Cracks/splitting on thumbs

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I have slight ocd and also have to wash my hands a lot as part of my job and the skin on my hands becomes dry. I get cracks on top of my thumbs due to drying - anyone get this and how can I
Prevent it?
I religiously apply hand cream but maybe not enough and it doesn't help.

It's most likely eczema. Every time you wash, you're taking the natural oils out of the skin which is how it protects itself. Drying it in this way damages the skin to deep levels, resulting in these cracks.

It could potentially be contact or allergic dermatitis. If you're in a HCA role, ask for a referral to Occ Health as they should be monitoring the state of your skin for these things. They may be able to advise on appropriate gloves, hand wash etc that is less aggressive to your skin.

Have a look at O'Keefe's Hand cream - it's really good.

Also, see your GP to discuss treatment for your OCD.

I get this too, especially in winter. It really stings, doesn't it?
I find L'Occitane shea butter hand cream really effective. The Body Shop used to do a hemp hand cream, but I haven't been in for a while so don't know if they still do.
When I put a little bit of foot balm on my toes and heels at night I wipe my hands on a towel rather than washing. Both Scholl and Sanctuary Spa do good heel balms.

I use Cetraben cream to help keep it at bay. You could also get some of those light cotton gloves, slather your hands & fingers with a moisturiser and leave them on overnight.

I also get this in winter and use O Keefe's Working Hands, which does help but needs reapplying a lot.

Rub Vaseline into the tips of your fingers and around your nails every time you wash your hands. It heals any splits in the skin quickly, and prevents further cracking. I was given this tip from rugby playing brother. Apparently it's what he and other rugby players use to heal cut eyebrows after a game.

I had this one year when my asthma was really bad. I got dermol 500 to wash my hands in and used aveeno to moisturise afterwards. For quite a long time I couldn't use any other soaps etc for hand washing. Also had to use rubber gloves for all cleaning, religiously, otherwise the detergents would aggravate me again.

I used to get cracked hands too, especially between my fingers. Cetraben is the best thing to stop it, I slather this on at night. You can get a big tub of it for around £12.

Avoid hand creams like the plague, they make it worse

I have pompholyx and the entirety of both hands splits, including my fingers. I use Child's Farm moisturiser and it works a treat.

Another vote for O'Keefe's Working Hands, it really does work, use it every time you wash your hands.

I get these every year OP, mostly on my thumbs but sometimes on my first and index fingertips too. They are small but deep and ridiculously painful!

Snowfire Ointment Stick is really good but stinky!! The O'Keeffe's handcream is excellent too. Some people swear by using superglue to glue the hack together if it's very bad I've not tried that yet.

I find that if I religiously wear gloves when outdoors throughout the winter it helps a lot, and slather handcream on as often as possible, concentrating on the areas that are prone to the hacks.

Boots do a foot cream with urea which is exceptionally good, or try Calmurid cream designed for excema and psoriasis problems. Available without prescription from a pharmacy. Normal hand creams are pretty rubbish, and a lot of them contain alcohol which exacerbates the problem.

Oh I do sympathise! I used to get this problem until I changed jobs to a less clinical one requiring less handwashing. You need advice from occhealth for how to manage it at work.

But one tip in the meantime is to make sure you've dried properly after washing. And wear gloves when outside or driving in the winter as the cold worsens the cracks.

Outside of work one thing I found was that frequent use of aveeno hand cream really helped it seems to stay on the hands better than others.

Since having my DCs my thumb and index fingers have gotten cracks and flaky skin but mine sadly can't be helped I have to repeatedly wash my hands with the amount of nappy changes preparing food and then washing up etc it's just ruined the condition of my hands I sometimes use E45 cream and that seems to help bring back some moisture to my hands but perhaps I need to look into some gloves myself for washing dishes so my hands spend less time in water

Oh and also moisturise at night and put on those cotton gloves to sleep. You can get from boots or Tesco

I have find O'keefe's hand cream or flexitol hand cream work really well on cracks and splits on my fingers. I also use an e45 hand wash to stop the skin drying out. But being religious about applying moisturiser frequently is probably the most important thing I have found to help.

I get this every winter and have tried everything. This year I swapped handbags and forgot to put in my usual hand cream. In desperation I grabbed Tesco own brand hand cream for £1 to last me the few hours until I got home. It is amazing! I really noticed the difference after a few applications and so have not gone back to my expensive cream. Within a few days the cracks were noticeably better and now two weeks on, no more cracked knuckles.

Do you have a choice about what you wash your hands with? Could that be changed to something gentler?

Another one extolling the virtues of Okeeffes Working Hands. I’ve been using it for a few years now and am no longer in tears trying to work in the kitchen. Amazing stuff!

Blistex relief cream. It works for cracked lips so I thought I'd try it on a dry cracked knuckle. Worked a treat. Overnight the redness was visibly reduced and the skin softened and looked less swollen.

I use flexitol on mine.

Miffed that I need some new gloves and I can't find any that aren't synthetic as that leaves my entire hands as bad as my thumbs (or cashmere, that won't last 2 minutes!)

Think I'm just going to have to bloody knit some.

Liquid Skin is great for healing painful cracks although it stings when you first apply it

All my DC were thumb suckers and would get hacks on their thumbs in cold weather. I was so unsure of what to put on as it would be ingested as soon as thumb was plugged in. A light bulb moment - cracked nipple cream, if it's safe for breastfed babies it's safe for thumb sucking toddlers. Lansinoh works a charm.

I started working in a warehouse 2 years ago and have to wash my hands frequently some days, my hands have never been the same since, not helped by the fact we only have cold water to wash with (or very hot water in the kitchen). The Flexitol heel stuff is great, as is the actual hand cream. I'm also a fan of vaseline at night - actually sinks in quite fast, which shows how dry my hands are. Cracks are painful and can get infected so be careful.

I use Lansinoh too, put a bit on before bed and by the morning the difference is unbelievable.