Dorothy FarrarHome remedies for dry, rough, cracked hands
Dry , rough and chapped hands are often a problem during the cold season. Not only is this uncomfortable, it also poses an increased risk factor for bacterial infections and greater sensitivity to the effects of irritating substances such as everyday cleaning products and chemicals. Due to work or normal everyday activities, our hands are exposed to a wide variety of strains every day.
What are dry, rough, cracked hands?
There is a wide range of possible complaints. At first the hands are dry and brittle. They flake, itch and appear more wrinkled. After a few days they also crack. Initially, the spots are small, easily bleeding and burning. Soon the cracks will get bigger. They are particularly painful and sensitive to impact in the fingertips.
In some cases, the usual use of the hands is significantly restricted until the wound has healed. A temporary physical limitation develops from a primarily cosmetic problem in the beginning. Another danger comes from germs that enter the body through the damaged skin.
Who is affected?
In the winter months in particular, dry, rough and cracked hands have their seasonal focus. No age group is excluded and everyone can share their own experiences. If the complaints are mainly in the area of negligent care, the skin changes differ little from one generation to the next. The exception is wrinkled, dehydrated skin, which naturally comes to the fore in older people.
Individual occupational groups are to be seen separately from the general public. Regular outdoor workers are more exposed to the weather and are more likely to be affected year-round. The situation is similar for people whose hands constantly come into contact with moisture in everyday life. Also more at risk than average are people with certain chronic diseases.
Causes
Since the surrounding air is much drier than our bodies in most cases, this barrier prevents us from losing too much fluid through the skin. Unfortunately, these protective oils can be removed by the constant hygiene practices that our skin is exposed to over the course of an average day.
When moisture loss and the removal of the skin’s natural protective barrier come together, the result is dry skin that can quickly become cracked and painful. In winter, it’s often the hands that are most likely to get dry, rough and cracked of all parts of the body.
In the rooms, dry heating air ensures that our skin is deprived of valuable moisture. Outside, in the great outdoors, cold, dry air and the icy wind also rob the surface of our bodies of the necessary fluids. Older people often have a problem with dry skin because the natural protective mechanisms against moisture loss are no longer as pronounced in their skin.
The skin on the hands is thin and sensitive. They are attacked by the stresses caused by work, leisure activities and environmental influences. For these reasons, their natural tension and mechanical protective function are heavily challenged. Unnecessarily frequent cleaning of the hands also affects them. The skin dries out, becomes rough and cracked. If skin care is inadequate in this phase, the protective effect of the skin’s own acid mantle is reduced. Disease-causing pathogens penetrate and lead to inflammation or allergies .
With increasing age, two factors for cracked skin become more important. One is insufficient fluid intake, the other is the common malnutrition of the elderly. Both increase vulnerability. The issue of malnutrition also affects people who have been seriously ill for a long time. Some chronic ailments also contribute to skin injuries. These include neurodermatitis , diabetes and an underactive thyroid.
The skin as natural protection
Our skin consists of several layers – the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis consists of six to twelve different cell layers that contain lipids ( fats ), oils and of course water. Due to the presence of these components, these layers act as a natural barrier that retains moisture in our body.
Home remedies
In the following section we give you a number of recommendations on how to protect and regenerate dry and cracked hands.
1. Gloves in the cold
You should wear gloves, especially during the cold season, to protect your hands optimally from these climatic stimuli.
2. Wearing gloves while working
Whenever possible, rubber gloves should be worn for all domestic work involving liquids, chemicals and cleaning agents to protect against possible allergic reactions. A cotton lining is an additional advantage because it absorbs or binds the moisture that is released and thus cannot irritate the dry skin any further.
3. Protection from the sun
The sun’s ultraviolet rays damage the skin and make existing health problems worse. The hands become even drier, cracked and more sensitive to other environmental influences.
In this regard, it is advisable to use a sunscreen with a sun protection factor of at least 25 in order to protect yourself optimally from the damaging effects of the sun.
4. Vaseline helps
Vaseline is a petroleum distillation residue and is used in medicine, cosmetics and as a lubricating oil. This substance is actually best suited to successfully treat dry, cracked hands or skin.
To treat dry hands, it is advisable to rub Vaseline on your hands in the evening or before you generally rest and then cover them with cotton gloves to protect them. After about a week as a result of constant and regular rubbing in, noticeable results in softer skin on the hands can be felt and seen.
5. Moisturizer also helps
If petroleum jelly is rejected, for whatever reason, one can resort to moisturizing creams. A cream works better than a lotion because it’s thicker and heavier.
You should definitely make sure to apply this cream several times a day, especially after bathing and after washing your hands. Recommended creams include Eucerin, Nivea, Lubriderm, Moisturel and Aquaflor.
7. No fragrances
It has been proven that fragrances are only responsible for a very small proportion of allergic reactions, but they can still be the cause of an allergic rash in sensitive people.
8. Use of gentle soaps
For sensitive, dry, cracked hands, a high-fat soap or even cleansing milk is highly recommended. Under no circumstances should you use deodorant soap, with the exception of Lever 2000.
Soaps that can be used are: Dove, Basis, Aquanil, SC Lotion or Moisturil. As one of the gentlest products for problem skin, Cetaphil is recommended by many dermatologists.
9. Avoiding hot water
One should only ever use warm water for bathing or washing hands because hot water strips the valuable oil from our skin, leaving it vulnerable to environmental influences.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.