Are your hands chapped, cracked, or even bleeding from too much hand washing, dry and cold winter weather, or other factors? Check out these five solutions for cracked and chapped hands, and learn how to prevent these problems using the five ideas below.
Please note that this post contains affiliate links which I may earn commission from. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Commissions from these qualifying purchases help support Everyday Alaska at no extra cost to you. Please follow the instructions on all of the recommended items. All of the information provided is my personal opinion, unless otherwise cited or noted. I am not a medical professional, these tips and ideas are my personal opinions from experience, unless otherwise cited or noted. Please consult a medical professional for medical advice regarding your skincare if necessary.
How can I prevent dry, cracked, and chapped hands?
Some causes of dry skin include over washing and harsh weather (which we see a lot of in Alaska!). While you may not be able to control how many times a day you have to wash your hands, and you definitely can’t control the weather, you can control how your skin is affected.
Change Your Hand Soap
If over washing is the culprit causing your chapped hands, try changing your soap. Over washing due to having a job in the medical field, dog grooming, custodial work, culinary, or doing household chores can cause sever dryness and even bleeding from chapped skin. I switched hand soaps for this reason, and it has helped tremendously. After I started using this Dove hand soap, I’ll never go back. I have run out of the Dove soap before and had to resort to using our old hand soap. This caused irritation after only a couple washes, so I always buy a few Dove soaps at a time to ensure I won’t run out again.
Wear Gloves
Wearing gloves during seasons of harsh weather can protect the delicate skin on your hands from the wind and cold. You should not only be wearing gloves while outdoors, though. Many indoor activities such as washing dishes, cleaning showers, and scrubbing floors should include gloves as well. Not only will they keep you from contacting cleaning solutions that may irritate your skin, but gloves will also prevent your hands from getting too wet during cleaning, which can dry them out.
Hydrate
This idea has mixed reviews, but whether or not it is 100% proven to help your skin, hydration is 100% important to a healthy, well-functioning body. Staying hydrated can be an important factor to keeping your whole body hydrated. And considering skin is your body’s largest organ, it’s essential to keep it hydrated. Keeping a water bottle near you while watching TV, working out, running errands, and more will help you meet hydration goals.
How can I treat dry and cracked skin?
If your skin has been damaged from over washing, weather, or other factors, it may take time to repair it. The ideas below will help speed up this process and sooth and treat your dry hands rapidly.
Moisturize
One of best ways to prevent and treat dry hands is by moisturizing. This L’Occitane hand cream is one of my favorites, but there are many good ones out there at your local drug store as well. Keeping a moisturizer in your purse, by your sink, and next to your bed are great ways to remind yourself to moisturize throughout the day to prevent and repair dry, chapped skin.
Overnight Treatment
During times when my skin has been severely dry, chapped, and cracking, I treat them overnight. I use a large amount of one of the best creams for chapped hands and cover them for the night to let it heal my hands while I’m sleeping. I just slather them with the ointment and cover them with my husband’s socks. (You can use gloves to cover them, I just use socks since it’s convenient and they are large enough to fit over my hands.) Then I settle in for the night, and wake up to soothed hands. You may have to do this multiple nights in a row, but trust me, this stuff really works!
After struggling with dry, cracked skin for sometime now, I have learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t to help prevent and repair dry, cracked, and chapped skin. The remedies and tips above have been very useful to me to prevent and treat dry hands, and I hope that what I have learned with my skin issues will help you resolve yours. If you’re looking for some other great self-care ideas, check out my post here!
