When the weather turns cold and heating dries out the air, many people suffer painful fingertip cracks. When the skin of thumbs and fingers cracks, simple tasks like buttoning a shirt, typing a message or playing the piano become excruciating. What can you do to heal those splits quickly?
Managing Painful Fingertip Cracks:
Q. I have had issues for years with cracking on my fingers, like deep little cuts. The only thing that ever helped was New-Skin liquid bandage.
It burns when I first put it on, but it seals the cut and keeps it from getting bigger and deeper. Within a few days, the split heals.
A. Many other readers like liquid bandage for healing cracked fingertips. Some also report success with household instant glue (cyanoacrylate). Doctors now use a medical grade of instant glue to close some wounds.
Instant Glue for Cracked Fingertips:
Carol from Evanston, IL, shared these ideas:
“Instant glue is great for skin splits on fingers. It’s much cheaper and works better than liquid bandage. I take it along when I travel and I have found it in various countries.
“Remember to put any healing product on your fingers every time you wash your hands or put them in water – even in the middle of the night. Use very thin exam-type gloves when you’re cooking so you don’t have to wash your hands every two minutes. Try to use those thin gloves whenever possible for everything under water such as washing your face in the morning. It’s better to prevent if possible, rather than try to heal painful fingertip cracks.”
Disposable Gloves to Protect Fingertips:
Others are also enthusiastic about those thin disposable gloves to protect hands from moisture during daily chores.
Here is what Sally in Seattle says:
“You had someone write in about cracks in fingertips and using liquid bandage. I get cracks on tips of my thumb and forefinger in winter, particularly after lots of dishwashing. Without giving a free commercial, I have had wonderful results using O’Keefe’s Working Hands cream. It’s the ONLY thing that works. Its consistency is very like Chapstick. It’s not greasy or creamy, but it does the trick. I put it on at night, or even during the day, and then wear surgical gloves. That way I can continue to prepare food or do housework, allowing this to soak in and do its magic. I’ve never liked the heavy, dishwashing type gloves. Instead I buy a box of surgical gloves at Costco, and can still feel what I am doing, while protecting my cracked fingers.”
