Cracks in the skin

My Mum used to get it, and now sadly so do I. Been working with treated timber and soil all day trying to make some raised beds for veggie and sweet-pea etc. My hands despite using cream are showing signs of those horrible splits / cracks near the nail and will NOT heal. I have used super glue in the past, but unless I get that right it is a bit like a filling coming out from a tooth; I sit and fiddle with it; I know ... own worst enemy.

Does ANYONE ... PERLLLEEEAAASSSEEEEEEEEEEE have a cure or anything that might help. They are soooo painful.

I've tried gloves and can't get on with them; splinters I can dig out but these cracks!!!!!! HELP.

Olive oil with Hypericum perforatum, leave it for 2 weeks at a southfacing window. (full sun)
Sieve it and use daily, should help you with the cracks my friend.

I tried it on my elbows that crack in winter and it did the job for me, my wife is a phytoterapist.

Peter

Is there a like or thank you button?

Cheers Peter; top man as always.

EmJay

Mike Jones wrote:Is there a like or thank you button?

Cheers Peter; top man as always.

EmJay

No need for that Mike, your welcome

Peter

Thick callous is your enemy, they are hard and not as flexible so your skin finds the weakest point and cracks due to stress, drying or combination. Once started it is a vicious cycle so you need to thin the callous first by filing or sanding it down. You can apply cream but petroleum jelly works better in keeping the moisture in. It is not an overnight cure so be patient and you might have to repeat callous removal.

IF it is an eczema (allergy), it is another story but same applies but medication need to be added. I have luck using hydrocortizone in eczema.

Good luck!

Poink88 wrote:Thick callous is your enemy, they are hard and not as flexible so your skin finds the weakest point and cracks due to stress, drying or combination. Once started it is a vicious cycle so you need to thin the callous first by filing or sanding it down. You can apply cream but petroleum jelly works better in keeping the moisture in. It is not an overnight cure so be patient and you might have to repeat callous removal.

IF it is an eczema (allergy), it is another story but same applies but medication need to be added. I have luck using hydrocortizone in eczema.

Good luck!

Only problem with cortizone is that the skin get very thin after a while ( read aplied many times)

Peter

Yeah, the label should tell you not to do it more than a week or 10 days. It usually improved a lot (if not totally cured) before that.

There are also nice baby rash ointment (petroleum jelly variant) that you can use.

Wearing gloves also help. esp while working in the garden

Mike Jones wrote:Does ANYONE ... PERLLLEEEAAASSSEEEEEEEEEEE have a cure or anything that might help. They are soooo painful.

I've tried gloves and can't get on with them; splinters I can dig out but these cracks!!!!!! HELP.

There's a really good product I use called "Bag Balm". It's marketed for use around the farm when people still milked cows by hand...keeps the cows smiling. I get the same thing and it's like death by a thousand cuts. The other guys have it right with prevention and don't let the skin dry out because once it starts to crack, you're toast.

Orion wrote:

Mike Jones wrote:Does ANYONE ... PERLLLEEEAAASSSEEEEEEEEEEE have a cure or anything that might help. They are soooo painful.

I've tried gloves and can't get on with them; splinters I can dig out but these cracks!!!!!! HELP.

There's a really good product I use called "Bag Balm". It's marketed for use around the farm when people still milked cows by hand...keeps the cows smiling. I get the same thing and it's like death by a thousand cuts. The other guys have it right with prevention and don't let the skin dry out because once it starts to crack, you're toast.

Death by a thousand cuts Yep that just about sums it up. THANK YOU for the recommendation; I shall get this tomorrow from my local farming supplies company. No doubt it is marketed under a different name here in Blighty? Oh I hope it works

I grew up on a dairy farm, and was going to recommend Bag Balm too, but wasn't sure it would be available outside the U.S. I think I have seen it recommended here before, as well.
Oliver

Hi Mike, my wife makes an ointment using Calendula officinalis flower petals. Applied daily it relieves the most chronic cases of cracked feet and hands. She plucks the petals from the flower and soaks them in hot olive oil. Then sieves out the oil and mixes in bees wax to a nice consistency.

