Preventing split fingertips in cold weather

[34Willys]

As RayIN stated, glycerin is the ticket. It's the ingredient in most hand lotions that actually works. The rest are dyes and perfumes. You can add small amount of isopropyl alcohol to improve the penetration and it feels less greasy.
A Luthier friend of mine suffered from really bad split finger tips. Before bed, he would rub his hands with the lotion and wear rubber gloves to sleep with over night.

Patrick

 

[r porter]

plain lanolin works as well or maybe better than bag balm, i never had good luck with glycerin.

if it is bad i add some masking tape to fingers and it is best to tape up early [ before cracks]

 

[jyoutz]

The best way I’ve found to heal cracked fingertips is to apply a liberal amount of neosporin to the cut, then bandage or use those neoprene finger covers to hold the salve on the cut overnight. One or two nights and the split is healed.

 

[stuckmotor]

https://www.cvs.com/shop/bagbalm-ointment-1-oz-prodid-1070029?skuId=178676&cgaa=QWxsb3dHb29nbGVUb0FjY2Vzc0NWU1BhZ2Vz&cid=ps_bea_ski_pla

I've seen Udder Cream recommended somewhere before. Don't remember where.

 

[stuckmotor]

plain lanolin works as well or maybe better than bag balm, i never had good luck with glycerin.

if it is bad i add some masking tape to fingers and it is best to tape up early [ before cracks]

I've sheared a few sheep and sometimes when I have had bad cracks, I've thought that sticking my hands deep into their coats might help. The owner of the sheep got rid of them and I'm thankful. Maybe I'll buy some lanolin off the web.

 

[Bocephous]

plain lanolin works as well or maybe better than bag balm, i never had good luck with glycerin.

if it is bad i add some masking tape to fingers and it is best to tape up early [ before cracks]

Interesting. That is what I spray my truck's frame with to try to prevent rust.

 

[ponytug]

I've sheared a few sheep and sometimes when I have had bad cracks, I've thought that sticking my hands deep into their coats might help. The owner of the sheep got rid of them and I'm thankful. Maybe I'll buy some lanolin off the web.

If you do, I would suggest that you try to buy hydrous lanolin, as it is a lot easier to spread and work into your hands. Anhydrous lanolin is great for making your own hand cream, but by itself it is really sticky. Really, really sticky. Think Spider-Man.

Personally, I think buying one of the hand creams above is probably preferable as the additional ingredients will help your skin in other ways. (Antioxidants, emulsified water to hydrate your skin, and other oils and fats to help seal your skin)

All the best,

Peter

 

[stuckmotor]

Peter,
Thank you very much.
I didn't know cracked fingertips were such a wide spread problem. It's good to have all of these suggestions in the files.

 

[PEJ5]

Working Hands is a big help, but I carry a tube of basic lypsyl in my pocket to fill cracks. It provides instant relief. I call it thumbsyl.

 

[stuckmotor]

As RayIN stated, glycerin is the ticket. It's the ingredient in most hand lotions that actually works. The rest are dyes and perfumes. You can add small amount of isopropyl alcohol to improve the penetration and it feels less greasy.
A Luthier friend of mine suffered from really bad split finger tips. Before bed, he would rub his hands with the lotion and wear rubber gloves to sleep with over night.

Patrick

With me, the splits are usually on the thumb and next finger. The ones beside the thumbnail have been the worst and can make me hesitate to use the hand it's on.

 

[oosik]

I've used two products. Corn Huskers lotion. Lanolin - directly from a fellow who keeps around 1500 sheep. Raw lanolin works best - but the "smell". Not a product for the faint of heart or dainty. Insides of my leather gloves are liberally coated in raw lanolin.

 

[FriendwithTractor]

When I was younger and dumber, read: glove adverse. I found the best thing for cuts on fingers, finger tips, and moving joints was a liquid bandage called NewSkin. It's not cheap, I remember buying it for 15 dollars or so for a small bottle. But for it's use (Small cuts, nicks and cracks in places its hard to get a bandaid to stick) there's nothing better. Seals it entirely and your body forces the stuff out as it heals.

