Dry, cracking fingertips

N

notCardio

I walk the line
I was going to put this in the guitar forum, but since probably 98% of everyone here is a guitar player, I thought I might get more responses here.

So it's that time of year again, where we northern types at least get dry, cracked hands but more importantly dry, cracked fingertips.

What do you use to prevent or remedy this situation? Mine start hurting like hell.

Everything I've tried seems to leave my hands either greasy or gummy, and if you wash it off, well, that kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
 
Happens to me every year. Just part of living in a cold climate--and getting older. O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream helps. Soaking the fingers in a solution of warm water and epsom salt can help when you have a crack that doesn't want to close up. Keeping the hands moisturized with a good hand lotion avoids some of the problem.
 
I just use heaps of hand lotion...I like the "Intensive Care Aloe Soothe" made by Vaseline.
It's not greasy or grimy...takes about a minute to absorb fully into your skin, and then your hands feel normal...not dry not sticky.
I use that shit multiple times a day in the winter months...any time I wash my hands, I then apply some hand lotion.

If you get a skin crack on your fingertips...a drop of crazy glue is about the best way to close it. I use that too all winter long too. My picking hand, the thumb always gets a skin crack in the outside corner where the nail ends...and without the crazy glue, that shit would hurt and last a long time...makes it hard to hold a pick sometimes.
So I always keep the lotion going...and as soon a a small skin crack happens...a dab of crazy glue, pinch it so the skin closes, hold for a couple of seconds, and then wipe off the excess with a tissue.
If you have dry crazy glue on the surface that's bothering you...just use on one of those nail maintenance Emery boards. They come in a few grits...the flat ones with the foam center (ask your girlfriend or your wife). :)
 
Yeah, mostly I get it in the corners where the nail ends. I've used some of the Vaseline Intesive Care kinds before, but not any Aloe that I can remember. I'll try some.

I always wondered if that O'Keefe's shit really worked. I'll give it a try, too. It's probably better than the O'Jagger's. :laughings:


Can't do the emery board thing. That's like nails on a blackboard to me. It gives me the willies up and down my spine. Don't know why.
 
notCardio said:
Can't do the emery board thing. That's like nails on a blackboard to me. It gives me the willies up and down my spine. Don't know why.
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Well...just be neat with the crazy glue then. :D

The thing with the Emery board...it also helps to remove some of the dry skin. See, as you get more dry skin building up, that's what will cause the cracks.
Same shit on your feet.
I wear flops almost year round in the house...bare feet. So in the winter, the skin drys faster...and if you let it build up, it will crack. Moisturizers help, but "shaving" off some of the excess dry skin makes skin cracking less problematic.

I can't help you with the "nails on a blackboard" thing....but I get it.
I hate dragging certain kinds of cloth material (mostly the synthetic shit) across my rough dry skin. That gives me the willies! :p
 
Even down here in the humid south, it gets dry in the winter. I don't crack and fall apart over it, but it does make gripping drumsticks a little tougher at band practice. It doesn't affect my guitar playing. But for drumming I'll just use whatever lotion is handy and rub it in all the way so my hands are normal but not greasy. I keep some wild apple daffodil lotion behind the practice kit. :D
 
Greg_L said:
Even down here in the humid south, it gets dry in the winter. I don't crack and fall apart over it, but it does make gripping drumsticks a little tougher at band practice. It doesn't affect my guitar playing. But for drumming I'll just use whatever lotion is handy and rub it in all the way so my hands are normal but not greasy. I keep some wild apple daffodil lotion behind the practice kit. :D
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That's got me thinking actually, have you seen that drumstick wax in music shops, it's basically a block of surf wax, it's even made by a surf wax company (Sex Wax) buts it's 3 times the price of a block of surf wax.
 
JDOD said:
That's got me thinking actually, have you seen that drumstick wax in music shops, it's basically a block of surf wax, it's even made by a surf wax company (Sex Wax) buts it's 3 times the price of a block of surf wax.
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Haven't seen it, and it sounds terrible.
 
I've never heard of cracking fingertips though. Sounds terrible. Is that a northern thing, or an old guy thing?
 
Well...when you get sub-freezing temps for 2-3 months, with only 20% humidity...something's gotta give.
 
Yes...and in most cases, heaters just dry out the air even more. :(
I run a pair of humidifiers all winter long...for the studio, and the rest of the house.

When you live in sub-freezing temps and low humidity...it's hard to escape it even if you keep warm inside and run humidifiers.
I mean, we gotta go out constantly...so it's a battle all winter long...but it's not that bad. I mean, I would never trade the northeast for some year round soupy, warm climate....then you just get a lot of crotch rot. :D
 
Okay. So it's not just old, or just cold, it's old in cold. Got it. I'll get old in hot and have juicy fingertips till I die. :D
 
Kids can get dry skin up hear in the winter...just like they can get diaper rash when it's wet-n-warm. :)
 
miroslav said:
Kids can get dry skin up hear in the winter...just like they can get diaper rash when it's wet-n-warm. :)
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Damn dude. Defensive about old, defensive about cold. Jeez, I was just asking because I'm not yet as old as you guys and don't live in cold, so I'm curious if I have any of this to look forward to. :facepalm:
 
Not defensive...it's just that you like to talk about "facts"...so I was just setting it straight.

I wouldn't want you to be misinformed about who gets dry skin in the northeast during the winter.
You might be in a bar, and someone could bring it up and you would say for a "fact" that only "old" people do...and then you would look foolish. :)
 
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