They’re half-healed.
They’re not.
My fingertips usually give me problems during our cold winters, splitting to reveal raw and bothersome cracks because of repeated use to clear the snow off my dear wife Karen’s Mazda and my Chevy and shovel the driveway of the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood.
Yes, I’m wearing good gloves.
It hurts.
I took a thumb-selfie in an attempt to explain what I mean. And that’s in a stage of recovery from the rawest state.
This year has been worse than usual, I think because I’ve been using my hands even more since my start in October as a cashier at the store. Handling the wand to shoot the bar codes of the products on all sizes of flat beds and other carriers, punching the buttons on the registers, and rasslin’ all those various carts in from the parking lots allows my two paws little or no recovery time.
A little dab will do ‘ya.
On the plus side, the store is also where I spotted O’Keefe’s distinctive brand of hand cream. I purchased the green tub when I got off shift from the lumber register one day. I use it when at my splitiest, and it does a good job of hydrating my mitts.
And yet I think the only full recovery of the split ends will come with spring and summer.
Does winter rough up your hands and fingers? What’s your best suggestion for protection and recovery? What’s winter’s worst effect on you?
Mark Bialczak 
We have incredibly dry weather here in the winter, despite its being temperate and that makes my hands very very dry. We own that very pomade! It helps and at least doesn’t have a strong fragrance. But, like you there, we wait for spring to ease up this problem as it gets a bit more humid then. We are in high desert, so, dry, dry, dry.
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You’re right about this product being practically scent-free, Beth. That’s a big draw for me as well. And here’s to the arrival of moisture to your life out west, my friend.
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And snow coming this weekend in the mountains I can see from our hill, tantalizingly! 🙂 You are likely fed up with it and we are starved for it. What irony.
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I wish you could go up there or come east here for your taste of it, Beth.
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Mark I feel your pain. The splitting skin is painful. I use Aquaphore, it’s an ointment that has worked wonders in our family. Gook luck.
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Another salve for me to put on my list! Thank you so much, Tracy. 🙂
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I’m sorry about your fingers, but glad you found a good hand lotion.
Mine have been so bad, I actually went and had a manicure–I never have manicures!
Yes, wishing for spring here, too!
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I hope pampering your hands worked wonders, Michelle. 🙂 Happy coming of March to you, my friend. ❤
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Coconut oil.
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Thanks for the good-smelling tip, Johanna. I’m thinking Jimmy Buffett songs at the sound of it. ❤
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I feel you, Mark. My husband’s new retail hands have also become unlovely, and I cannot bear to have him stroke my skin. Ouch!
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That’s a big minus down Texas way, Kerbey. Yup. Retail hands are rough going!
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Oh yeah, I’ve had those Mark! They can be tough and especially if they don’t get healing time. I used to get chillblains on both my hands and feet. I don’t know if you know what they are but they are not fun at all. I still get them on occasion when it gets kind of cold here but it’s nowhere near as bad as they used to be. It’s one of the unexpected benefits of living in a warmer climate.
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I am glad the warm has cured you of something that sounds pretty bad, Marissa. Chilblains. Whoa! 😦
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Yeah, they suck. They get really itchy and can drive you crazy not to mention keeping you up at night.
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Ouch! My hands used to split and bleed every winter growing up in the east. I never knew why. Doesn’t happen here in the west but with my now older hands, having less collagen and fat in my skin, they can get bruised up pretty quick with the slightest tap! I’ve been telling people I have old-lady skin on my hands now. ❤
Diana xo
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Another woe altogether for you now, Diana. That sounds painful, too. Ouch! ❤
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Nah no pain, just looks painful!
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My skin takes a beating too. Dry, itching, flaking, eczema, some cracking — I depend a great deal on moisturizers. It’s less painful than summer skin for me though, which is why I’m so fond of temps 20-70 🙂
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I don’t have this problem in summer, Joey. Different strokes for we two folks. I hope you find your moisturing comfort now, indeed.
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Ouchie!
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Yup. No ha about this one.
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A topical steroid cream from your PCP might help with that eczema…
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So it looks like eczema, says Doc. I did not know this. Thank you, my friend.
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Ouch. Doesn’t happen too often to me in winter, but family is loyal to a very old product, Zim’s Crack Crème. It seems to work. Not sure what the magic is. Good luck, Mark. Spring is around the corner. ☺☺☺
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I’ll look for Zim’s Crack Creme, Van. I’ve never seen that in our parts, but it sounds pretty magical to me! Yes, here’s to the coming of spring. ❤
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ooh, i know this and how it hurts. i have the same problem, worse in the winter, mainly because i have to wash my hands so many times a day when working with the kinders. i’m going to try this product and see how it goes – happy healing )
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Happy healing to you, too, Beth. I hope you can find the little green tub of O’Keefe’s to help your process with the Kinders. ❤
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Its the dryness keep them greased up at night and wear white gloves to bed-overnight will do miracles to keep moisture in and aid in healing! The days you are off and not on-line grease them and let them heal-easier said than done I realize. Once they crack open it is hard to get them to heal with continued use. Sorry, you’re having this problem (it is painful)! The Gatorette.
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Thanks for the healing aid, Cheryl. Yes, it is a painful cycle, indeed. 😦
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Mark, I use to have this problem constantly, winter and summer. They are very painful! I discovered when I quit drinking the water from my faucet and started drinking bottled water, my fingers quit splitting. I think it is because of the chlorine and other chemicals they put in our water. Now, I make my coffee and tea with distilled water and drink bottled water. I haven’t had my fingers split since. Hope you can get yours healed soon!
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I’m glad that worked for you, PJ! I’ll keep my eye out here. If the splitting goes on in the summer, too, I’ll have to go to bottled water.
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