Hand care - for fishing caused split and cracked hands.

[REW]

I made another post about the use of prepration H - to take care of your hands, as well as acting as a fish scent.

I have also used corn huskers lotion, aloe, deep oil well diggers lotion, utterly udder cream, and noximia - with decent results.

Any other solutions for those cracked and bleeding hands, after catching, releasing and or cleaning lots of fish. It seems that the fish handling - just really takes out all of the moisture and or oil that are naturally occurring in most folks hands.

Take care
REW

[RickK]

There was a good thread on this I think in the fall and under gerneral disusssion,..you might try a search,..ideas and some thing that has worked for others in the past,..I personally like Eucerin cream,..some guys with real bad problems use cotton gloves at night for a while.

[Gilligan]

I use the avon moisture therapy for extremely dry skin, works well for me but haven't tried any you listed so don't know how it would compare.

[ROCKY]

I finally caught some fish yesterday for the first time this year, and my hands are killing me.... so I know exactly what you are talking about... But Im stupid I just put up with the pain....Must be a stupid man thing my wife says....No remedies here...

[Fishnmagician]

REW, you've got to try Zim's crack cream, ok i know it's a funny name but this stuff is amazeing! I got it at target, but i'am sure any pharmacy will have it. I work outside in the winter in northern minnesota and get very deep cracks on my fingers, 3-4 days of useing zim's, and no more cracks. I'am telling ya, this stuff is amazeing.

[SenecaBow]

Rick try using Chap Stick or Carmex lip moisturizer. Just put it on the cracks and splits, it helps.
I work construction and the hands take a beating in the winter.
ChapStick works, but you have to use it often. I go through 15 or so a year.
Give it a try. If it dosen't work for you, use the Chapstick on your reels, it makes a great gear lube.

[dkooser]

My fingers crack and bleed especially bad at the tips of the fingers/corner of the nails. I use super glue to close the split. It protects the opening which is painful and allows the crack to close.

I learned this trick when I was a UPS driver. In the middle of the winter, with low temps, low humidity and constantly handling cardboard boxes, my hands would be zaped of moisture..

Since then, I have heard that facial surgeons use a super glue like substance to close wounds, openings.

[REW]

Actually one of the first uses for the super glues many years ago, was by brain surgeons doing brain surgery - so I have been told.
It makes sense. I do know that it sticks skin together very well, and eventually it will dissolve with out any apparent side effects.

Take care
REW

[rpieske]

That "Crack Creme" really works. It comes in a cream and also on oil. The oil penetrates faster and works great. The cream has to be rubbed in well and probably will last longer on your hands. I use both...the oil first, followed by the cream. My problem is my elbows. They dry out, crack to the point that they split. I have gotten elbow infections because of this. Not anymore! Crack Creme works.

I have also heard of taking Vitamin E capsules, cutting the ends off and rubbing the oil into your skin.

[Ristorapper]

I have heard of and used a substance many years ago when I was bowling 12-18 games a week and ended up with a blistered thumb because of wear and tear. It is obtained in many bowling alleys and is called liquid skin. I'm guessing it is something on the order of a super glue type of substance. Simply dab it onto the wound and let it air dry a few moments and the wound is sealed up.

[Mattman]

I use Badger Balm with regularity. http://www.badgerbalm.com/ All natural and works wonders for me. Haven't tried much else. Got some udder balm once to try and it didn't work for me. At all. I also got some Working Hands Creme (?) as a gift (from Fleet Farm) and that stuff is pretty good.

Another thing that has really worked well for me is Filson clothes. No kidding. My hands were at their worst during fall. Hunting/fishing, dry air, cold weather...I've got a pair of Filson hunting bibs and a Waterfowler Jacket. They're waxed. I always put my hands in my pockets out of habbit. My hands stay nice and crack free all fall now from the wax on the clothes.



Better to have and not need than to need and not have!

Matt Davis

[vetspet(ind)]

we vets have been using superglue-like products for 15 yrs or more...esp nice for cat declaws...seals the bloodvessels and skin...really works nice...don't use it on myself but it would probably work on cracks....steve

[metis]

nothing beats Bag Balm.

[Texeye]

I just want to thank everyone for all the suggestions I recieved earlier this year on this same subject.
The ends of my thumbs and fingers were cracking really bad.I found some udder cream made by a company out of Ohio.WWW.uddercream.com.I rubbed this in my hands before I went to bed and wore a pair of those rubber latex gloves for a few nights.The cracks all healed and now I use it every few days if I feel my hands getting a little dry feeling.
Thanks again to all.

[fredbaer]

At Walreen's the guy next to me said some cream sold as a foot cream in the orthodics area was the best he used. He was diabetic, and had badly cracked finger tips.

[VMS]

I will admit I have never been a fan of any type of hand cream, since they seem to dry out my hands even more after I stop using it. What has worked for me, though has been simple Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. After cleaning fish, wash hands as normal, dry them , then coat them lightly with vaseline. You will not lose the moisture your hands gained from washing, and if you put the vaseline on at night before bed, your hands will be nice the next morning.

to begin with, your hands will feel a little greasy, but that goes away.

Steve

[lost sailor]

these cracks are mainly caused by a depletion of water in the outer layer of skin. the skin drys out and becomes hardened and all it takes is a small scrape or bump and the skin cracks open. because it is related to moisture the dryness of winter is the worse time for most people. any of the products mentioned will work, they just have to be applied liberally and frequently. the more occlusive products work best because they trap more moisture in the skin.

skip

[wallytap]

"Nu skin" liqiud to fill in the cracks, water proofs and seals. Then it's Neutragena Hand cream at bedtime, very thick lotion, do this 2-3 week and your set.

[JCarp]

For fin cuts, I use Neosporin & a band aid.

[redbone]

REW, bear with me on this one. Potatoes. yep - if its the tips of your fingers or thumbs core a hole in a small potatoe, slip it on put a sock over it and go to bed. if its on an area of the hand cut a slice of potatoe and tape it to hold in place and slip on a glove, after a few days of this no more problems for a couple of months.
use to bowl alot and during the winter with the dry air and lots of use of rosin my hands would dry out badly, this always worked for me. Also for you bowlers that get that dreded blister on the fingers or thumb it will heel that up too. i think its the starch or something in them. call me crazy but it works.
good luck.

Bob Piette

[REW]

Thanks for all of the words of advice.
I will be making a couple of purchases before the spring trip.
Too many of us come home with hands that look and feel like claws.
Can't open them, because of too many hours holding a rod, and if we could, they start to bleed, because they are so dry and cracked.

Take care
REW