 

[Bocephous]

When I was younger and dumber, read: glove adverse. I found the best thing for cuts on fingers, finger tips, and moving joints was a liquid bandage called NewSkin. It's not cheap, I remember buying it for 15 dollars or so for a small bottle. But for it's use (Small cuts, nicks and cracks in places its hard to get a bandaid to stick) there's nothing better. Seals it entirely and your body forces the stuff out as it heals.

I've used super glue, too. Probably toxic as all get-out but it works.

 

[WinterDeere]

I remember several friends claiming that liquid bandaid was simply re-labeled cyanoacrolate glue, aka “super glue”. I never verified for myself, but I suspect they were at least half correct.

 

[ponytug]

I remember several friends claiming that liquid bandaid was simply re-labeled cyanoacrolate glue, aka “super glue”. I never verified for myself, but I suspect they were at least half correct.

I've used liquid bandage, and like it as well, especially for tough to bandage places like fingernail edges.

That's a nice story about the ingredients in Liquid bandage, but no. Liquid bandage is a mix of nitrocellulose (the polymer and bandage material), amyl, ethyl, and butyl acetates (the distinctive odors and solvents), camphor (also distinctive odor), ethanol, plus usually some disinfectants, like benzethonium chloride.

All-in-One New-Skin® Liquid Bandage

All-in-One New-Skin Liquid Bandage is the ultimate solution when you need a flexible seal that protects cuts and scrapes, wounds, calluses, and dry, cracked skin.

newskinproducts.com

"...Amyl acetate, camphor, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, n-butyl acetate, nitrocellulose"

Methylacrylate, aka superglue, is used medically to suture wounds, but it is a medical grade material (e.g. Dermabond), and some forms are biodegradable, so no need to open the patient up to remove internal sutures. Just be careful not to use it on jagged or dirty wounds when it can do more harm than good.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/super-glue-for-cuts-3120822

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/should-super-glue-be-in-your-first-aid-kit

Mayo emphasizes the lack of sedation needed to care for wounds as an important driver of pediatric use.

I personally think bandage is preferable to superglue, but if the choice is superglue or nothing, I'd certainly seriously consider it.

I'm not an MD, but I have been in the back of beyond lots of times, and know first hand that when you need it, you need it.

All the best,

Peter

 

[WinterDeere]

Thanks for posting that, Peter. And that makes sense, as the friends with whom I was speaking on that were medical industry people, and therefore probably talking about a product like Dermabond instead of Liquid Bandage. It was probably me who conflated the two.

 

[bigtiller]

I have seen liquid skin/bandage put on other people with cuts that were worthy of some stitches. And judging by their reaction, it apparently stings BIG time.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Additionally, as treatment for a split, it is helpful to thin the skin in the area of the crack. They all seem to originate in the "valleys" between fingerprint ridges. Careful filing with a sapphire or diamond grit nailfile can inhibit the crack and limit stress as it heals.

 

[WinterDeere]

I have seen liquid skin/bandage put on other people with cuts that were worthy of some stitches. And judging by their reaction, it apparently stings BIG time.

Well, I can tell you from using straight up cyanoacrolyte glue, that stings like a motherhumper. Don't have impressionable ears anywhere nearby, when you apply it!

But the sting lasts only a second or three, and it holds real well.

 

[ponytug]

Having been on the receiving end of Liquid bandage, Dermabond, and superglue, at various times and needs, personally I think that they all sting enough to not want anyone else in hearing distance when it is being applied, with a slight preference for Liquid Bandage. I'm not normally all that pain averse, just to scale things.

My preference for general wounds are the NexCare waterproof bandages, but finger tip cracking is quite different, at least in my experience, and in my case benefits from oily/hydrophobic lotions, or glue. For me, overnight immersion in salves, inside a cotton glove or bandage really seems to help my skin, but that is definitely a "YMMV" item.

All the best,

Peter