Dry Hands: What to Do When Skin is Rough and Cracked?

Extremely dry hands are bothersome and very common, especially in the fall and winter. How to soothe dry, rough, cracked skin? How to replenish essential moisture and prevent irritations?

See a brief guide to prevent and care for dry hands. The article shows how to keep hands from drying out, what causes dryness most often, how to provide the optimal moisture and the best ways to rescue dehydrated hands.

What causes dry hands?

There are different causes but it’s obvious that hands get dry mostly in the fall and winter when the temperature drops, it gets colder and weather conditions are harsh. The problem is that the skin of the hands has very few sebum glands, which means lack of protection against loss of moisture. However, there are lots of things that make the hands get dry:

• regular contact with detergents
• not wearing gloves for housework
• not using hand lotions
• mechanical damage
• unhealthy diet, stressful life, health problems
• using alcohol-based products
• deficiency of some vitamins and minerals

How to prevent dry hands?

Thankfully, there are some things you can do to keep the skin from drying out. Most people use hand lotions and it’s a good thing but it’s best to choose thicker creams rich in emollient substances like oils which are best to keep water from evaporating. Naturally, you can use oils alone, putting argan oil on hands or doing olive oil soaks. You don’t need to do that often. Try to devote some time 3 or 4 times a month.

Obviously, you must also remember to secure the hands on the outside, for example with gloves (rubber gloves for cleaning, warm gloves to protect the hands against the freeze). Avoid chemicals and mechanical damage as much as you can.

Home remedies for dry hands

If you’re already suffering from extremely dry hands, use some tried and trusted ways to make them better. See the top ones.

1. Shea butter instead of a hand cream

If a cream fails, try a more intensive product, that is natural shea butter. Cold-pressed, unrefined shea butter is priceless and has a very beneficial effect on skin. Because it abounds in vitamins, minerals, plant sterols and fatty acids, it nourishes, strengthens and revitalizes the skin, as well as ramps up levels of moisture. Shea butter is solid but it melts when you put it on the skin so the application is very nice. Rub it into the dry skin every day. You’ll see the improvement after a few days.

2. Warm olive oil hand soak

Olive oil is another game-changing natural product that treats dry, cracked hands. Naturally, you need a cold-pressed, unrefined olive oil. Mix it with some lemon juice, add a few drops of vitamin E (available at the drugstore), heat the mixture up and soak your hands in it. Warm oils work much better so this is the best remedy if you want to deeply repair the skin fast. Apart from conditioning effects, olive oil moisturizes, smoothes and protects the skin.

 3. Linseed hand treatment

You can also nourish your dry hands using DIY linseed gel. You need half cup of linseeds and some warm water. Mix water with the seeds and put them aside for around fifteen minutes. The longer you let them sit, the better. Then, simply soak the hands in the gel while watching a TV show. Linseeds are perfect for moisturizing the skin and soothing irritations, plus they leave the hands incredibly smooth. Amazing treatment for dry, chapped hands!