How Do I Heal Cracked Fingertips?

I live in Arizona where it's super dry, and I've had this as a chronic problem for years. (Never happened to me back in my native, humid New York!)

I'm telling you now: Forget the fancy lotions and cremes-- I tried all of those. Save your money. I just recently found the miracle cure: glycerine. Ask for a bottle at your local pharmacy. I started rubbing it into my hands every night, and after just a few days the cracks were gone! I have never since had those cracked and painful fingertips. It works, period. (Caveat: If you have bad splits, it does burn a little the first couple of times you apply it, but as your cracks heal, the pain goes away and it just feels good). Just make sure it's the last thing you do before you go to sleep, since obviously your hands will be all greasy from it.

This is great! Wash your cracked cuts with soap and water and trim all dead edges off. Now pack the cuts with chapstick! Can you believe it? It's not just for chapped lips. It makes them feel better instantly and actually heals it! --Arlene

@SarahGen-- Can't you wear gloves while working?

If my hands are so badly cracked that they start to bleed, I usually apply antibacterial ointment, followed by lotion and then put on cotton gloves before I go to bed. My hands are very soft by morning and doing this back to back for a couple of nights heals the cracks really well.

Something else that works well is baby rash cream with zinc oxide, like sudocrem. But any brand will work fine. Baby rash cream has antibacterial properties and it also moisturizes and relieves pain. So it's an excellent cream for cracked hands.

@simrin-- I second that! I live in Maine and I don't think it gets as cold here as it does in Iowa. But I have really dry skin in general and I have to work outdoors, so cracked fingertips is a common occurrence for me in winter.

I also like coconut oil a lot, but my favorite is shea butter. I use vaseline as well, but usually on top of shea butter. It works really well that way, keeps all the moisture in like you said.

Have you tried getting your hands dipped in wax? That is also an excellent way to prevent cracking.

I live in Minnesota where it gets extremely cold during winter months. When I first moved here, I didn't know how to deal with hands that crack from the cold. I used to live in the South before this, so I had never experienced it before.

At first, I started using any hand lotion that came my way but realized soon enough that most lotions didn't do anything for cracked fingertips. So I started asking friends and family for good moisturizers and I was told to use natural moisturizers instead of ones with mineral oil / glycerin in it.

Glycerin is the most common ingredient in moisturizers but it doesn't actually moisturize the skin. It just shields the skin from losing the moisture it has. Which was none in my case.

So I started using moisturizers made from natural oils like olive oil, coconut oil and almond oil. The first one I got was made with coconut oil, honey and beeswax. This moisturizer healed my cracked hands in a few days and prevented my skin from cracking again.

So if anyone out there has cracked hands and fingertips from the cold, start using natural moisturizers immediately. It's the best remedy ever.