Winter Skin Care: Tips for Healing Chapped Hands
Winter means it’s time to bundle up and take extra care of your skin. Lower temperatures and icy wind chills can cause exposed hands to crack and chap. Avoid bloody knuckles and patchy skin this winter.
Whether you work outside or never remember your gloves, get the remedy for healing dry, cracked hands. Read our tips for winter skincare and discover the ultimate product for working men and women—Duke Cannon’s Bloody Knuckles Hand Repair Balm.
Why Do My Hands Get Chapped?
Skin tends to be driest in the winter. Many factors affect your hands, from the weather to how often you wash up. When temperatures drop, so does the humidity outside and in your home. Your home’s heat contributes to drying out your skin. Harsh soaps and hot water aggravate the problem.
Dry, cracked hands are uncomfortable. They also make it easier for germs to enter your body. The top layer of skin is your epidermis, and it protects the inner layers. When you over-cleanse or expose your skin to the cold, your epidermis loses moisture, causing rough or flakey patches to appear.
7 Tips to Heal Dry, Cracked Hands
If your hands are so dry they crack and bleed every winter, check out the tips in this section to help your skin seal in moisture. Heal dry, scaly hands by using creams and changing some of your habits.
1. Lower the Water Temperature
It’s lovely to step into a steaming shower, but is it good for your skin? When it’s cold, turning up the water temperature is tempting, but hot water dries out your skin.
Turn down the heat when showering, taking a bath or washing your hands. Try bathing in lukewarm water or practice slowly lowering the temperature over time so you can adjust to less heat. Shorter showers also help!
2. Wear Gloves
Add a warm accessory to your winter wardrobe. Gloves and mittens protect your hands from extreme cold. Keep them in your bag or vehicle, so you’re ready to throw them on whenever you step outside.
Gloves aren’t only for winter weather. Exposure to the sun causes the skin to thin over time, contributing to water loss and more frequent dry skin. Wearing gloves when working outside protects your skin from the sun.
3. Use Mild Soaps
Washing your hands is an essential part of good hygiene. However, the soap bottle on your counter could contribute to your dry skin.
Soaps with deodorant, perfume or alcohol can wipe away your skin’s natural oils, leaving your hands dry and chapped. Gentle cleansers, creams and shower gels are your best bet! Choose soaps with moisturizing ingredients like Dove, Olay, Cetaphil or Duke Cannon. Formulas with added fats and oils help you seal in moisture.
Don’t forget about dish soap and detergents in the kitchen. These soaps are harsher than hand soaps. Always remember to wear rubber gloves when washing dishes.
4. Plug in a Humidifier
You can’t do anything about the air outside, but you can adjust the air inside your home or office. Combat dry, indoor air by using a humidifier inside to help reduce flaky, itchy skin. Adding moisture to the air keeps your epidermis, that top layer of skin, from drying.
5. Choose the Right Fabrics
If your skin is itchy and irritated, don’t choose an outfit that makes it worse. While we love to wrap up in wool in the winter, wool and other fabrics can aggravate unhappy skin.
Take it easy on your skin, and choose soft, natural fabrics. Cotton and silk are breathable, and they aren’t itchy or scratchy.
Once your clothes reach the laundry bin, avoid using detergents with dyes and strong scents. Perfumed detergents can further irritate your skin.
6. Know When to Moisturize
You know you need to moisturize if you have dry, chapped hands. But when? The best time to slather on hand cream is immediately after washing your hands or bathing.
Moisturizers keep water from leaving your skin. When your hands are damp, it’s easier for your skin to retain moisture. Applying lotion to damp skin seals water between skin cells.
After washing, pat your hands dry with a clean towel. Then apply hand cream or lotion! Updating your bathroom countertop is a great way to make this a habit. Keep a bottle of lotion beside your hand soap to remind you to moisturize after every wash.
7. Update Your Bedtime Routine
For super-dry skin, you can apply overnight treatments, too! Use thick creams, jellies or oils at night when they can sink into your skin while you sleep.
After applying lotion or cream, you can also cover your dry hands with gloves or mittens. Wearing gloves at night helps keep the moisturizer close to your skin for optimal absorption. If you have cracked fingertips or thumbs, try wrapping the area in gauze or a bandage after using a heavy cream.
Chapped Hands Remedy: Ingredients to Look For
What should you look for in a moisturizer? Several ingredients help replenish thirsty skin. Once you find a product that works for you, apply it obsessively until your scaly skin feels soft and new again.
- Humectants attract moisture to your skin. Look for ceramides, glycerin, sorbitol and hyaluronic acid.
- You’ll also need ingredients that seal moisture in—occlusive ingredients. Try products with petroleum jelly, silicone, mineral oils or lanolin. These ingredients help prevent future water loss.
- Emollients help smooth skin out. Find ingredients like linoleic, shea butter and lauric acids.
Duke Cannon Hand Cream: The Best Thing for Cracked Hands
Fix scaly skin and dry, cracked knuckles. Grab a tin of lotion for construction workers, farmers, ranchers and downright hard workers. Keep your hands from cracking and bleeding with Duke Cannon’s Bloody Knuckles Hand Repair Balm.
Duke Cannon’s balm includes top ingredients like glycerin, shea butter and lanolin. It’s also unscented, so no fragrances will further irritate your skin—or make you smell like a bed of roses.
At Crane’s Country Store, we offer Duke Cannon soaps, shampoos, deodorants and colognes. Order online or stop by our brick-and-mortar to browse our grooming products.
If you need dry skin relief:
- Order Duke Cannon’s Bloody Knuckles Hand Repair Balm.
- Get the relief you need.
- Heal your hands so you can get back to work.
Take that winter! Bloody knuckles, begone!