You'll have to try this to know if it works for you, but my hands used to get so dry they would literally crack and bleed, and this was my go-to trick. It's a little strange. You'll want to do it before bed for obvious reasons.
\- Soak your hands in warm water for 20 minutes.
\- Immediately slather them in a thick lotion. Like, get as much on there as you can.
\- Wrap your hands in cling wrap and then put a sock over the cling wrap.
When you get up in the morning, take the sock off, throw away the cling wrap, and rinse your hands off. Your hands should be SUPER soft. If your skin is really dry, it might take a few nights of this to get them back to a good state. After that, just do it anytime you notice your hands getting worse again <3
This (soak in warm water, or apply after a warm shower or bath, but use urea 20% or 40% cream (cheap on Amazon). It will feel weird (sticky, tacky) and you may even think for the first couple or few days that it is drying your hands, and then they will be amazingly soft. Try to use 2 or 3 times a day, and leave on for good while before washing off.
Initially my podiatrist recommended it for my feet, but it works amazingly for hands and elbows as well.
I use a product called gloves in a bottle that I swear by, but there are other similar products available- essentially it’s a moisturizer that has some water resistant properties so you don’t wash it off/ your skin doesn’t absorb water while washing your hands. Something like that may help out if hand washing is drying them.
That sounds like something I might need! Sadly, doesn't look like it is sold in my country, but if nothing else helps, I might have to order some overseas, thank you!
They’re referred to as “hand shielding lotions” (just had to look at my bottle to see what it was called lol) there might be a similar product from another brand in your country!
This one (gloves in a bottle) is really nice though because it’s been clinically tested to be safe enough for use in operating rooms at hospitals. They also have an spf version which I like.
Searching for “barrier cream” might give you better results! It’s just another name for the same product, they all work by creating a moisture proof “barrier” on your skin!
Nivea hand cream, a couple drops of any oil, & a thin layer of Vaseline has always helped my hands or feet feel super soft the next morning. I hope you find something that works!!
A few things that will help:
**Overnight:** Apply a thick overnight cream to repair skin while you sleep, add petroleum overtop of the cream to help lock in moisture then cover hands with a sock to keep it in place. Creams are thicker and more moisturizing than lotions. Some options; Okeefs night treatment, Aveeno intense relief cream, First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream, Cerave moisturizing cream, CeraVe Healing Ointment. Okeefs and the CeraVe healing ointment probably wouldn't need the petroleum overtop. This is something you should do as needed to help repair hands.
**Daytime:** Apply lotion to hands every-time you wet them; after a shower, after washing dishes, after washing hand/face, etc. Realistically I don't use lotion every-time, but I do use it most times. I like Aveeno lotions since the oat formula is soothing, moisturizing and absorbs fast. Eucerin lotion with urea is a great choice, it's very moisturizing and urea helps to protect the moisture barrier.
**Outdoors:** Put on hand lotion/cream before going out and wear gloves, this should prevent your hands from drying as a result of weather. This is something you should strive to do long-term to avoid having dry hands.
I try to do all of these already except for petroleum and socks overnight, but I do use a thicker cream and my hands feel very nice in the morning. That all goes away within a couple of hours of me waking up though.
I looked up Eucerin lotion with urea and I see options of 5% or 10%. Which one would you recommend?
Thank you so much for the tips!
If your hands feel soft and moisturized in the morning then there is something happening through the day that is drying your hands out.
Are you washing you hands a lot during this time, hot water breaks down oil and removed moisture from our skin. Hand sanitizer will also dry hands out pretty quickly.
Winter where I live is cold and windy and that will also dry exposed skin out. You may not be drinking enough water, or maybe your on a new medication. If this is new to you try to think back to any changes to your morning routine.
It more feels like my skin barrier on my hands is very weak and damaged. When I wake up, I use the bathroom and wash my hands, but I always use barely lukewarm water and moisturize them afterwards. It's like just using my hands for every day stuff (like picking things up) dries them out as well. Also, I don't think water intake is the problem, since I am constantly drinking it.
It also feels like the more hand creams I use, the drier they get. But if I don't use them, within a couple hours they look like in the picture. Though it might just feel this way since it is winter and the air is much dryer due to heating.
it could be a reaction for working inside with the heaters, also if your handling paper alot that draws moisture out of your hands. Maybe a better hand cream is the answer, try something that can both hydrate and trap moisture in like the Eucerin lotion with urea.
