Help my hands! (Please - pic included)

[Whereareallthejellyfish]

I have incredibly dry hands, to the point where they split/crack over the knuckles and I feel like I have tried everything!

I always make sure I dry them properly, they are in and out of water a lot at home as all Mum's hands tend to be, but I always give them a proper dry.

I've tried so many creams/lotions/gloves at night and nothing seems to help

Does anyone have any tried and tested ideas?

Rubber gloves. My hands were like yours, OP, and I wear rubber gloves for everything 'wet'. I wear disposable gloves for dusty jobs. The best hand creams IME are the one for workmen (O'Keefes?) which I get in Screwfix; a Boots one which is in the aisle with things like soap-free body wash; the Boots Number 7 retinol one; and the L'occitane one for extra dry hands. I wear cotton gloves at night.

Nurse here! Very used to dry, cracked and sore hands - we all swear by body shop hemp hand lotion where I work. Use it routinely, not just when your hands get to this point. I suppose not much use for you now but when they heal up I'd start using it everyday to prevent it happening again 🤞🏻

My hands get exactly the same! I used this on my baby and rubbed some into my hands once just because I needed some relief. They instantly felt less sore so I kept using it, within a couple of days they were so much better.

My hands used to crack in winter and I think it’s because I was anemic. Once that was sorted out I had no more cracks. Do you get cracks in your mouth in winter too? If so get some vitamins and iron as well as hand cream…

Try CeraVe SA Renewing Foot Cream in the meantime, but ask your GP to prescribe you Hydromol and ONLY wash your hands in this. Total game changer for my hands.

Nursem is another good one x

And dermol as a hand wash substitute

Thank you everyone, some amazing tips to try and I will be trying them all!

@ClarasZoo that's really interesting as I am anaemic, I wonder if it is connected. (I am taking iron)

Just seen you can buy Hydromol ointment online, give it a try. It feels weird to wash in an ointment but it really works.

Hydromol Ointment

I'd add religiously wearing gloves outside for the whole of winter to the list of things to do, unfortunately.

My hands split if I use any brand of liquid soap but I now use bars of soap to wash hands , my hands are much better and no splits

@SabbatWheel thank you for the link

@rubesxx I can imagine as a nurse your hands go through hell!!

Really interesting hearing ref liquid soap, that's all we have in the house, time to go old school

My hands can look like that! The only thing that helps mine is the hemp stuff at the body shop. I scrub them with the scrub before bed and apply the hemp hand cream. After so many years of dry, cracked and bleeding hands this is a amazing

50:50 ointment.
It's greasy as hell, but out it in at night and use cotton gloves

o’keefes only need a small amount the stuff works miracles

This stuff.

My hands are like sandpaper and are constantly splitting between the knuckles, this stuff works wonders when I remember to use it.

Have you tried using proper emollient creams? Like stuff for eczema rather than just normal hand creams? I use diprobase or doublebase, both are fab.

Also second the advice to stop using normal hand soap. I also use an emollient soap (I use CeraVe) which is very gentle on skin.

You might want to try a soap substitute like dermol wash cutaneous emulsion. You'll be able to buy it from a pharmacy. You use it every time you wash your hands and also as a moisturiser afterwards.

I've not tried stuff for eczema, it sounds like I definitely need to change my soap though!

Aveeno is my recommendation.

When my dad had steroids with chemo his hands were so bad. I bought him some and it was like a miracle cream!

My hands used to look like that. Turned out I had Allergic Contact Dermatitis. Three of my allergens are fragrances that are commonly used in most cleaning products and body products. So it didn't matter how much I moisturised!

Once I had switched everything to fragrance-free, my hands healed up. But they are still very sensitive, and easily dry up and crack.

I concur with the advice to always use gloves. I don't moisturise before using gloves, but do have suitable moisturisers all over the house (and at work) so that I can moisturise conveniently. If my hands are particularly dry I slather on heavy duty moisturiser at bedtime and sleep in cotton gloves. Amazing the following morning.

I like O'Keefes, Palmers Unscented and Balneum moisturising creams. For something lighter but still rich, I like Cetaphil, Clinique and Waitrose Pure moisturising lotions.

My dad has similar problems. He used this:

https://www.allergybestbuys.co.uk/products/gloves-in-a-bottle?currency=GBP&variant=31489814986854&utmmedium=cpc&utmmsource=google&utmcampaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtsCgBhDEARIsAE7RYh2FCKCrP95kVgNyyy8Xom-yYKPzi6eZxZXN1CZsL5ZaWN-1pzzIfjwaAgTUEALw_wcB

My hands have been in a much worse state so there is hope OP. Here are my top 3 tips.

Be careful with rubber gloves. I was almost 40 before I made the link between rubber gloves and my skin getting worse. Latex free gloves are all I can wear.

Wear gloves when outside in the cold.

As others have said, use a basic cream after every hand wash. A Dermol 500 pump next to every sink in the house is a must for me.

Same here! I have very dry and this stuff is an absolute god send. I don't go anywhere without it in reach

Another vote for o'Keefe's. Brilliant stuff, I use on a night only, leave it all night and by morning my hands are healed. I cant use rubber gloves cos allergies, so all I can do is moisturize.