Great relief and healing comes from a hot soak in Stellaria media, commonly called chickweed, a most common garden weed. Heat a pan of water big enough to fit your hands into to boiling and remove it from the heat. Add in a big bunch of Stellaria and let it steep until you can put your hands in it. The hotter the better, I start with a quick dip a build up to a full soak. Once you can get your hands into the bath you can massage your hands with the chickweed until the water cools.

You will not believe your hands the next day! A truely amazing plant, a tea prepared from it makes an excellent spring tonic. Tastes somewhat like lawn grass, but it will cure all y'alls ills. Rick

Many thanks. I am up for absolutely anything.

Mike, I too think using a file to get rid of the thick callous', and then use cream of choice to keep them moist. Good Luck as I know how much they can hurt. One thing I've used, is antibiotic ointment with an anesthetic for immediate pain relief. You can find this at Walgreens. I unfort. bite my nails...I know, nasty habit, but have been dealing with cracked skin, bleeding fingers for a long time, and found that filing the callous', and then using the ointment, cover with bandaid for a couple days and it does wonders. Just another suggestion of many lol

Chris

Fore wrote:Mike, I too think using a file to get rid of the thick callous', and then use cream of choice to keep them moist. Good Luck as I know how much they can hurt. One thing I've used, is antibiotic ointment with an anesthetic for immediate pain relief. You can find this at Walgreens. I unfort. bite my nails...I know, nasty habit, but have been dealing with cracked skin, bleeding fingers for a long time, and found that filing the callous', and then using the ointment, cover with bandaid for a couple days and it does wonders. Just another suggestion of many lol

Chris

Thanks Chris. I don't bite nails bit must confess to nibbling the edges of skin around the nail and or a callous or four. Mostly always thumb and forefingers. Got a pair of gloves to use today plus some of the recommended balm from my local farm shop. Still feeling as if someone is making wee slits and pouring lemon juice in That must have made anyone wince ... surely?

Bag Balm works great! alternatively, you can use hydrocortisone first, then follow with the Bag Balm. Once your present cuts heal, stop the hydrocortisone and just use the Bag Balm. Or get pure lanolin. That's available all over the world and has been around many, many years because it works so well.

Libby

Thanks Libby. Mucho appreciato

Go into Boots the chemists and ask for a tub of Aqueous cream
It does work

Thanks Dave. I must say the bag balm is working incredibly fast. When I poured a gin and tonic earlier for the first time in weeks I did not hit the ceiling when I sliced a lemon. I loathe working in gloves but have worn them this weekend to give the skin a break.

Mike

It is reported to also work well as a chamois cream for long hours on the bicycle. May have my wife get some at the feed 'n seed store.

Hey Guys, in the pottery world it's the wonder "drug" Good stuff!
Wood

Mike Jones wrote:Thanks Dave. I must say the bag balm is working incredibly fast. When I poured a gin and tonic earlier for the first time in weeks I did not hit the ceiling when I sliced a lemon. I loathe working in gloves but have worn them this weekend to give the skin a break.

Mike

Here ya go, you won't feel a damn thing...

Bag balm works great, I have tried many others and it gives you the fastest relief I have found.

Nice Orion. I may have misled though. It was not the first time I'd had a G&T in weeks it was simply the first time in weeks I did not hit the ceiling /roof after slicing lemon. Nice image that you gave there. And there was me given up smoking almost three months ago

John Quinn wrote:It is reported to also work well as a chamois cream for long hours on the bicycle. May have my wife get some at the feed 'n seed store.

I am about to put this to the test and will feed back the results later.

I only hope that it makes up in effectiveness what it lacks in pleasantness of aroma. It's bad enough looking like a... erm ... udder without actually smelling like one.

I quite like it. Slower to heal than I had hoped if honest.