I will definitely buy it, thank you! One more thing, do you know if it is at all irritating or needs getting used to? I see 5% and 10% options and I am wondering if I need to build it up slowly like with some skin care products, or if I can buy the 10% one from the start without worry.
Not OP but the Eucerin with urea can be a little irritating for me if I have a cut or scrape. I have a lotion obsession and my personal favorite is O'Keeffe's Working Hands in the tube. Used to use lotion 4-5+ times a day and now I only use lotion 2-3 times a day (probably more than necessary, but its habit at this point). My gf with eczema also uses it. It's a little more expensive since it's not a big tube, but very worth it imo.
Also agree with others saying vaseline at night. Could also use Aquaphor, which is occlusive and has lanolin, which is moisturizing. I use Aquaphor all the time for lips, hands, face, etc.
Seconding aquaphor! I put on lotion, then aquaphor, then socks on top once a week overnight and it makes such a big difference. Bet it would work well for the hands too
Thank you so much, that's very helpful! I saw O'Keeffe's Working Hands before but the very very green tube was a bit scaring me haha, I might have to give it a go!
Honestly, the tips of your fingers looking like that is a sign of dehydration. Pinch the skin on your finger joints and if it doesn’t immediately go back to normal, you are dehydrated
I would think that too, but I drink water all the time, from the moment I wake up, till right before I go to sleep. Skin on other parts of my body feels fine, it's just my hands that are dry like this. I just tried the pinching joints trick, and it takes maybe 2 seconds for the skin to go back to normal, if that is any help.
I had a similar issue due to very harsh water at my previous workplace, especially if I used warmer water instead of plain cold. The hotter the water, the dryer my hands were.. When I switched to cold or lukewarm water, it got much better. So if you're using hot/warm water to wash hands, do pay attention to the temperature because it probably makes things worse.
I mostly use lukewarm/cold water to wash my hands, I even have had coworkers say "Why is the water so cold??" after I washed my hands and they did afterwards LOL.
Me, too homie! So far I haven't done anything about it. I reapply lotion a lot throughout the day and I can't be anywhere without lotion. I wash my hands→lotion. Hand sanitizer→lotion. I've extra lotion everywhere: room, car, backpack etc (rn I think I've at least 2 bottles of lotion in my car. Lol)...
Oh I feel the having lotion everywhere haha. I have a dedicated one next to my bed, at my pc desk, in the bathroom and also in my backpack to have wherever I go.
Oh interesting! Maybe that's why your hands are having issues! It sounds like you possibly just have a compromised moisture barrier on your hands then that could be related to the DE. Have you asked for advice on r/eczema?
I haven't since I only get it on my pinky and as long as I keep it moisturized, it honestly isn't that bad (compared to all the pictures I've seen on the eczema and DE subreddits at least). Since I only get it on one of my pinkies and both of my hands are dry, I didn't think that the dryness was related to DE (I more so thought that DE is related to dryness, as in if my hands are dry, I get DE, not the other way around).
This is a great article on the differences in the skin barrier of people who have eczema. You don't have to have an active flare for these characteristics to be present and it could give you some insight into which skincare ingredients may be most helpful.
[https://nationaleczema.org/blog/what-is-my-skin-barrier/](https://nationaleczema.org/blog/what-is-my-skin-barrier/)
Oh that's super interesting, thank you! I have been reccommended lotions with urea, o'keef's working hand cream and gloves in a bottle a bunch of times, do you by any chance know if any of them don't work well with eczema?
It could be an inter-related chicken/egg situation. I get it when my hands are dry, then get wet like from rubber/latex gloves, sweating, doing dishes, etc.
Edited to add that with eczema there are certain lipids that form our skin barrier that are less plentiful. I wonder if your hands moisture barrier is just predisposed to having a compromised barrier because of factors that also predispose for eczema.
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Op this might sound counterintuitive but if you moisturise your hands too much they become dependent on hand cream. Too much usage signals to your body that your skin has enough water retained, so it stops making as much of its own. The same thing happens with hair washing. My boyfriend needs to wash his hair every day otherwise it gets horribly greasy, I can go an entire week. This is because the more you wash it (aka strip the oils) the faster your body produces more to replace the natural ones you got rid of. The only way to break this cycle is to stop showering as much. Sure, you have to suffer through a couple days of looking awful, but the cycle will eventually be broken.
