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I too suffer from cracking, bleeding fingers and it's the same fingers all the time (thumb, index)  I am not a doctor, but does anyone else think it may be due to an internal organ not functioning right? It seems to make sense, that it all starts from there and resonates on your skin. No surface lotion or meds will cure the condition, and I have not yet found a real doctor that is willing to thing deeper for a minute. Very frustraiting!

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My hands have cracked like that since I was little, I inherited it from my dad who also gets cracked bleeding hands.  It happens in the winter and fall, in spring and summer I am fine.  This year was the first for me to get split fingertips at the nail, very painful!!!!!  Also while trying to heal them, they got infected as someone above was saying about fever in it.  When my hands get really bad.  I put A & D on my hands all over the dry area, and then put on vinyl gloves.  I can still use my hands just with the gloves on, if I go out of the house, I wear thin winter gloves over my vinyl gloves so it doesn't look weird.  As for when it gets really really really bad, I put neosporin on the open cut areas and in the really bad cases this year the infected areas, and then over top of that I put A & D all over the rest of the areas, and then put the gloves on.  Don't wear the gloves with this all the time, because your skin needs to breath.  Overnight is great, or during the day sometimes, if it is getting unbearable.  When it heals, vigorously use lotion.  I know it doesn't work to keep it away, but at least it keeps temporarily away, it creeps back up eventually, but it lets your hands be free for a while longer.  I was looking on here for a cure, but it looks like everyone has tried everything.  I liked the comment about the chemicals in the environment, it sounds like a reasonable answer, maybe we are just sensitive to the junk they put in our food and products and water, and land. 
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Try Super Glue seriously, its what my dad uses for his very dry cracked hands.
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 Female 42 years old florida suffer from eczema about 3 years now on legs and hands always have flare ups in random places,,back of arm leg shoulder etc,,,have been to dermatologist and family doctor used triamcinalone .and lotrisone ..one will thin the skin and the lotrisone will dry the affected area right now my problem is I have brown thick skin surrounding fingers,that peel off after time,,,to leave light pink skin..,,,bleed and crack in the folds of fingers most are in this condition been using every oct product I can get my hands on started taking random vitamins like zinc,,,E  b6 ..allergic to everything soaps laundry detergent ....I work around money as my profession and I hope I have not developed any kind of allergy to nickel etc...If i dont take a benadryl at night I will wake up with scratches ,have even tried to use latex gloves with random products ,overnight ,,,,wish i could return normal...My doctor also explained that stress can be the culprit..and has precribed me a mild dose of wellbutrin....my first week .....guess we will see...kinda depressing since summer is comming and my legs are so scared up I cannot imagine wearing summer attire
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yes, me too.....devastating
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I work in chemicals industry and about 1.5yrs ago started to exhibit dry cracked skin on fingers, thumbs and base of fingers at the palm. they appear like dry hard areas of skin that split. however it is not dry skin that splts by mechanical action but rather it will split on its own accord. sometimes it wakes me up at night. sometimes my hands appear ok and on the mend for a day or two. then for no apparent reason the skin becomes dry, hard, brittle and a crack appears that will bleed. it is very painful, i have tried betnovate, hydrocortisone, E45 and lanolin moisturiser.
Please can someone help me? It is very painful. My skin on my palms and fingers now feels very thin and it is hypersensitive. I always had very moist, supple and strong skin on my hands and palms and now it is like dry tissue paper with thick dry areas that crack and bleed and are very painful.

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Yeah I have it...... fer like a year and a half now. I just have to manage this by keeping my hands moist. I carry a spray bottle with good ol' H20.
Cetaphil skin restoring moisturizer for atopic skin helps the itching and cracking. If the itchiness gets really bad, I open a capsule of benadryl or generic equivelant and I sprinkle the powder liberally on affected skin then immediately add a few drops of water- within 20 minutes the itching subsides. Oral antihstamines help a bit. I take a daily claritin or generic equivelant for daytime and benadryl at night since it makes you sleepy. I can tell a difference when I don't take the pills. The main thing for me is just keeping the skin moist. finger cots or rubber gloves. I have some theories about the cause.
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deep candidiasis? resistant tinea? I think this is dermatophytic in nature, fungal, communicable. Oral antifungal medication like ketoconazole along with cetaphil restoraderm lotion is the cure. Topical creams like clotrimezole alone doesn't cure this resistant form.
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Both the mercury and nickel allergies cause cracked skin on hands and feet. Make sure you do not have amalgam fillings in your teeth. Salmon and sea salt have mercury. Water may also have a substantial amount of nickel. Oatmeal has a high concentration of nickel, etc. Get to know what food intake you should cut on. ( http://www.sst.dk/publ/publ2009/Andre/NikkelallergiMad.pdf )

