From childhood to old age, hands are the main tool of man. With their help, we carry out hundreds of simple and complex tasks daily. All year round, our hands are in varying degrees in contact with the external environment and with various surfaces. In view of this, the skin of the hands is forced to withstand huge loads. If she does not help in this, the limit of elasticity, firmness and regeneration allotted by nature will be violated.
As a result, cracks appear on the hands. The treatment of these wounds should be entrusted to doctors. Some people consider cracks to be only a temporary cosmetic defect, therefore they do not attach much importance to them, at home they lubricate them with some kind of ointment that gives the appearance of a successful solution to the problem, in society in the cold season they cover with gloves, and in the warm - they mask with body creams.
However, you can’t hide the trouble from yourself. Cracks in the hands make themselves felt whenever acidic environments, such as lemon juice, fall on these parts of the body. In some people, even plain water causes pain. Sometimes it is still possible to heal the wounds, but after a while cracks may appear on the fingers, on the cuticle or on the palms. If you encounter such a problem, do not try to deal with it yourself. Cracks and wounds that constantly appear on your hands can be a signal of a dangerous disease of the internal organs that requires professional treatment.
General description of the problem
Cracks in the hands and fingers can have different pathogenesis, which depends on the causes of their appearance and skin condition. In some people, cracks occur in isolated cases and only in those places that accidentally got any strong irritant. As a rule, such wounds with an appropriate treatment quickly heal, since the skin on the hands has a high degree of regeneration.
However, for many people, cracks appear for no apparent reason. Sometimes in a couple of days in that place a person begins to experience itching. Tearing of the skin occurs where it is deformed due to scratching. As a rule, even after the appearance of a crack, the itch continues to pester.
In other cases, before the integrity is violated, the skin begins to peel off, exfoliate, and becomes too thin. It is in these places that breaks are formed, which can cause any mechanical deformation when performing actions with your hands.
But it also happens that wounds are formed without preliminary discomfort. A person notices a crack because pain suddenly occurs when any irritant enters the skin. The wound may be shallow at first. It seems that you can quickly and easily cope with it. But a day or two passes, a person diligently smears the cracks with ointment, but they not only do not disappear, but become larger and deeper, causing incredible torment during any work. The skin around them becomes inflamed, begins to peel off, sometimes itches very much. Sometimes it hurts a person to even wash. Going out into the street, he tries to hide his hands from others, shy of their appearance.
Such cracks pass as suddenly as they appeared. At a certain point, they cease to hurt, and after a while they drag out, leaving no trace. However, a complete cure does not occur, because skin tears appear again, but already in a new place.
Only a dermatologist can find out exactly what causes such cracks in the hands. Therefore, you can not rely only on external means, even the best. It is necessary to undergo an examination in order to deal with the causes and get rid of such a skin defect forever.
Possible external causes of cracks in the hands
Similar skin injuries very often appear in those people who do not care about their skin. Hands, like no other part of the body, need daily care, including the use of moisturizers and nourishing creams. Most of us wash our hands with soap dozens of times a day, trying to protect ourselves from various infections. This is very correct, but after such procedures the skin is overdried, especially when using specific bactericidal agents such as Dettol or Safeguard.
Many people have skin problems even from using chlorinated water from our taps.
From the above it follows that the main cause of cracks in the hands is too dry skin.
Wounds can arise from other external factors:
- The use of various chemical solutions for household work (detergents, detergent and / or soap, various cleaners and solvents).
- Unsuitable hand cosmetics (cream, lotion, gel).
- Subcooling (prolonged stay without mittens and gloves in the cold).
- Performing work with hands in ice water.
- Long stay in the wind or in the sun.
- Gloveless manipulations with the ground (e.g. planting seedlings).
- Weeding (many weeds have poisonous substances in the stems and leaves that can cause cracks and ulcers in contact with them).
- Work with aggressive environments (plaster, chalk, glue).
- Cracks in the fingers, where the skin is especially delicate, can cause some products with prolonged contact with them during cooking (garlic, onions, radishes, celery, lemons, tomatoes, other fruits, berries, herbs, containing a large amount of acid).
Internal causes
If you have only external factors causing cracks in your hands, treatment will not be difficult. The situation is much more complicated if such a problem is caused by a disease of the internal organs. In this case, the wounds are one of the signals that the body is not doing well. Cracks in the skin of the hands can indicate such ailments:
- Mycoses (fungal infections of the skin).
