Help! Left hand fingertips keep "cracking"

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

The simple fact is that our hands were never designed to be washed as many times as modern society thinks we need to. Skin was not designed to be washed 15x per day. Funny thing is....I get sick waaayyy less than most folks

[haggardphunk]

The simple fact is that our hands were never designed to be washed as many times as modern society thinks we need to. Skin was not designed to be washed 15x per day. Funny thing is....I get sick waaayyy less than most folks

i dont wash my hands a lot and i barely ever ge sick. Less than once per year. I do however wash before I practice. I play better.

[Paul Hird]

Another vote for Chapstick here. Specifically Blistex Medicated Lip Balm in the green container.

[haggardphunk]

Jill - is it really dry where you live? This time of year my hands get scaley but they never crack

[theCOOP]

"Working Hands" cream and Burt's Bees hand salve in the shoe-polish type tin. I usually also have Burt's Bees lip balm handy.

I've used the Working Hands at work because it isn't greasy feeling...seems to enhance grip whereas if I'm handling paperwork, pens don't seem to want to write on areas of the page that Burt's Bees has contacted.

[theCOOP]

Not being one for creams and loitions'n'potions I just rub the fingertips along the outside of the nose, under the ear or on the centre of the brow. As long as you've not been getting rid of all the natural oils there too there should be plenty to work into your fingertips. The added bonus is you know what's in it's not going to cause any reactions or knock-on issues. Once you've got them healed up you may want to try similar to keep things stable, It's free too.

It's interesting you should mention this. I recently got a Chieftains album with Chet Atkins on one tune on which he says at the beginning, something to the effect as "now I'm gonna put a little oil on my fingers from behind my ear".

[Bill Clements]

Every winter my right thumb develops a skin crack where nail ends on the right side. My wife also has this complaint with other fingers. Our physician prescribed Clobetasol Propionate 0.05%, a topical steroid also used to treat eczema and dermititis. It works.
This cream is available only as a prescription, so consult your doctor.

[Loudloar]

No one has mentioned water quality at your house as a factor. Hard water is known to cause dry, rough and cracked skin. A water softener can make a dramatic difference. Call it a Christmas present to the whole family.

Steve

[shiloh]

Here's my update -
since I started this thread I used the Chapstick - which worked splendidly. For about 4 days.... then my left-hand index and middle fingers, on the tips, started splitting and peeling again. This is so odd. Why only my left hand, and why does it recur???
Maybe it is something like eczema or something? Maybe I should (or shouldn't?) cover with a Band-Aid.... this is really getting frustrating. The most playing I do now is only 30 minutes on most Sunday mornings at the nursing home...until my finger cuts start to bleed and I but a Band-Aid on, then sing acapella (sp). LOL

[sunburst]

Just a "WAG" here...
What kind of strings are you using? If they are nickel wound, you could have contact dermatitis from contact with nickel. That might explain why only the fingers of the left hand are affected. If you are using bronze or brass would strings just ignore this post.

(Contact dermatitis is often called an allergy to nickel, but that's not technically correct though the symptoms don't really care about the correct term. It is the reason glasses frames, jewelery and other metal objects that are held in contact with the body are gold, platinum, titanium, silver or other more expensive metal rather than nickel. It is also the reason I have my tailpieces plated in rhodium rather than nickel.)

[shiloh]

I have Thomastiks on my Lyon & Healy, but otherwise I use phosphor bronze D'Addario J74s.

Jill

[High Lonesome Valley]

I use Skidmore's on my bare feet when they go a cracking.



Also, Bag Balm can help with cracked fingers and hands.

[lflngpicker]

+2 for Working Hands in the tin. I have serious problems with my finger tips, especially in winter. I have very well developed callouses from playing the guitar since I was seven (over 50 years) but the older I get the more I struggle with my fingers and nails splitting. This Working Hands used faithfully has made it so that I can play mandolin a few hours each day (I am retired) and my finger tips do very well now.

[Loretta Callahan]

Taking fish oil is also good. Cod liver oil, krill or good fish oil is a healthy thing to do anyway and I've heard some folks say it also fixed dry skin and callus/dry skin cracking.