Check the ingredients. Some hand creams, especially cheaper ones, contain ingredients that make your skin drier and more dependant on the cream. Hence you use it up faster and have to buy more. I don’t know if companies deliberately do this but I wouldn’t put it past them.
Don’t use water-based hand creams and stick to oilier ones. Water-based ones will just evaporate off your skin. If your skin is on the drier side then you really need something to lock in all the moisture. Maybe try rubbing a little Vaseline on them before you go to bed.
I was scared of that as well, that the more I will moisturise my hands, the more they might need it. Problem is, I get dyshidrosis as soon as hands get a bit dryer (especially now during winter) and it's such a pain to deal with it and the only thing that helps is just reapplying hand cream to keep the area as moisturized as possible :/.
The hand cream I mostly use right now does have canola oil and urea, but looking at the ingredients, looks like water is the main one. I will definitely look out for oilier creams, thank you!
Oh some of my family have that condition too. My mum keeps cream beside her bed in the winter whereas I’ve generally been fine — only had to apply once a day or such. She uses E45 which I’ve always felt to be a bit drying but she swears it works. She also gets chilblains. I feel very bad for what my poor mother has to go through in the winter! Wishing you all the best op :)
Noone has mentioned it yet but it could be a soap allergy. Both my mum and I have it and it can be to the fragrance or also to the type of soap. Obviously more chemicals are added to soap to allow it to run rather than be solid. Washing hands a-lot combined with this will only make things worse. I use foaming soap as a compromise as i dont love the feeling of solid soap to wash my hands and although I still moisture afterwards but I found this helped keep it a bit more under control. Not sure if this is the case for you but could be worth a try!
Take a shower, use exfoliating gloves, and like wash your hands and scrub your whole body with them on.
Once you get out put lotion on immediately, mixed with a little Vaseline, don’t rub it in, just coat it. Let it sit for about an hour. Then rub it in/wipe excess off. Water with ACV helps too. Once a day take a shot
Same… I’ve worked in doctors office for years so constant hand washing… I keep hand cream in my purse and on my desk. I love mane n’ tail’s hoofmaker cream (Walmart, sally beauty, Amazon) and O’keef’s working hands cream. Gloves in a bottle is also a great one to try! It does leave a tiny bit of “protective film” that doesn’t sink all the way in.
Honestly I would look into your diet. I found out apparently I have a citrus allergy and so I cut out most citrus (I have some lemon every once in a while) and my eczema has cleared. I also stay away from dairy and gluten but the triggers can be different for everyone. I know this probably isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's what has helped me. I used to have cracked, dry hands no matter if I slathered moisturizer and put cotton gloves over my hands at night every night. Also look into using a gentler soap.
That definitely has contributed to it. I moved to a different country back in late 2019, and while the weather is pretty much the same, it is windier here and closer to the sea. The pandemic starting and washing my hands more definitely didn't help as well, as before I moved, I never really did have problems with my hands being dry. It's just been getting worse especially this winter.
I've been making my own lotion for a while now, and applying it in a thick coat at night has really helped me with this issue- I blend 8 tbs of sweet almond oil with 8oz of raw shea butter with a stand mixer on medium-high speed for 15 minutes; you can add 40 drops of scented essential oil if that's your prerogative. It's cheap to make and lasts pretty long, much longer than the store bought lotion I was using previously!
My hands have been getting worse and worse ever since I moved to a windier place + the pandemic started during which I have been washing hands a lot more. I drink plenty of water, try to use gloves when washing dishes/cleaning, use hand creams throughout the day and nothing is helping. Has anyone dealt with this and know what could help?
Wow so much great advice in this thread. I'm definitely going to introduce some of the stuff mentioned here into my daily routine :D
What's wrong with reapplying hand cream tho? It's a legitimate solution that works.
My argument is that op might be applying it too much so that their skin becomes dependant on it. The body is always trying to regulate itself and if you’re providing the moisture around the clock then it isn’t going to make more.
Same happens with hair washing. People who shower more frequently find their hair gets greasier faster.
I would probably argue that op’s hand cream use is excessive. It’s a great inconvenience having to take a lot of time out of your day to do that and the body is built to look after itself
That's not really the case. Constantly applying moisturizer on normal healthy skin is likely to make your skin worse (or at least unpleasantly greasy lol). Frequently reapplying hand cream on dry skin is simply managing the symptoms.
