Sore hands

[squidge]

A friend of mine is desperate to find something that will help her husband with his sore hands.

These arent simply dry they are cracked and bleeding. He is a carpenter and has been plagued by sore hands at this time of year for years but they are so painful this time that she is desperate. He has had creams from the doctor but this has not worked so we are searching for a "cure".

Any ideas would be helpful.

[trinkie]

The poor man must be in agony -
I recommend KAMILLOSAN it's a chamomile based ointment
but it is trial and error with each individual.
Has he seen a Herbalist?

good luck.

[Tristan]

A friend of mine is desperate to find something that will help her husband with his sore hands.

These arent simply dry they are cracked and bleeding. He is a carpenter and has been plagued by sore hands at this time of year for years but they are so painful this time that she is desperate. He has had creams from the doctor but this has not worked so we are searching for a "cure".

Any ideas would be helpful.

Neutrogena make an incredible hand cream which will work to help your friend. I think it is called "norwegian formula" or something like that. It is specifically designed for cracked/bleeding hands, and I can attest that it works brilliantly. It's not the cheapest - about £3.59 at Boots last time I bought it - but you don't need much. There's no smell, or greasy feeling.

I used to work with fish, and found this invaluable against the salt and cold. Don't know about a cure, but it should certainly make life more bearable for your friend.

[Moira]

I can vouch for the Neutrogena. Cracked bleeding hands to bliss in 30 seconds. It is expensive - I have on occasion paid over £4 for it. Small white tube with blue cap - lifesaver. A little of it does go a long way but when my hands are really bad I plaster it on so that they do feel greasy - boy does it work. Hope your friend gets some relief with this.

[George Brims]

Body shop Hemp hand lotion, or better still the foot lotion - it's the same stuff but thicker. I recently got chapped hands from a combination of using paint thinner to get varnish off them several days in a row, and the very dry air we get here at this time of year. It was at the point where I was sitting at this very computer and realised they were bleeding from numerous cracks. The Body Shop stuff cleared it up in a day. There's a Body Shop in Inversnecky isn't there?

[EDDIE]

Im a mechanic to trade i use latex gloves all the time during my work i dont get any problems with my hands before i used to get cuts and cracks but at least if try using latex gloves it rules out everthing his hands are in contact with a box of 100 gloves are about £5 plus also it makes a huge difference in the cleaness of the hands at night when u go home but u are supposed to use barrier cream at the start of every job once u develop a problem with your skin its hard to get rid of the problem at least latex gloves rules out everthing he comes in contact with(latex gloves are like surgical gloves very common to use in my line of work)

[newlabeluk]

my dad used to drive trains in a steelworks and get badly chapped hands & knuckles. he swears by a product called 'Snowfire' get from chemists.

[Fran]

you wont believe me but i can assure you its true. the best cream for cracked and dry skin hands is the cream farmers use for cows adders. I dont know where you would get it or what it is called, but my uncle was a farmer and had terrible hands which he cured with this cream. also, wearing cotton gloves once you have put hand cream or oil on, overnight does the trick too. Look up a medical book for the remedy, or ask google. hope this helps.

[trinkie]

What a lot of wonderful suggestions on this thread - I'm off to Boots today to stock up with some of the ointments! Thanks to all.

I must add that Kamillosan - which I mentioned above, is also very good for COLD SORES
As soon as that first tingle comes, start dabbing a tiny bit of Kam and it stops it.
If you're too late with the first application, it will help to prevent a very large blister from appearing.
From my own - and friends experience.
SD.

[SJR]

If you get some sort of hand cream, I would used yellow soft parafin or such like dont know if you can by 50/50 in the chemist or E45 clart heaps on at night put on a pair of disposable gloves plastic or laytex on top over night, it helps hold in the moisture.

[squidge]

Thanks so much everyone hope this helps his hands, keep the suggestions coming. I am really grateful

[bird]

Sounds weird I kno, but soaking your hands in warmed olive oil is great for chapped n dry skin - no perfume, no chemicals etc!!!

Cheaper than most creams too!!!

[htwood]

Hey squidge, we use a handcream called NoCrack, and we buy it at a local builder's supply shop. If you can't order it from www.nocrack.com, let me know, and I'll post some to you. The neutrogena norwegian formula is also a winner. -Helen

Oh, and I think that farmer's stuff for the coos is called Bag Balm, but it has quite a medicinal smell to it. ewwwwww

[ktb50]

I work off-shore as a Mud Engineer and I used to get through pots and pots of Neutrogena....However....

The medic said I was to to stop using it and try this other stuff. Its a german based hand cream and it is brilliant.

My hand ALWAYS used to be red and cracked with all the chemicasl I use, but this stuff has just sorted it out.

I could never go back to using any other stuff.

It's called " STOKO Lotion" and you can buy it on this web site

www.arco.co.uk which is a safety web site, Just type STOKO in the product search, its about £3.00 a bottle but a bottle last me for about 4-5 months.

I can honestly say that its a proper hand cream for heavy duty hands not dome poxy stuff you can get in "Boots" if you know what I mean. Please don't bother with anything else.

Kate

[2little2late]

you wont believe me but i can assure you its true. the best cream for cracked and dry skin hands is the cream farmers use for cows adders.

Are these adders a cows equivalent of worms?

[scorrie]

You could try Bioskin spray, we had it for our Daughters eczema and it seemed very soothing. It is expensive though. We also used Epaderm moisturising ointment, it is a waxy substance that has very good adhesion to the skin and can also be used like soap to wash the hands. Epaderm is available on prescription. Cardiospermum and Aloe Vera gels are also highly touted in some parts, the former is pretty hard to track down and is expensive. All the best!!

[webmannie]

ktb50,

Thanks for that, I acquired a bottle of hand cleanser a good few (20+) years ago, it used to remove gloss paint, varnish etc off the hands no probs. I couldn't get it again anywhere when it ran done.

Guess what, it is none other than Stoko Slig Hand Cleanser, if the hand cream is anything like the cleanser it will be the beez kneez.

[ktb50]

the Stoko stuff is just great

I'd not go back to using anything else now, my hands see some real rough action and in just a few days they were hardly red at all, and had stopped peeling

Kate