yorkshire.

oh i don't know...does anyone know about chillblains??

DS1 is 8 and he gets this.
I think it is 'chapping' from not drying his hands properly then going outside in the cold.
i put vaseline on his hands every morning - seem to do the trick

I ahve this. The only thing that helps is wearing gloves all the time outside (which I'm dreadful at) and washing my hands using bar soap instead of liquid. Don't like puttng cream on as skin is cracked and so open wounds.
I think it's fairly common.

I have had something that sounds pretty like what you're describing - not eczema but raw chapped skin, mine does eventually crack and bleed around the knuckles.
I cover my hands in vaseline, and sleep with cotton gloves on (with hands smothered in vaseline goo underneath i mean)
Knitted gloves - wool or nylon aggravate the problem, again i end up wearing fleecy ones or putting the cotton ones underneath nylon ones.

HTH

oh, and ditto SPP about the bar soap, not liquid. crossing fingers I've not been too bad this winter yet but we've started using bars of pears soap...no coincidence!

I hadn't thought of chilblains for years and now have had to go and look them up out of curiosity. Do this sound possible? info here

DS gets this, and I've found putting Nutrogena hand cream on liberally at night and befor going to school in the morning helps alot. Wonderous stuff, and you can get unscented if they have sensitive skin.

does

oh fgs my typing is rubbish tonight!

eeeeewww edam, thankfully that does not sound like it! but thanks for the thought

thank you so much everyone for replying - and so quickly
i told dd that i was going to look on the internet and she wanted to know if i found anything, so i told her nice and helpful you have all been -
i will definitely take the advice re soap - i have liquid in every bathroom...less messy - i guess i will have to get used to doap gunk everywhere! don't suppose i can do much about school soap though
and will be better at insisting on gloves!
and any more advice gratefully received

thank you so much everyone for replying - and so quickly
i told dd that i was going to look on the internet and she wanted to know if i found anything, so i told her nice and helpful you have all been -
i will definitely take the advice re soap - i have liquid in every bathroom...less messy - i guess i will have to get used to doap gunk everywhere! don't suppose i can do much about school soap though
and will be better at insisting on gloves!
and any more advice gratefully received

gaaahh again???????????????????????!!!!!

also...doap...dope? ah no soap!

roffle at you making your dd wash hands in dope

yeah, everyone knows you should keep your dope under lock and key and out of reach

I get that too - emolient cream and surgical gloves over the top for five nights makes it go away. However is she has scratched it, it can easily become infected in which case she may need some hydrocortisone cream because her skin will then overreact to the sores.

My DS gets this in winter- but he has eczema elsewhere so seems very prone to dry skin.

We use epaderm (prescribed but can be bought over the counter) and moisturise at least 3 times a day- it has the consistency of vaseline. And also try to use minimal soap on his hands... Plus he likes playing with bubbles / washing up liquid so we've switched to surcare washing up liquid which seems to help (surfactants really do evil things to his skin, but can't stop him playing with washing up really...!).

Check what soap they use at school as found out recently DS's preschool soap seems to really irritate his skin (at least in winter anyhow)

I get this when it is cold too (although it is not so bad now I don't have to push a buggy around). I find hand cream to stop them drying out and gloves are the way to go.

Could she carry a small tube of cream around with her to put on during the day when they are bad?

Have used many different brands of cream and I don't think it makes much difference. It seems to be the moisturising that they need. Have found cream (nutrogena, clarins(!), vaseline intensive care) rather than vaseline better personally.

thank you everybody every year i think i should probably take her to the gp for advice...and every year i decide not to waste her time...your advice is great, and it's especially nice to have people instantly say "oh yes, that's so and so"...makes us feel that it's not uncommon and we can deal with it

my secret weapon ... a little tin of vaseline - y'know those little round ones, 99p, intended for lips? well i use it on my hands and it fits in any pocket or bag

Ialso put elizabeth ardern 8 hr cream on DS's hands when realy bad

dd 6 gets this only thing that works is my elizabeth arden 8 hour hand cream also the 8 hour cream is good too but a little too thick. at nearly 20 quid a go its costing me a fortune!!