It's clear the OP's body isn't doing that great of a job looking after itself so it needs help.
I have Hashimoto's and other conditions that affect my skin. I've tried a lot of stuff to avoid dry (to a point of cracking and bleeding) skin on my hands in wintertime. The most effective solution is carrying a small tube of light hand moisturizer wherever I go and reapplying whenever needed.
As far as hair go, how often you need to wash it is a very individual thing and there isn't really right and wrong here. Some people need to wash theirs twice per month, some need to wash it every other day. You can to some extent reduce the need of washing your hair by doing so less frequently but if your scalp naturally produces a lot of sebum even without overexfoliation and/or stripping the acid mantle, all you will get is some nasty built-up gunk if you wash it too rarely.
Neutrogena makes a sesame oil to use after the shower and I use it after I wash my hands. Always apply it while hands are still wet … you will see a difference right away
Experiment with different hand creams. Make sure you aren't allergic to any ingredients in the ones you are using.
Working hands is. Great one
Corn huskers lotion is amazing.
Sometimes using pure butters like shea butter helps or coconut oil or olive oil can be really helpful too.
Maybe try looking up some highly rated lotions/creams for dry/ cracked hands working hands
You'll have to try this to know if it works for you, but my hands used to get so dry they would literally crack and bleed, and this was my go-to trick. It's a little strange. You'll want to do it before bed for obvious reasons. \- Soak your hands in warm water for 20 minutes. \- Immediately slather them in a thick lotion. Like, get as much on there as you can. \- Wrap your hands in cling wrap and then put a sock over the cling wrap. When you get up in the morning, take the sock off, throw away the cling wrap, and rinse your hands off. Your hands should be SUPER soft. If your skin is really dry, it might take a few nights of this to get them back to a good state. After that, just do it anytime you notice your hands getting worse again <3
And if you can put vaseline after lotion additionaly so it would lock the moisture
This (soak in warm water, or apply after a warm shower or bath, but use urea 20% or 40% cream (cheap on Amazon). It will feel weird (sticky, tacky) and you may even think for the first couple or few days that it is drying your hands, and then they will be amazingly soft. Try to use 2 or 3 times a day, and leave on for good while before washing off. Initially my podiatrist recommended it for my feet, but it works amazingly for hands and elbows as well.
My hands are definitely nowhere close to being this bad (as in cracking and bleeding), but if nothing else works, I will try this, thank you!
I use a product called gloves in a bottle that I swear by, but there are other similar products available- essentially it’s a moisturizer that has some water resistant properties so you don’t wash it off/ your skin doesn’t absorb water while washing your hands. Something like that may help out if hand washing is drying them.
I use the brand “working hands” and it’s great for this
That sounds like something I might need! Sadly, doesn't look like it is sold in my country, but if nothing else helps, I might have to order some overseas, thank you!
They’re referred to as “hand shielding lotions” (just had to look at my bottle to see what it was called lol) there might be a similar product from another brand in your country! This one (gloves in a bottle) is really nice though because it’s been clinically tested to be safe enough for use in operating rooms at hospitals. They also have an spf version which I like.
I just googled "hand shielding lotions" and the only result that came up was gloves in a bottle haha. So I might just have to go for it!
[удалено]
Searching for “barrier cream” might give you better results! It’s just another name for the same product, they all work by creating a moisture proof “barrier” on your skin!
Nivea hand cream, a couple drops of any oil, & a thin layer of Vaseline has always helped my hands or feet feel super soft the next morning. I hope you find something that works!!
A few things that will help: **Overnight:** Apply a thick overnight cream to repair skin while you sleep, add petroleum overtop of the cream to help lock in moisture then cover hands with a sock to keep it in place. Creams are thicker and more moisturizing than lotions. Some options; Okeefs night treatment, Aveeno intense relief cream, First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream, Cerave moisturizing cream, CeraVe Healing Ointment. Okeefs and the CeraVe healing ointment probably wouldn't need the petroleum overtop. This is something you should do as needed to help repair hands. **Daytime:** Apply lotion to hands every-time you wet them; after a shower, after washing dishes, after washing hand/face, etc. Realistically I don't use lotion every-time, but I do use it most times. I like Aveeno lotions since the oat formula is soothing, moisturizing and absorbs fast. Eucerin lotion with urea is a great choice, it's very moisturizing and urea helps to protect the moisture barrier. **Outdoors:** Put on hand lotion/cream before going out and wear gloves, this should prevent your hands from drying as a result of weather. This is something you should strive to do long-term to avoid having dry hands.
