Wonder product to deal with splitting finger ends...

[bosch]

Yes it's true girls... Germolene New Skin, is specifically NOT recommended for cuts or grazes that haven't yet scabbed over. But (and boy, does it smart!) if you do put it on splits and cracks in your finger ends they will heal within a couple of days (even if you've had them for weeks/months )

It smells like nail polish (dh says it smells like dope - something small boys use when making models ), goodness only knows what it does to your insides if you put it on an open split.

But it works, it works.

I'm puzzled - what do you mean by 'split finger ends?
Do you mean when your skin gets dry and spontaneously cracks? In which case, surely that's the same as a cut?
Or do you mean when the cuticles go dry and flakey?
(I've got lovely hands, me).

I know what you mean by split finger ends! I've had a crack in my thumb for about 2 months now and am off to buy some of this tomorrow!! Thanks for the tip!

I know what you mean too. We call them "hacks" (maybe a Scottish term)?

They are agony.

OurLady - yes, this product is not intended for the use I am recommending! But if you have suffered from split finger ends you'll do ANYTHING to heal them.

ohh i get these alot this time of year! i am sick to death of catching them on my pockets and feel slightly disabled when i have got several of them, plus cracks down the sides of my fingers too ( i am making my hands sound lovely arent it!)

but even afte all that i dont know if i dare put it on if it stings that much and it says its not for cuts

lizandlulu - tbh, I'm not really sure what it's really meant for. Most cuts, once they've scabbed over, don't need anything other than maybe a plaster so that they don't get damaged while they're healing.

was sort of hoping that a MN chemist might come and tell us what happens when you put nail varnish on an open wound?!

BTW, it doesn't hurt THAT much!

(picks self up after mild faint...)

the very thought of nail varnish being put on my crack is too much. it's so painful as is, never mind with stuff like that on. wince wince.

OMG - i meant to say it's on my thumb, that looks so wrong when re reading!

I have hacks a lot and use a wonder product too.
Mine is free though with no wizzy packaging and doesnt cause pain when applied. It grows in a bowl in my kitchen and I just cut a wee bit off it when needed.A little goes a long way.

ooops Nearly forgot

Its an Aloe Vera plant

Lol! Stings for a minute or two at the most and then - bliss! You can wash your hands, do most household chores (I'm not selling it now am I!), err, you can put tights on and not snag them!!!

Thank you bosch, I will see if I can get some tomorrow. I would do anything to heal the hack on the end of my thumb which feels as if it's been there forever. When I emptied the dishwasher tonight a fork prong poked into it and it hurt. A lot.

yes! hormonesnomore - i have one in the same place and did the very same thing - ooh man, it hurt so bad! i send you my sympathy.

Mine keeps re opening and splitting. I've found waitrose bottom butter helps a bit, i just dunk my thumb in and rub it around to try top drying out. I'm trying to make sure i wear rubber gloves more, as it's such a small thing, but it doesn't half hurt.

< stern > You mean you put your unprotected hands into water?!
The only time my hands touch water is washing them after the loo and when cooking, or in the shower.
And I still don't get through the winter without the odd crack - it's neglecting the handcream that does it for me.
Get yerself some marigolds and use them.

It's just so hard to keep pulling the blardy gloves on and off all the times that a toddler does something to necessitate the use of a soapy sponge, or a wet flannel ...

I sometimes use Snowfire on hacks -- cheap at Boots and it does help a bit if you use it really frequently. Don't much like the smell though.

I've used the germolene new skin for this for a while now, as recommended by my mum - it's brilliant, isn't it. Yes, it does sting when you first put it on, but it kind of stabilises all the skin around it, as well as forming a barrier, so that you can use your fingers without it pulling on the crack and making it worse - brilliant stuff.

I've also found that the Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector has helped me not get so many cracked fingers in the first place.

Even better than Germolene new skin, is Superglue...... Yup! It really works and doesn't sting as much as New Skin.
A Doctor recommended it when I suffered excruciating hacks as a result of chemotherapy :-)