Any Advice for hand skin cracking up?

[Lupiknits]

On top of good old Raynaud’s which I still have while most people are in tee shirts, I have to wash my hands constantly before and after applying various unguents to myself and for my dog’s autoimmune eye condition. Poor Blue now needs at least six eye treatments a day if not more. I have highly personal undercarriage needs too!

All this is in addition to the usual hand washing for hygiene. I’m using Cetaphil gentle skin wash and muslin cloths to dry my hands, but they are still very rough and the usual creams aren’t helping. I do the thick cream plus gloves trick overnight, but the skin hurts!

Any advice would be much appreciated x

[eekt]

Linseed oil! Having re-puttied a window, I can vouch for its efficacy. A quick Google reveals lots of literature and sellers. It's also a super-food. Win-win.

Wishing you and Blue much pleasanter times XOX

[PMRpro in reply to eekt]

Buy food-grade and you can use it in cooking and lick it off - double whammy!!

[Lupiknits in reply to PMRpro]

Ooh, can oil bamboo knitting needles too! Win win win 😊

[EOLHPC]

YES ...here’s a tip....maybe this can help...worth a try anyway:

Sounds like your mix may include a ‘dash’ of the anhidrosis that affects the skin of people like us with overlapping sjogrens & scleroderma stuff...diabetics rely in it...my life has been plagued by this...hands, feet, elbows especially...i’ve tried EVERYTHING you can get OTC...and of course i do all the self help stuff (only use mild soap, wear rubber gloves for chores etc).

last year i changed podiatrist to a TRUE EXPERT who is also a NHS podiatry specialist nurse...she listened to my diagnostic mix & immediately spotted my anhidrosis...and HURRAH prescribed Flexitol with 10% urea (and with 25% urea when trying to fix SEVERELY effected areas)...i now rub the feet version of Flexitol 10% into my feet, hands (especially around cuticles) & elbows at least twice a day...a FULL BIG SQUIRT of it...this stuff is MAGIC...i get it on repeat prescrip in HUGE 500g pump bottles, but you can get it OTC in all sizes eg Amazon uk has it:...maybe start with a small tube & see if it helps/agrees with you etc:

flexitol.co.uk

Sending you & Blue ALL my love

🍀❤️🍀❤️🍀❤️ Coco

PS this gives a basic explanation of anhidrosis...the ‘causes’ & ‘risk factors’ sections explain why many of us have this, but don’t get diagnosed:

nchmd.org/education/mayo-he...

[Lupiknits in reply to EOLHPC]

Interesting. I’ve wondered why I don’t sweat as much. It used to be that my thick hair acted as a sprinkler system on my face in hot weather. Now my armpits just don’t produce as they did. I do have thicker skin parts too, and know with the low potassium levels often found in my blood samples mean I need rehydration ( there goes the urge incontinence 🙄)

I have a giant Flexitol from my GP. I’ll check on the strength x

[EOLHPC in reply to Lupiknits]

OH GOOD: so glad your GP is onto this already....i didn’t have to resort to the 25% - the 10% was truly turning my prob around within 6 weeks of twice daily applications (a GENEROUS full throttle squirt @ each application). Hope Flexitol agrees with you‼️

[Lisalou19]

I have to say, I have chronic dry cracking hands. I do use body shop hemp cream now which I have do say has been really helpful.

I recently posted about this and a few users mentioned urea cream. Never heard of it til then and strangely I visited a friends house and her husband users it on his hands, I was so impressed with how it worked that I'm buying urea cream for my next purchase. You can buy different strengths and loads to choose from on ebay xx

[Lupiknits]

Thanks. I must give that a better shot x

[EOLHPC]

Me to: one of the main reasons i moved from East Coast USA to the UK as soon as i finished Uni‼️ ❤️

[Krazykat26]

Powder free vinyl gloves r a godsend in my world..we get them from a pharmacy..put em on..do the job in..then discard the glove/s..less hand washing!! I'm not good with water..dries my skin out no end xx