Dry Skin - Any Tips?

[pat locani]

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

My hands are so dry that the skin on the tips of my fingers is cracking. I work in surgery, and I probably do at least 10 surgical scrubs a day. I also wash my hands between cases, between patients, and a bazillion more times a day! I try to use lotions between cases, but it only stays on my hands for about 20 minutes before I have to do another surgical scrub, so I don't get much relief. As soon as I leave work for the day, I apply hand cream, and re-apply several times in the evening and before bed, but my skin is still dry, chapped, cracked and sometimes bleeding. This worries me because, after my surgical gloves, intact skin is my best defense against blood-born pathogens like hepatitis B, hep C and HIV that I could come into contact with during surgery.

I've tried so many different lotions and creams, but still haven't found the one that seems to do it all. I've tired Body Shoppe Body Butter - makes my hands too sticky. Bath and Body Works lotions and creams - feels nice for such a short time, doesn't really heal. Eucerin - way too greasy! Bag Balm - oh man...can't get past the smell >GAK<. Plain 'ole Vaseline - doesn't soak in and way too greasy! USP Lanolin ointment - greasy, stinky, doesn't soak in. Too many different kinds from the health & beauty isles to even list here...most of them moisturize for a moment and then they disappear. The stuff that I had the best luck in the past with is Lac-Hydrin (12% ammonium lactate) cream. It used to be prescription only, but now is sold OTC (if you can afford $30 for a 5 oz. tube!) Lac-Hydrin doesn't seem to be working for me anymore now. I use it regularly and it's not healing my poor cracked skin. I've even bought some VetBond tissue adhesive (similar to the Dermabond skin sealant that we use in surgery) to glue the cracks on my fingertips together.

Does anyone have any 'tried & true' lotions or creams that work for you? Any suggestions? I really seem to be suffering this winter!!!

Pookie & the girls

Oh, I feel for you. I've had a lot of trouble with cracked fingertips this winter. It's very painful and I don't know how you are doing surgeries! I've tried all sorts of things, I think everything mentioned here. What seems to help is to battle internally as well as continuing with creams. I've been taking high does of flax seed oil supplement. I never get enough of that sort of thing in my diet so I need it anyway.

Good luck with those fingers!

 

[gailc]

I just read on cosmetic cop.com that you can sparingly use cortaid on the cracks to heal them.

 

[sandtigress]

Plain old Vaseline at night with the gloves and the Neutrogena Hand Cream is doing pretty well with my hands. I get nasty cracks and bloody areas on my hands from the cold, and after two nights of slathering the Vaseline on, they're looking and feeling almost like human hands again! Good luck, I hate this cold dry weather too!

 

[lunasmom]

I'm all about Aveeno daily moisterizing. It's the only thing I found to work for me in Michigan cold weather (and I get scaley dry skin too).

it lasts the full 24 hours like it advertizes.

 

[emrldsky]

Tyra had "my momma told me" myths on her show, and it's true that slathering Crisco on your ashy skin and then putting something over it (on her show it was ashy elbows, and cutting the foot off a tube sock and sliding the rest over the elbow) works wonders. *shrug*

My father works in a steel mill and is always battling dry, cracked hands. He uses something called cornhusker's lotion. It seems to work well for him.

 

[kaylacat]

I have psoriasis on my hands and the only thing that has worked for me is udder cream. http://www.uddercream.com/products.html I love it! I won't use anything else. Everything else I tried either made them more dry or felt greasy. This is the only thing that makes mine soft and makes them feel sooo much better. Not greasy at all once it sinks in.

 

[catlover73]

If you can afford to do so look into doing a parrafin wax dip on your hands. This is a service that some upscale salons and day spas offer near where I live. You may need a few treatments to notice a difference. It will remove the dead layer of skin so that when you moisturize your hands it helps. I have also heard that regular vaseline helps to but you need to put it on overnight and keep your hands covered.

 

[icklemiss21]

Originally Posted by Kaylacat

I have psoriasis on my hands and the only thing that has worked for me is udder cream. http://www.uddercream.com/products.html I love it! I won't use anything else. Everything else I tried either made them more dry or felt greasy. This is the only thing that makes mine soft and makes them feel sooo much better. Not greasy at all once it sinks in.

I like this one too, and it is a lot easier to find than most of the others, they have it at Walmart

 

[davcat5]

I, too, am a surgery nurse. I use Avon Moisture Therapy Hand Cream. It does not wash off with regular hand washing. I keep a tube in my pocket always!

 

[starryeyedtiger]

This is the ONLY hand cream that help me!! I've tried just about every otc hand cream i can think of- this is the only thing that works on my skin! the different scents are fabulious too!!! The goats milk really helps!

I swear by Dionis!!!!

http://dionissoap.com/Merchant2/merc...roduct_Count=5

For my feet though- nothing works except Vasoline- i slather it all over my feet then put regular cotton socks on them overnight when i wake up they're soooo soft! Johnson & Johnson's baby oil gel with aloe and vitamin E works just as well! But i do not do this on my hands because i gets too oily -that's why i LOVE Dionis soooooooo much!