- Eczema.
- Atopic dermatitis.
- Psoriasis.
- An allergy to anything (smells, dust, food, clothing fabrics, cosmetics, hygiene products, etc.).
- Pyococcal infections.
- Helminthiasis.
- Gastrointestinal diseases.
- Diabetes.
- Vegetovascular dystonia.
- Neurosis.
- Stress.
- Hypothyroidism
- Vitamin deficiency (lack of magnesium, omega-3, vitamins A, B7, E).
- Metabolic disease.
- Hormonal disorders.
As you can see, the list is rather big. It includes quite serious illnesses that can significantly impair health and life. Therefore, with the appearance of cracks, especially if there is no apparent reason, you need to consult a dermatologist. Perhaps he will send for consultation to an endocrinologist, neuropathologist, gastroenterologist or other specialists of a narrow profile.
Often, cracks in the skin of the hands occur in pregnant women, which is associated with cardinal changes in their body and a lack of vitamins. Women should address this problem to the gynecologist, who can send for additional tests, prescribe the appropriate treatment, prescribe vitamin complexes.
How do diseases affect skin?
Some people are perplexed about the relationship between cracks in the fingers or palms and, for example, gastritis or intrahepatic cholestasis.
With mycoses, everything is clear. Pathogenic fungi enter the skin of the hands in many ways:
- Shaking hands with a sick person.
- Touching any surfaces (handrails, railings, etc.) in public places.
- Actions with money, which, as a rule, change hands many times.
- The use of non-sterile tools for manicure.
Mushrooms begin to develop actively only in people with weak immunity. Before the appearance of wounds, the skin of the hands first itches heavily, becomes inflamed, and begins to peel off. If cracks in the hands appeared due to mycosis, they are most often localized between the fingers (the epidermis structure is most suitable for the fungus), but they can also be located on the palms of the hands and also on the outer surface of the hand. An indispensable sign of mycosis is itching.
In diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, for example, with gastritis, people’s skin condition deteriorates significantly. Most often, this is manifested by various rashes (acne, urticaria, acne), but in some patients due to the fact that when there are problems with the gastrointestinal tract, the metabolism is disturbed, dry skin appears, and then cracks in the hands.
Intrahepatic cholestasis (this condition is also called obstructive jaundice) is accompanied by the accumulation of bilirubin and bile acids in the skin, which irritate nerve endings. A person experiences itching, which can be throughout the body or only on his hands. Cracks appear in the places of combing.
Diseases of the stomach and liver are not the only provoking dermatological problems.
Vitamin deficiency is also accompanied by thinning of the skin with the formation of cracks. In addition, with vitamin deficiency in humans, vision in the dark worsens, fatigue is observed, frequent colds are harassed, and the condition of the hair worsens. These symptoms can suggest why tears in the epidermis occur.
Psoriasis is not a contagious disease, but its external manifestations are very unpleasant. Violation of the endocrine system leads to inflammation of the skin. In these places, peeling of individual dry plates is observed, under which very thin skin remains, not able to withstand mechanical stress and exposure to external media, as a result of which it becomes covered with cracks.
Atopic dermatitis is a hereditary allergic ailment. It can occur when exposed to any stimuli. Its symptoms are often itching and inflammation of the skin, as well as cracks. On the hands they arise, mainly due to contact with the stimulus.
Thyroid diseases are dangerous because they interfere with the production of hormones. One of the symptoms of this is dry skin, and in the future - its cracking.
The same etiology of wounds on the hands and with diabetes when the production or digestibility of insulin is impaired.
In addition to the above, many other internal diseases and conditions can cause cracks in the fingers and on the entire surface of the hand, as they disrupt the normal course of biochemical reactions and processes in the body, causing dry skin.
Sores near the nails
The skin areas framing the nails from the side of the hole are called cuticles. They are a thin film formed by dead epithelial cells. Under it is a living and unusually delicate tissue called eponychium. In the process of nail growth, the lower layer separates from eponychium, rushing behind the nail plate, and the dead cells extend to the surface. They become the cuticle. Its role is to protect the growth zone. Dermatologists say that the cuticle is a "litmus test" showing the state of human health.
