Chapped Hands

Chapped hands can be sore and painful. Chapped hands may be soothed by the use of moisturizing lotions and the avoidance of excess exposure to water. If hands become badly chapped, hydro-cortisone creams (available over the counter) can be used to help heal and soothe dry skin.

Causes of chapped and cracked hands 
Dry, chapped hands are a real problem to anyone who enjoys the outdoors or does heavy housework. During winter cracked hands start to appear because of lack of moisture which the summer provides, add a few hand washing with soap and water during the day and you can easily develop hand problems.

Chapped hands are of course, the result of your skin being too dry. Some people are more prone to dry hands than others, but almost everyone experiences chapped hands at some point in their lives.

The root of the chapped hands problem is that your skin does not have adequate moisture retention capacity. As a consequence, your hands become rough and chapped. The chapping further reduces the moisture retention capacity and this vicious circle results in the problem persisting.

Chapped and cracked Hand Care 
The remedy is to treat the skin with substances that enhance its moisture-retention capabilities.

In early adulthood, our skin cells begin to become more porous and less elastic. When a moisturizer is applied, it hydrates the cells, but the cells quickly lose the moisture.

If substances that work synergistically together to restore the skin cells' elasticity are applied to the skin, then as the healing progresses, the cells continue to admit moisture as before, but after the healing is complete, skin cells are better able to keep moisture from escaping.

Unrefined Shea butter to heal and moisturize. it is a wonderful agent for revitalizing our skin cells so that they regain their moisture retention capacity. Unrefined shea butter not only contains a high moisturizing fraction, but also contains an extraordinarily high healing fraction. To enhance the shea butter's ability to soften the skin on your hands and to heal the cracking, infuse it with essential oils: patchouli and sandalwood.

Gloves for warmth. One of the most obvious reasons for chapped hands is over exposure to cold weather. Get yourself a few pairs of gloves and stick them in every winter jacket that you own.

Minimize exposure to soap by using a non-soap cleanser.

Moisturize frequently. The next step is to apply moisturizer and lots of it to those reddened hands and best time is after you have exposed your hands to water.

Dry your hands well. I should also point out that it is not a good idea to go outside during the winter with damp hands. That is asking for frost bite. Be sure to dry them thoroughly even before putting on gloves.

Glycerin and lemon juice. Use a mixture of glycerin and lime juice in equal proportion for rough palms.

Salt. If you have dry skin on your hands then wash with soap then wet hands again. Pour salt on them then scrub under water. Dry hands then put lotion on them.

Petroleum jelly is great for chapped hands as it helps seal in moisture and acts as a barrier to the hands from surrounding environment.

Mashed potatoes and olive oil heel. Better than lotion, mashed potatoes will solve this frequent problem. Boil a small peeled potato until soft. Mash with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Apply to hands and leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water.