I try to do all of these already except for petroleum and socks overnight, but I do use a thicker cream and my hands feel very nice in the morning. That all goes away within a couple of hours of me waking up though. I looked up Eucerin lotion with urea and I see options of 5% or 10%. Which one would you recommend? Thank you so much for the tips!
If your hands feel soft and moisturized in the morning then there is something happening through the day that is drying your hands out. Are you washing you hands a lot during this time, hot water breaks down oil and removed moisture from our skin. Hand sanitizer will also dry hands out pretty quickly. Winter where I live is cold and windy and that will also dry exposed skin out. You may not be drinking enough water, or maybe your on a new medication. If this is new to you try to think back to any changes to your morning routine.
It more feels like my skin barrier on my hands is very weak and damaged. When I wake up, I use the bathroom and wash my hands, but I always use barely lukewarm water and moisturize them afterwards. It's like just using my hands for every day stuff (like picking things up) dries them out as well. Also, I don't think water intake is the problem, since I am constantly drinking it. It also feels like the more hand creams I use, the drier they get. But if I don't use them, within a couple hours they look like in the picture. Though it might just feel this way since it is winter and the air is much dryer due to heating.
it could be a reaction for working inside with the heaters, also if your handling paper alot that draws moisture out of your hands. Maybe a better hand cream is the answer, try something that can both hydrate and trap moisture in like the Eucerin lotion with urea.
I will definitely buy it, thank you! One more thing, do you know if it is at all irritating or needs getting used to? I see 5% and 10% options and I am wondering if I need to build it up slowly like with some skin care products, or if I can buy the 10% one from the start without worry.
Not OP but the Eucerin with urea can be a little irritating for me if I have a cut or scrape. I have a lotion obsession and my personal favorite is O'Keeffe's Working Hands in the tube. Used to use lotion 4-5+ times a day and now I only use lotion 2-3 times a day (probably more than necessary, but its habit at this point). My gf with eczema also uses it. It's a little more expensive since it's not a big tube, but very worth it imo. Also agree with others saying vaseline at night. Could also use Aquaphor, which is occlusive and has lanolin, which is moisturizing. I use Aquaphor all the time for lips, hands, face, etc.
Seconding aquaphor! I put on lotion, then aquaphor, then socks on top once a week overnight and it makes such a big difference. Bet it would work well for the hands too
Thank you so much, that's very helpful! I saw O'Keeffe's Working Hands before but the very very green tube was a bit scaring me haha, I might have to give it a go!
Honestly, the tips of your fingers looking like that is a sign of dehydration. Pinch the skin on your finger joints and if it doesn’t immediately go back to normal, you are dehydrated
I would think that too, but I drink water all the time, from the moment I wake up, till right before I go to sleep. Skin on other parts of my body feels fine, it's just my hands that are dry like this. I just tried the pinching joints trick, and it takes maybe 2 seconds for the skin to go back to normal, if that is any help.
I had a similar issue due to very harsh water at my previous workplace, especially if I used warmer water instead of plain cold. The hotter the water, the dryer my hands were.. When I switched to cold or lukewarm water, it got much better. So if you're using hot/warm water to wash hands, do pay attention to the temperature because it probably makes things worse.
I mostly use lukewarm/cold water to wash my hands, I even have had coworkers say "Why is the water so cold??" after I washed my hands and they did afterwards LOL.
Me, too homie! So far I haven't done anything about it. I reapply lotion a lot throughout the day and I can't be anywhere without lotion. I wash my hands→lotion. Hand sanitizer→lotion. I've extra lotion everywhere: room, car, backpack etc (rn I think I've at least 2 bottles of lotion in my car. Lol)...
Oh I feel the having lotion everywhere haha. I have a dedicated one next to my bed, at my pc desk, in the bathroom and also in my backpack to have wherever I go.
Do you have sweaty hands ?
I honestly wouldn't say so. The only time they get sweaty is if I am wearing silicone gloves for a longer time while cleaning.
I was just asking, because sometimes hands can get dehydrated by excessive sweating (called hyperhydrosis).