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omg!! i have the same exact problem. i really thought i was the only one with this
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Prior to the 1900's and up until the 1950's, tinea infections were primarily the microsporum canis strain but nowadays, the prominant strain of tinea infections analyzed in the laboratory for diagnosis is T. Tonsurans. I think the tonsurans strain is still around because it has the ability to adapt to topical creams. Have you had some cream work for a few days only to have the symptoms come back with a vengeance? These microorganisms are considered to be part of the natural flora of the skin to a certain extent. They are all around us all the time. What causes them to overgrow into an infection? Drs call it housewife's dermatitis. We kill our native skin flora with household cleaners/antibacterial soaps. When you kill the bacteria, what are you left with? Yeasts/Fungi that's what. The only acceptable household cleaners are baking soda and vinegar. Catching a cold/flu, or losing your skin barrier. Pick your poison. I'll take my chances with cold/flu. This condition has taken away my ability to do everything I once loved. People say wear gloves and use those toxic cleaners but, I am going to contact those surfaces eventually without the gloves on unless I plan to wear the gloves for the rest of my life. No! In fact I am having a little success with clearing this....hooray! I am cleansing my skin with Hydrogen Peroxide morning and night...it burnsand itches like crazy but after it feels very good. (I got this tip from this message board. A manleft a message that he was able to clear this condition after suffering with it for 2 yrs) After the peroxide, I am alternating antifungals. I have a tube of miconazole, a tube of ketoconazole, a tube of undecylenate, a tube of tolnaftate and I use 1 of them twice a day (after the peroxide) alternating which one I use, every two days. I accompany this with Cethaphil Skin restoring moisturizer formulated for atopic skin- restoraderm using it liberally at will.I wash my hands with the Cetaphil soap. Over the last 3 weeks I have had a sustained improvement. My skin is actually holding a bit of moisture. it peels and the skin underneath is improved in texture and quality. Others I've talked to with our condition took oral antifungals with a complete resolution. I have my derm. appt. and I'm getting some too.
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I have now had eczema outbreaks off and on for the past two years.  At the present my hands look like they have been burned.  They have never looked this bad, amazingly the pain level is low and I am thankful as they appear that they would hurt.  My mother had outbreaks in her 30s and fortuantely she has had no more since then.  My brother as well had eczema on his hands and arms.  They both went to dr and dermatologists and had little to no success, just the basics steroid cream, liquid, or oral tablets.  Eventually it did go away--they didn't think it was from seeing the Dr., they simply think somehting changed in their chemistry.  I am kind of embarassed as i have my first dermatologist appt in the morning.  From what I know from my family and reading numerous articles from the web, I am certain that I am just wasting my time and making them money.  For the lady that is concerned that her daughter who doesnt have the ability to see the dr.  Simply try all reccommendations.  I have tried everything but the bleach bath, the peroxide, and apple cider vinegar.  After reading these suggestions, I know I will.  I did use peroxide once but I guess I wasn't smart enough to try it for a while and document any results.  I think that is key.  We need to write down what and what doesn't work for us.  I am fortunate that I can finally see a dermatologist.  I recently got pretty good insurance this is the first time ever and I was amazed to know how long it takes to get an appointment and due to fact that I spent a good amount of my adult life without health coverage, I am hesitant to go see a dermatologist for such condition because I did not have the right to do so.  I am currious to know what "Rocky will pull out of his hat" to justify the bill.  I am nervous and reluctant to go to the appointment and get little results. It appears that for most of us the best we can have is mild flares.   I do hope that he will reccommend or prescribe me something that will actually works.  It is uncomfortable to have such condition physically and mentally.  Will comment after I get the "verdict" from the Dr.

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I have been having true success now clearing this condition with dandruff shampoo...pyrithione zinc or even better selenium sulfide shampoo is like a miracle. I have suffered, and I mean suffered with this itching burning leathery skin cracking peeling eroding my hands for 2 years. It took away my ability to do everything I love to do. The doctors told me I had hand eczema/atopic dermatitis and that I would learn to live with it because there is no cure. They gave me steroids which just made it worse. When my kids starting getting it on their fingers, I knew it was something communicable. The doctors tried to explain it away by saying eczema is hereditary. When my husband started getting it, I realized that the doctors must be wrong.....I'm not related to my husband. In my internet research, because, by God, I was going to find a cure, I read about treating atopic dermatitis with pyrithione zinc. I remembered when I was a teenage surfing fanatic here in Hawaii I got what we call haole rot aka Malassezia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malassezia

Malassezia is a lipid dependant yeast that we are very familiar with here in the tropics. It usually makes light colored patches on your skin. Yes lipid dependant....that's why lotion just made my skin burn. As you can read in the wikipedia article, it is nearly impossible to culture in the lab.....that's why skin scrapings turn up nothing.

The well known cure for haole rot/ malassezia is dandruff shampoo. It takes anywhere from weeks to months to clear this and moisturizer is a no-no. I keep a spray bottle of pure water, good ol' H20 to keep affected skin moist.

Like I said, zinc pyrithione shampoo is good....selenium sulfide shampoo is better and I notice that I am even better still when I take a good once daily multivitamin containing selenium, zinc and molybdenum.

I leave the full strength shampoo on my skin for 10 min a day and I'm getting better. I also use peroxide to keep the cracks from getting infected so that may be part of why It's going away. I know you've tried so many things but so did I. Don't give up. You WILL clear this condition out of your body. I suffer with you but it's getting better every day. I just thank God that I figured it out for me and my family. whew! If this helps anybody else then that is fantastic.
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Malassezia- a lipid dependant yeast......wow, all my antifugals were in an oil base....I thinks that's why I only had limited success with them but I was spot on with the peroxide. The dandruff shampoos are really awesome!!!! Everyone- husband, me, my kids, even the dog gets dandruff shampoo. We all peroxide our hands (and feet!). All the soap dispensers have dandruff shampoo in 'em now. Living in paradise, Hawaii......Aloha means love, hello and goodbye. Aloha Malassezia and that means goodbye!
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Hi my husbands hands would crack and spilt and was so dry he tried everything they hurt him so bad he could hardly move them until one day he tried O'Keeffe's Working Hands. for dry hands that crack and split now he has no problems and he still puts a little on his hands before he goes to work cause he said he don't ever want to have his hands like that again
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