[TheForge] OT Hand "Cremes" (was: Carnauba wax (Was: Japan dryer))

[Bruce Freeman]

I frequently have to resort to using some sort of hand cream, lest the
skin on my fingers harden and split.  The curious thing is that
nothing seems to work forever - I have to change off.  I think this is
because the outer keratinized layer of skin gets thicker and thicker,
and it responds differently at different thicknesses. But that's just
a guess.

After washing/scrubbing my hands, nothing beats leaving them wet for a
minute to reabsorb some water.  Then use something to KEEP the
moisture in.  Petroleum jelly works, but lanolin is much better.  (A
mixture is better than either alone.)  The key is to use enough
without using too much.  Too much pet. jelly is slippery.  Too much
lanolin is sticky.  But the right amount seems to sink into the pores.

I don't like most commercial hand creams because they always seem to
have some surfactant in them - which attracts, rather than repels
water - and many have a fragrance.  Basically, I don't like mixtures
of ingredients.  I've never found one (for hands) that works worth a
damn - certainly not better than lanolin or pet. jelly.

BTW, even better than pet. jelly is a vitamin A & vitamin D ointment
in pet. jelly.  Read the label, though, because some use the purified
vitamins and some (like A&D Ointment) use fish-liver oil -- which
reeks!

In all cases, the best idea is to KEEP your hands moist.  Dry hands
are difficult to re-moisturize.  Soaking them in water or in soapy
water (to cut the grease on your hands and let the water in) for many
minutes may be the only way.

Once hands are cracked, you have a problem to deal with.  In that case
I drop the pet. jelly and use "triple antibiotic ointment" (which uses
pet. jelly as a base).  This is because an infected crack in the skin
will not readily heal till the infection is routed out.  I typically
take a fabric bandaid, put the ointment on it, and put it over the
crack just be fore bed.  By morning the infection is killed and
healing has begun.

Sometimes the crack is in a place where it reopens every time you move
your hand.  In this case, one overnight won't do it.  Sometimes the
only way is to pare back the thick skin around the wound - exactly
like dealing with a cold shut in iron.

When the skin gets really thick, I find it necessary sometimes to
remove some of it.  After a bath the skin softens a lot and a nail
clippers can be used to remove small thick sections - like paring
nails.  But this results in an uneven surface.  Instead, I like using
sandpaper - maybe 120 grit - by hand on dry skin. I usually take 1/4
sheet, roll it around a pencil, and use that.  Go VERY gently though,
and stop before you think you've made much progress, or you'll go
through into the quick and have worse problems than you started with!

-- 
Bruce
NJ