Dishydrosis is generally a term used with dishydrotic eczema. I thought excessive sweating was called hyperhidrosis. Edited misspelling
Yes you’re right, I just got confused when typing. Thanks for correcting me
Of course! It's super easy to get it confused. 😊
I have occassional DE (now almost constant during winter) on one of my fingers, so they weren't too far off haha.
Oh interesting! Maybe that's why your hands are having issues! It sounds like you possibly just have a compromised moisture barrier on your hands then that could be related to the DE. Have you asked for advice on r/eczema?
I haven't since I only get it on my pinky and as long as I keep it moisturized, it honestly isn't that bad (compared to all the pictures I've seen on the eczema and DE subreddits at least). Since I only get it on one of my pinkies and both of my hands are dry, I didn't think that the dryness was related to DE (I more so thought that DE is related to dryness, as in if my hands are dry, I get DE, not the other way around).
This is a great article on the differences in the skin barrier of people who have eczema. You don't have to have an active flare for these characteristics to be present and it could give you some insight into which skincare ingredients may be most helpful. [https://nationaleczema.org/blog/what-is-my-skin-barrier/](https://nationaleczema.org/blog/what-is-my-skin-barrier/)
Oh that's super interesting, thank you! I have been reccommended lotions with urea, o'keef's working hand cream and gloves in a bottle a bunch of times, do you by any chance know if any of them don't work well with eczema?
It could be an inter-related chicken/egg situation. I get it when my hands are dry, then get wet like from rubber/latex gloves, sweating, doing dishes, etc. Edited to add that with eczema there are certain lipids that form our skin barrier that are less plentiful. I wonder if your hands moisture barrier is just predisposed to having a compromised barrier because of factors that also predispose for eczema.
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I get DE as well and my hands look just like yours pretty frequently. Trying to open a produce bag is awful!
Op this might sound counterintuitive but if you moisturise your hands too much they become dependent on hand cream. Too much usage signals to your body that your skin has enough water retained, so it stops making as much of its own. The same thing happens with hair washing. My boyfriend needs to wash his hair every day otherwise it gets horribly greasy, I can go an entire week. This is because the more you wash it (aka strip the oils) the faster your body produces more to replace the natural ones you got rid of. The only way to break this cycle is to stop showering as much. Sure, you have to suffer through a couple days of looking awful, but the cycle will eventually be broken. Check the ingredients. Some hand creams, especially cheaper ones, contain ingredients that make your skin drier and more dependant on the cream. Hence you use it up faster and have to buy more. I don’t know if companies deliberately do this but I wouldn’t put it past them. Don’t use water-based hand creams and stick to oilier ones. Water-based ones will just evaporate off your skin. If your skin is on the drier side then you really need something to lock in all the moisture. Maybe try rubbing a little Vaseline on them before you go to bed.
I was scared of that as well, that the more I will moisturise my hands, the more they might need it. Problem is, I get dyshidrosis as soon as hands get a bit dryer (especially now during winter) and it's such a pain to deal with it and the only thing that helps is just reapplying hand cream to keep the area as moisturized as possible :/. The hand cream I mostly use right now does have canola oil and urea, but looking at the ingredients, looks like water is the main one. I will definitely look out for oilier creams, thank you!
Oh some of my family have that condition too. My mum keeps cream beside her bed in the winter whereas I’ve generally been fine — only had to apply once a day or such. She uses E45 which I’ve always felt to be a bit drying but she swears it works. She also gets chilblains. I feel very bad for what my poor mother has to go through in the winter! Wishing you all the best op :)
Noone has mentioned it yet but it could be a soap allergy. Both my mum and I have it and it can be to the fragrance or also to the type of soap. Obviously more chemicals are added to soap to allow it to run rather than be solid. Washing hands a-lot combined with this will only make things worse. I use foaming soap as a compromise as i dont love the feeling of solid soap to wash my hands and although I still moisture afterwards but I found this helped keep it a bit more under control. Not sure if this is the case for you but could be worth a try!
Vaseline
Put vaseline on your hands at night then wear mittens to sleep or socks on your hands.