Cracks in the fingers near the nails can appear for all the external and internal reasons listed above. We will not dwell on external factors in detail. We will only say that aggressive media and climatic conditions have the greatest effect on the skin near the nail.
Among other factors, the painful condition of the cuticle and nail ridges causes a manicure. If it is performed with an insufficiently high-quality tool, or the master has no experience, often the skin around the nail is injured. This can cause inflammation, which will subsequently lead to the formation of cracks. In addition, a delicate strip of skin is often exposed to acetone or other nail polish remover. Adversely affect it and UV lamps used by masters when building nails. For clients with hypersensitive skin, such procedures (if they are performed frequently) cause thinning, dryness, peeling and cracks in the fingers near the nail plates.
Another reason for this phenomenon is age-related changes in the human body, in which there is a deficiency of not only collagen, but also fat, as the sebaceous glands gradually stop their work. As a result, the skin becomes thinner and more sensitive.
Cracked nails
Such a pathology is observed approximately two times less often than cracks in the skin, which is associated with a stronger structure of the nail plates. Doctors believe that these small areas of the body can tell about the health of their owner no worse than some tests.
Not all patients immediately develop cracks on the nails of their hands. First, the nail plates can change their color from the usual flesh to yellow, brownish, whitish. Sometimes contrasting marks appear on them - white spots, dark strokes and stripes. This is already a sign of diseases of the internal organs. Nails can undergo deformation, become ribbed, concave, bumpy. For many people, they become too soft or brittle and cease to fulfill their protective function. Another sign of health problems that affects the state of the nail plates is their layering.
Doctors are well aware that not all people rush to the hospital immediately when the above problems occur. As a rule, men simply dismiss them, and women try to cope with the defect with the help of varnishes. Meanwhile, in medicine there are diseases, the main sign of which are cracks in the nails. If they are longitudinal - this is onychorexis, and if transverse - onychosis.
The causes and treatment of cracks in the hands and nails are largely the same. These are those external and internal factors, which are described in detail above. However, deformations from the nature of more durable and rigid nail plates can be associated with their specific causes. The main one is unprofessional manicure.
Many women do not attach importance to the quality of varnish, basing their choice on the color or price of this product. Not everyone knows that in the production of cheap varnishes formaldehyde compounds are used, which are hazardous chemicals. Of course, there are an insignificant number of them in varnishes, but the constant use of such products leads to the diseases mentioned above.
Some ladies, when ribbing appears on their nails, try to get rid of it with a nail file. Such actions significantly thin the stratum corneum of the plates, and also contribute to the penetration of infection into them. Factors affecting the occurrence of onychorexis or onychoschisis include frequent nail extension, which greatly depletes them.
In men and women, cracks in the nails cause work with unprotected hands with aggressive environments, vitamin deficiency, and some internal diseases.
Diagnostics
The treatment of cracks in the fingers and nails should be prescribed by doctors. They do this only after determining the cause and making the diagnosis. To begin with, patients are usually prescribed a standard delivery of general blood and urine tests. They also scrap the skin around the crack.
The list of studies may include:
- Blood chemistry.
- Allergen tests.
- Helminth tests.
- Inspections of internal organs.
Main treatment criteria
Regardless of the results of analyzes and tests, patients, in order to avoid dry hands, cracks should begin to heal with proper care of their skin.
First you need to exclude contact with any chemical irritants, with the earth and plants. To do this, you need to purchase the appropriate gloves and be sure to wear them when performing work. It is desirable that the inner surface of these hand protection products be talc-free, as it is also capable of causing irritation to inflamed skin.
The next step is to revise your hygiene products. Perhaps it is just one of them (soap, gel, shampoo) that causes skin irritation and cracking. You need to carefully study the composition of the funds. If there are a lot of fragrances, dyes, thickeners in them, it is better to purchase more natural products. A good option may be hygienic soap, shampoo, oil, conditioner for children. They do not have an attractive smell, but do not cause skin irritation.
The third important step is to review your diet. According to many patients, only the exclusion from the menu of products harmful to the skin (sweets, smoked meats, pickles, fried meat, spicy dishes) and an increase in the consumption of fruits, raw vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers, herbs), dairy products saved them from cracks in the hands. Note that in any case, doctors will prescribe a diet for the treatment period. It will include foods rich in magnesium, vitamins, and omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids. It will be ideal if you give up smoking, as nicotine causes pathologies in all organs, and not just in the lungs.
