Soft hands are a sign of great attention. On the other hand, chapped and cracked ones are a nightmare and can even be painful.
If you are experiencing dry chapped hands, you should not worry anymore because we have gathered 10 of the best ways for dealing with and preventing your hands from drying out.
What Causes Dry and Cracked Hands
We all use hands in almost everything we do. As a result, they are frequently exposed to different activities and elements like dirt, bad weather conditions, chemicals, lots of water, and the sun.
However, the common cause of dry and cracked hands is the compromise of the outer skin layer of our hands.
This layer naturally moisturizes itself, but when frequently exposed to chemicals, cold air, sun and many other things, it progressively damages. Thus, it can no longer moisturize or hold moisture naturally.
These are the common elements that contribute to damaging the outer skin layer:
Water: If you frequently wash your hands with soap and water, you will have a loss of moisture. This is because soap robs the skin of its normal moisturizing oil.
Dry air: If you are exposed to cold air during the winter months or the air that occurs in a dry climate, it will sup moisture out of your skin thus making it dry and eventually cracks.
Soap: Some old-fashioned soap bars and most hand washing detergents usually disorder the skin’s normal conditions. The disruption of natural processes creates dryness and cracking.
Chemical: If you constantly work with chemicals or use chemical-based home detergents, you will most likely have seriously chapped hands. Chemicals steal the skin’s moisture way, damage the epidermis exposing your hands exposed to various types of snags.
Naturally, we cannot avoid the elements that cause our hands to dry, but we can nourish and safeguard our hands with various home-based remedies for dry and cracked hands.
Here are 10 simple home-based remedies for your dry, chapped, and cracked hands.
Wash Your Hands Sensibly
Repeated washing of hands can make the skin dry and cracked. But again, we wash to protect ourselves from germs, bacteria, colds, and contagious infections that can impact our health if we leave them dirty.
Thus, it is important to maintain our hands clean even when they are cracked.
The most effective way to dodge dry cracked hands is to wash them gently. Make sure the water is warm and not hot.
Hot water takes away the natural oils that are meant to protect the outer skin layer of your hands. Also, do not use cold water since it will make your hands drier.
According to some dermatologists, if you have dry and cracked hands simply scrub your palms.
Moisturize Regularly
Your dry chapped hands require regular moisture in order to heal. You need to moisturize often particularly after washing your hands or before you go basking in the sunshine.
For me, I keep an intensive hand’s moisturizing cream next to the sink to remind me.
We mostly pay close attention when it comes to protecting our faces, but we do not usually channel the same to protecting our hands. You can protect your hands from harmful sun exposure by using hand creams with SFP.
Massage Your Hands Using Plant-based Oils
Most of you do not know that the oils you frequently use in the kitchen are a great remedy for dry and cracked hands. Olive and coconut oil are some of the amazing oils for moisturizing your dry hands.
Certainly, you do not have to buy any oil purposely for hands because you already have some in your kitchen.
Simply, put a few drops of your most preferred plant-based oil in your hands, rub them for about ten minutes, and then rinse them with warm water.
Some of the best plant-based oil for the massage include peanut oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, safflower oil, coconut oil, and olive oil.
Exfoliate
Often we exfoliate our faces but forget to do the same for our hands. The outer layer of our hands, especially on the back, is delicate and vulnerable to damage even more than our faces.
You can exfoliate dry and cracked hands by doing the following:
- Put 1 tablespoon of sugar in your hands
- Add a few drops of plant-based oil
- Rub the front and back of your hands
- Apply moisturizing cream
- Do 1-4 times a week
Use Aloe Vera
- Homegrown by Hirt's Gardens
- Full Sun. Immediate shipping in 4" clay pot
- Natural Healer
When it comes to moisturizing your skin, natural pure aloe works miracles. All you need to do is:
- Get a leaf of aloe vera
- Cup it open
- Apply the gel-like substance from the leaf in your hands
- Take about 10 minutes and wash your hands with warm water
Use once or two times a day for better results.
Use Honey
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Do you have honey in your home? Probably yes. Honey is a perfect item for healing your dry cracked hands and beautifying your skin. The process is simple.
- Mix some honey and white sugar
- Rub them with your hands and fingertips to peel the dead skin cells
- Wash your hands
- Apply a natural moisturizing lotion thereafter
Use Oats
- Heart Healthy Whole Grains – Quaker Oats are 100% Whole Grains.
- Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods
- Low in saturated fat & cholesterol may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
You can use either cooked or raw oat to heal cracked or chapped hands. Oats are the best home remedy for cracked hands. . Here is the procedure.
- Mix oats in water
- Wash your hands every day
This is probably the simplest and the safest remedy for softening your dry hands naturally.
Salt
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Probably you did not know that salt is also a cure for your dry cracked hands. Salt is a great cleanser that cleans and removes all the dead skin cells.
You can use salt by following this procedure.
- Wet your hands with water
- Apply some salt
- Massage your hand for some minutes
- Rinse them with warm water
You can repeat this a few times a week to get better results.
Cocoa and Shea Butter Balm
- HELPS RELIEVE DRY SKIN: Jergens Ultra Healing Moisturizer helps to improve skin's appearance and texture
- EXTRA DRY SKIN LOTION: Absorbs into extra dry skin, including typically rough spots like heels, elbows, and knees
- HELPS TO REPAIR DRY SKIN: Penetrates five layers of skin and reduce dryness at the source
Coating your dry cracked hands with Cocoa and Shea butter balm can help heal the cracks and get rid of the dryness.
- Combine 1 cup of cocoa with 1 cup of shea butter
- ½ cup of jojoba oil
- ¼ cup of beeswax
- Heat the mixture on low temperature till they melt
- Stir thoroughly and pour into a jar to cool
- Apply after washing your hands or when they are dry.
Wear Gloves
The best remedy to dry and cracked hands is prevention. So, if you are out doing your job or chores, wearing gloves will prevent your hands from drying and damaging.
However, avoid vinyl types because they cause the skin to dry even more.
Conclusion
On most occasions, we are suffering from dry and cracked hands but we do not think of it as a severe condition. However, if not handled in its early stages, it may transform into a stubborn condition that can be difficult to eliminate.
You can also end up suffering from pain and bleeding from the cracks.
Therefore, it is good to start treating the condition right after its first signs show up. You can try some of these home remedies discusses above but, stick to one that gives you the best results to ensure you have dry and crack-free hands. You have the remedies and time now, it is up to you to make your hands soft and moisturized!