Cracked hands - causes, home remedies and therapy

Dry and chapped hands - These are the causes and therapies

Cracked hands are known to many people especially in winter. Low temperatures increase the skin - on the one hand by the cold itself, on the other hand by the dry air of the heated rooms. Even those who wash their hands frequently, who often take showers or come into contact with chemicals, promote dry skin on their hands.

contents

• Dry and chapped hands - These are the causes and therapies
• Different skin types
• Only a cosmetic problem?
• Why the hands?
• Too much washing is harmful
• symptoms
• causes
• Home remedies for huge hands
• Cleaners are at risk
• Cortisone with caution
• Aesthetic problems
• Home remedies that help

Different skin types

People have dry, normal or oily skin. For example, some have greasy skin on their faces, but a dry one on their hands. This is the so-called combination skin. Those who by nature store little moisture in their skin are particularly vulnerable to cracking and should pay particular attention to skincare. Dry skin usually has very narrow pores.

Unpleasant and painful: cracked hands. Picture: Astrid Gast - fotolia

Only a cosmetic problem?

The complaints are not just an aesthetic problem. On the contrary, they indicate that the natural acid protection of the skin is impaired: however, this acid protection protects against environmental influences. If it breaks, inflammation develops faster and we become susceptible to allergies.

The sebaceous glands are responsible for the acid mantle, which consists of a mixture of water and fat. This keeps the moisture inside the skin. Lack of fat and moisture will make your hands crack.

Why the hands?

Cracks on dry skin can form anywhere on the body. However, hands (and feet) are affected very quickly because the skin is thin and has few sebaceous glands.

Too much washing is harmful

Washing your hands regularly is the best protection against viruses and bacteria, because most of the pathogens are absorbed through the mouth, that is, by putting fingers that carry germs into our mouths.

But too much of the good harms the acidity of the skin. If we use common soap, then every wash will not only wash away the dirt, but also the fat produced by the body and damage the natural protective layer. Excessive hand hygiene thus promotes allergies and inflammation. We should cream our hands after every wash. If we do not do that, it will not crack it automatically, but the skin becomes tight and becomes brittle.

If the weather is added, eczema may develop. If the protective layer is attacked, and dry indoor air such as cold wind load it in addition, the acid protection at some point no longer stands.

symptoms

Affected hands are dry, they feel like parchment. The skin turns red and looks pale at the same time. She shivers and itches. Sometimes there are open wounds.

In severe cases, a network of cracks, redness and abrasions forms. The skin becomes inflamed and those affected become infected with bacteria and fungi. On contact with water, the skin burns or itches.

These severe cases are especially in infants, the elderly and atopic dermatitis patients.

causes

In addition to the weather and excessive personal hygiene lead to too little water and improper diet to chapped hands, also nicotine and alcohol, hormone fluctuations and stress. Rarely, genetic systems also play a role.

Cracks in the hands of old age are not a disease, but a natural process, as the skin stores less moisture and less fat as it ages.

Skin diseases have chapped hands as one of several symptoms, especially the fish scales disease, neurodermatitis, psoriasis and contact eczema. Diseases associated with chapped hands, but not pure skin conditions, are for example diabetes mellitus or an underactive thyroid.

Other causes include a vitamin and mineral deficiency, for example, a deficit of iron.

Home remedies for huge hands

If you have a skin condition, you must go to the dermatologist. In general, you can but good prevention. In autumn and winter, wear gloves against the cold. In the cold season, cream your hands with fatty cream. Drink enough, because the acid protection needs water as well as fat.

Wash your hands wisely. Use mild soaps and lukewarm water, moisturizing shampoos and moisturizers. Wear gloves at work in the garden or household, for example made of cotton.

Cleaners are at risk

If the acid protection is broken, the immune system reacts and triggers inflammation itself. There are cracks on the hands and the skin itches. Those who work a lot with liquids and chemicals are particularly at risk, such as cleaners using disinfectants and constantly immersing their hands in liquids mixed with cleaning products that not only wash the dirt off the floor but also protect it from the skin.

Cortisone with caution

Doctors often prescribe a cortisone cream for treatment. The reason: This hormone dampens the inflammation by damaging the overreaction of the immune system. But caution: Cortisone should only be used until the severe symptoms relieve.

It is better to use wash gels in advance, which have a neutral pH value instead of disinfectants, which also destroy the beneficial bacteria on the skin.

Aesthetic problems

Who suffers from it, whose fingernails are also often brittle, and the facial skin looks dried up. These people look older than they are.

Refatting can quickly relieve discomfort. Image: Studio LaMagica - fotolia

Especially women from the mid-40s are affected, because the body produces less estrogen from menopause, which in turn keeps the skin elastic.

Women of this age, in particular, pay attention to their appearance and complain of wrinkles or dry skin. Instead of running immediately to the beauty salon, they can apply oily creams and drink more water. Suitable creams with a water-in-oil solution. They are not removed when washing hands and keep snow like rain away from the skin.

Home remedies that help

The hands in the evening in a warm cloth with the hand cream helps wrap, as well as a pad with a mixture of fatty quark and banana sauce. The quark dries and can be removed after about half an hour without problems.

Wool grease of sheep, jojoba oil, coconut oil and shea butter, as well as vaseline, which, above all, does not allow any moisture to escape from the skin, are suitable as fat donors. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)