It is absolutely established that stress, depression, depressed mood also contribute to the appearance of cracks in the skin of the hands. Therefore, another important criterion for the treatment and prevention of such a pathology is a review of your goals, plans, ideals, avoiding pessimistic moods, introducing a positive variety into your life.
Baths and compresses
The causes and treatment of cracks in the fingers, as well as on the palms, hands, nails can be quite serious. If the pathology is caused by a disease of any organ, appropriate therapy is mandatory. Baths with the addition of decoctions of herbs and essential oils in any case will contribute to the healing of wounds and an overall improvement in the condition of the skin.
It is desirable to carry out such procedures in the evening, after the completion of all household chores. Water should be at a temperature that is comfortable for your skin. The simplest decoctions for baths can be prepared from chamomile, celandine, nettle, plantain. Dry raw materials of the listed herbs are taken at the rate of 1 tablespoon per liter of boiling water.
Another very simple bath recipe is to use tea tree oil. Just a few drops can be added to the water, and the treatment solution is ready.
More complicated recipes:
- With olive oil. This product can simply be applied to hands and allowed to soak. So did women in ancient Greece. In addition, with it you can prepare an excellent bath for problematic skin of the hands. The oil needs to be slightly warmed up, squeezed out vitamins E and A from it, add a couple of drops of lemon, mix everything thoroughly. The duration of the procedure with such a bath is about a quarter of an hour. After this, the hands are not washed, allowing the oil to soak into the skin.
- With honey. In liquid oatmeal porridge in milk, add olive oil and honey, mix. Keep hands in this mixture for up to 10 minutes. Then they need to rinse with one of the decoctions mentioned above, wipe and grease with cream.
You can make compresses on the wounds. Here are some recipes:
- Mash boiled potatoes, add olive oil. Apply the mass to cracks and adjacent areas, wrap with a plastic bag, then a cloth. Keep up to 15 minutes. Rinse with a decoction and apply cream.
- Squeeze the contents of the aloe leaf into a container, add a little thick honey (it is necessary that the product is not too liquid), apply to the problem area, cover with cellophane, with a cloth on top and hold for up to 20 minutes. Then rinse with clean water and apply cream.
Creams and ointments
Perhaps a dermatologist from cracks in the hands near the nails, between the fingers, on the palms will write you a special ointment that you will need to order at the pharmacy. If not, you can use the ready-made tools:
- Emollient. They make the skin smooth and supple. The composition of such preparations should include jojoba oil, glycerol stearate, lanolin, squalene, propylene glycol.
- Moisturizing. They protect the skin from overdrying. The composition of such funds should be glycerin, hyaluronic acid, propylene glycol, sorbitol, lactic acid.
- Healing. They must include at least one element of their list:
- lanolin;
- Vitamins E and / or A;
- calendula oil, avocado, jojoba, sea buckthorn, peanuts, carrots;
- extracts of chamomile, plantain, propolis, grape seed, Siberian larch, avocado;
- essential oils of chamomile, lemon, fir, tea tree.
For hands with very dry skin, you can use petroleum jelly, cocoa butter or shea butter, dimethicone. These funds should be applied at night with a sufficiently thick layer, after which thin cotton gloves should be worn on the hands. You can use such ointments during the day, but it is not necessary to apply them in this case.
Such creams have good reviews:
- Lipikar.
- Cutibaza.
- HIDRADERM Sesvalia.
- Atopiclair.
- Remederm silver.
- Locobase Repair.
Russian drugs with a healing effect:
- Levomekol.
- "Synthomycin emulsion."
- "Vulnuzan."
- "Radevit."
- "Solcoseryl."
- "Actovegin."
It relieves itching well:
- "Psilobalm."
- "Gistan."
- Fenistil.
Corticosteroid drugs relieve pain and inflammation. They also protect against infection. The list of such drugs is quite wide:
- "Loriden."
- "Elokom."
- "Fluorocort".
- Beloderm.
- "Flutsinaar."
- Dermoveit.
- "Triacort."
- Advantan.
- Kutivate and others.
All of them have varying degrees of activity. A doctor should prescribe them, since these drugs have side effects. Only corticosteroids of very weak activity “Prednisolone” or “Hydrocortisone” may be suitable for pregnant women, but you should consult your gynecologist before using them.