My hands get dry and cracked especially from washing dishes. I found a lotion that really works great. Gold Bond Ultimate for Diabetics. It not only helps with the dry skin but is also soothing. U also use Gold Bond Diabetics Foot Cream. Gold Bond Ultimate Diabetics' Dry Skin Relief is a foot cream and lotion that is specially formulated for diabetics' skin12. The foot cream contains seven intensive moisturizers to help hydrate and moisturize dry skin1. It also temporarily protects and helps relieve chapped or cracked skin1. The lotion contains aloe and three nourishing vitamins to soothe dry skin and add nourishing moisture for 24 hours2. Nine out of 10 people with diabetes saw noticeable skin improvement in one hour2. Learn more:
Buy rubber or plastic gloves for washing dishes. They don't cost very much. Eventually you will get a leak from handling knives and forks, so get more than one pair.
If they get too bad @Marie Mallery , use bag balm. Messy but helps heal. I have had good results with Gold Bond also.
I used to get cracks in my hands so deep they would open up like chasms. That was when I managed a gas station in the winter. The gas would backsplash onto my hands, and handing cash all day long sucked the moisture out of them. Back then I put Corn Huskers lotion on my hands and donned gloves before I went to bed.
LOL, Cody the only time that dishwasher is turned on is when we are canning. Dishwasher is good for heating up and rinsing the jars and lids.
I use rubber gloves when I wash dishes, also with other cleaning jobs that require my hands to be in water. I use my dishwasher all the time but there are things that can't be put in the dishwasher. I am always smearing hand cream on my hands.
I only wash dishes by hand for the stuff that doesn't go into the dishwasher, such as cast iron, carbon steel knives and pans, etc. I have posted before that the skin on my hands has been basically destroyed from my old work environment. I use CeraVe or Eucerin creams and Cetaphil lotion, or their generic equivalents. I still get cracked fingers sometimes, but my biggest issue is that there is not enough moisture in my fingers to operate a virtual keyboard, such as my phone or Kindles. As I am away from all the hand-washing, I am slowly gaining skin flexibility, and my phone works most of the time now. I still can't always sign those pads when making purchases requiring finger "signatures though.
Thank you and all are good ideas, and many things seem to work. I am now using the Gold Bond but will definitely try these other suggestions too. Caring for these dogs and cutting in the woods I continuously seem to be washing my hands. I also sometimes use alcohol which of course is very drying. I try not to use it unless fear of infection. I also use salt sprinkled on cuts like a thorn one I got yesterday which I put a band aide on over the salt.
I do have rubber gloves but haven't got used to wearing them, they feel awkward but I'm sure once I get used to them, they will be ok. I'm just always in such a hurry to get done or sit down and visit with y'all.
I worked with a woman (Michelle) who was constantly using hand lotion. We had to take annual Online Certification Tests at work every year, and she was in the dog house because she kept procrastinating. So I went into Michelle's office and said "Drop what you're doing and I'll keep you company while you do those stupid tests and get them out of the way. There's one on Timekeeping and one on Sexual Harassment. Which do you want to do first?" Michelle said "Let's start with Sexual Harassment. Let me get some hand lotion." Then we looked at each other and burst out laughing. She failed without even taking the test.
lol.. Sorry about using "lol" I'm not a big fan of acronym's, but sometimes a toothy grin just don't cut it.
I moved into this house when I was 56 years old. It's the first home I've lived in that has a dishwasher, except for the portable one we had when I was a kid.
That's what I've been using for years. I've also been using their foot cream. And Amazon sells a bigger bottle for less than stores.