Remedy for dry, cracked skin?

[Lilyth Von Gore]

Every Winter, I get dry cracked skin on my hands. It gets so bad that the cracks open and bleed. It's very sore when I move my hands and stings when I wash my hands. I've tried hand creams, E45, Oilatum, Norwegian formula, Helosan (a Swedish all purpose cream).
I've even tried emulsifying oil specifically for dried cracked skin.
What are the alternatives, if any?

[Kaere]

If you're not allergic to wool, you might try a lanolin based cream or just straight lanolin. You may need to google to find an appropriate product in your area but where I live there's a product called Lansinoh that works wonderfully to heal and protect cracking sore skin.

Some folks swear by smearing petroleum jelly on their hands/feet and then wearing gloves/socks to bed. I tried this for my feet and it took just one night to see significant improvement.

Those are my suggestions.

[Silver]

I have a problem with callouses on my feet, and since I've been taking MSM crystals (you mix it in water and drink it), it's been better -- plus it makes your nails stronger and I think it's worth a try...plus I saw that there's MSM cream, too.

[Belle]

Have you considered argun oil - it's meant to be a cure-all sort of thing - you will need organic? I've not tried it.

I used to suffer terribly with chapped skin and heavy-based eucrin helps.

Are you suffering from eczma - that's something that I get and a smidgen of very very very mild steroid cream goes a long way with me. You might be able to get an over the counter steroid cream if you have a chat with a friendly pharmacist? But - just a smidgen.

Originally Posted by Lilyth Von Gore

Every Winter, I get dry cracked skin on my hands. It gets so bad that the cracks open and bleed. It's very sore when I move my hands and stings when I wash my hands. I've tried hand creams, E45, Oilatum, Norwegian formula, Helosan (a Swedish all purpose cream).
I've even tried emulsifying oil specifically for dried cracked skin.
What are the alternatives, if any?

I made my own lavender salve. It's kind of the consistency of chap stick, and it's specifically very good for psoriasis which is extremely dry skin. I gave some to my friend with psoriasis and he said my stuff worked better for his skin than his own prescription lotion he got. It's really easy to make:

You need oil-I used olive oil but you can use safflower oil or almond oil too. Olive oil is recommended to make infused oil for use in herbal medicine as it's found easily and rarely spoils.
You need at least one cup of dried lavender flowers
You need a jar with a sealed lid like a mason jar. I use old pickle jars I've cleaned out really well
You need a bar of beez wax



Basically you're going to make an infused lavender oil by putting the lavender flowers in the jar, pouring the oil on top until it completely covers the flowers and then seal the jar. You'll leave them in there for 2-4 weeks, shaking the jar at least once daily. Once 2-4 weeks is up you can strain the flowers out(i left them in because they were pretty). you can actually stop at this step and just keep a little jar of lavender oil on hand for your dry skin, but it's messy and can probably spoil. Here's an excerpt from http://www.sustaincreateandflow.com/...-salve-recipe/ about how to create a salve with the beez wax:
In a small double boiler– I use a Pyrex glass bowl atop of a pan– heat all oils, beeswax and butter. (Hints: when selecting your tools, keep in mind beeswax is hard to clean, and this recipe can be stirred with wooden chopsticks. They work great!) Remove from heat and add essential oils(in this case, your lavender oil you just created).

She also suggests adding vitamin E, and I bet that would work wonders in a skin treatment salve.

Once you've made the salve you can put it in little jars or tubs or you could make an on the go stick by emptying and cleaning out an old lipstick tube and putting the salve in that. I did that and I now have my salve in my purse at all times.


hope this helps! It's fun making your own treatments hehe

[lovingkind]

Shea butter. Lanolin is also good. My finger tips crack in the winter and it is very painful. So I have tried many things to prevent it from happening.

[jenriggs]

try some coconut oil :)

Originally Posted by Lilyth Von Gore

Every Winter, I get dry cracked skin on my hands. It gets so bad that the cracks open and bleed. It's very sore when I move my hands and stings when I wash my hands. I've tried hand creams, E45, Oilatum, Norwegian formula, Helosan (a Swedish all purpose cream).
I've even tried emulsifying oil specifically for dried cracked skin.
What are the alternatives, if any?

My neighbor and friend had this same condition! His doctor gave him a prescription cream which he used for 6 months , it did NOTHING! I gave him a quart of Castor Oil and the following instructions: Put the oil on liberally at night and rub into the hands for 15 minutes, then put a pair of white cotton gloves on , say a prayer and go to sleep. In the morning , wash off the oil with warm water mixed with a 1/4 cup on baking soda. Wear protective gloves when working with any chemicals or cleaning products. Do this for 4-6 weeks. The results? His hands were completely healed at 40 days! Castor Oils latin name is "PALMA CHRISTI" (Palm of Christ) and has been used for 5,000 years to cure all ailments of the hands.

I used to safer from extremely dry skin in the winter and would like to share my experience. I've tried so many products, sleeping with cotton gloves, soaking my hands in warm water and baby oil, etc. I haven't truly found my cure all ointment or cream. Some better than others.

Sometime ago I found by accident an ad on Google, advertising an all natural healing cream, and I am so glad I did! It's called Athos Miracle Cream.

After about a week my cracked flaky skin disappeared, and I love the herbal scent of this cream.

Hope this helps...

[jenriggs]

Coconu oil, vitamin e oil may help. Someone said msm, but I think that just works for your hair and nails, but it isnt that expensive to see if it works. I tried it for hair loss for pcos and it worked and my nails were hard as a rock.