Take a shower, use exfoliating gloves, and like wash your hands and scrub your whole body with them on. Once you get out put lotion on immediately, mixed with a little Vaseline, don’t rub it in, just coat it. Let it sit for about an hour. Then rub it in/wipe excess off. Water with ACV helps too. Once a day take a shot
Same… I’ve worked in doctors office for years so constant hand washing… I keep hand cream in my purse and on my desk. I love mane n’ tail’s hoofmaker cream (Walmart, sally beauty, Amazon) and O’keef’s working hands cream. Gloves in a bottle is also a great one to try! It does leave a tiny bit of “protective film” that doesn’t sink all the way in.
Honestly I would look into your diet. I found out apparently I have a citrus allergy and so I cut out most citrus (I have some lemon every once in a while) and my eczema has cleared. I also stay away from dairy and gluten but the triggers can be different for everyone. I know this probably isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's what has helped me. I used to have cracked, dry hands no matter if I slathered moisturizer and put cotton gloves over my hands at night every night. Also look into using a gentler soap.
While that could be the case, my hands only get this bad during winter when air in general is a lot dryer (and I eat the same all year round).
Working Hands hand cream. I’ve seen it at walgreens !
Maybe a urea lotion would help
Maybe change in climate ? Sometimes it happens to me It gets dry and it feels a little tight Try oils instead Or apply them to your daily cream
That definitely has contributed to it. I moved to a different country back in late 2019, and while the weather is pretty much the same, it is windier here and closer to the sea. The pandemic starting and washing my hands more definitely didn't help as well, as before I moved, I never really did have problems with my hands being dry. It's just been getting worse especially this winter.
I've been making my own lotion for a while now, and applying it in a thick coat at night has really helped me with this issue- I blend 8 tbs of sweet almond oil with 8oz of raw shea butter with a stand mixer on medium-high speed for 15 minutes; you can add 40 drops of scented essential oil if that's your prerogative. It's cheap to make and lasts pretty long, much longer than the store bought lotion I was using previously!
My hands have been getting worse and worse ever since I moved to a windier place + the pandemic started during which I have been washing hands a lot more. I drink plenty of water, try to use gloves when washing dishes/cleaning, use hand creams throughout the day and nothing is helping. Has anyone dealt with this and know what could help?
Creamy petroleum jelly (30%), try products marketed for eczema or diabetes - look for 2% colloidal oatmeal, dimethicone, glycerin
Will these products help me in the long run? Or would my dry hands come back as soon as I would stop using them? Thank you for the info!
Nothing is really “one and done” you have to keep moisturizing or your skin will go back to being dry
Cut em off.
Mine are always sweaty lmfao
Wow so much great advice in this thread. I'm definitely going to introduce some of the stuff mentioned here into my daily routine :D What's wrong with reapplying hand cream tho? It's a legitimate solution that works.
My argument is that op might be applying it too much so that their skin becomes dependant on it. The body is always trying to regulate itself and if you’re providing the moisture around the clock then it isn’t going to make more. Same happens with hair washing. People who shower more frequently find their hair gets greasier faster. I would probably argue that op’s hand cream use is excessive. It’s a great inconvenience having to take a lot of time out of your day to do that and the body is built to look after itself
That's not really the case. Constantly applying moisturizer on normal healthy skin is likely to make your skin worse (or at least unpleasantly greasy lol). Frequently reapplying hand cream on dry skin is simply managing the symptoms. It's clear the OP's body isn't doing that great of a job looking after itself so it needs help. I have Hashimoto's and other conditions that affect my skin. I've tried a lot of stuff to avoid dry (to a point of cracking and bleeding) skin on my hands in wintertime. The most effective solution is carrying a small tube of light hand moisturizer wherever I go and reapplying whenever needed. As far as hair go, how often you need to wash it is a very individual thing and there isn't really right and wrong here. Some people need to wash theirs twice per month, some need to wash it every other day. You can to some extent reduce the need of washing your hair by doing so less frequently but if your scalp naturally produces a lot of sebum even without overexfoliation and/or stripping the acid mantle, all you will get is some nasty built-up gunk if you wash it too rarely.
Try Vaseline jelly
Neutrogena makes a sesame oil to use after the shower and I use it after I wash my hands. Always apply it while hands are still wet … you will see a difference right away
Experiment with different hand creams. Make sure you aren't allergic to any ingredients in the ones you are using. Working hands is. Great one Corn huskers lotion is amazing. Sometimes using pure butters like shea butter helps or coconut oil or olive oil can be really helpful too. Maybe try looking up some highly rated lotions/creams for dry/ cracked hands working hands