Folk treatment of cracked hands

Treatment of cracks on the hands will be more effective if, along with the use of pharmaceutical products, you use traditional medicine recipes. They will be especially relevant in the case of drying and cracking of the skin of the hands under the influence of negative external factors (sun, wind, cold, household chemicals). Traditional treatment is actually the optimal care for dry skin. But in the case of allergic diseases, you need to be careful with such treatment, because some components of natural medicinal compositions can act as an allergen.

The basis for treating such skin defects as dry skin and cracked hands is the use of ointments and creams. Of course, the easiest way is to buy care products in a cosmetics store, where there is a huge selection of them on the shelves. In this case, you need to carefully study the composition of the purchased product, because the cream or mask for hands should contain anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, softening components, and they should not contain substances that irritate sensitive skin.

True, when reading descriptions of store-bought creams, it is sometimes so difficult to understand which components will be useful and which, on the contrary. Therefore, if possible, it is always better to make an ointment for cracks on hands and heels with your own hands, including only useful substances in it. Here are several recipes for such ointments, tested by time and people:

Recipe 1. Rose petal cream. Grind fresh petals of one flower into a paste, add to a tablespoon of melted lard or Vaseline and mix thoroughly. To make the effect of the ointment stronger, let it sit for at least 2 days. The ointment can be used several times a day depending on the condition of the skin.

Recipe 2. Cream of medicinal herbs. Both fresh and dried flowers of calendula and celandine are suitable for preparing the product. Dry raw materials will need to be pre-steamed in boiling water, and fresh ones should be ground to a mushy state. Mix fresh herbs with melted pork fat or Vaseline, as in the previous recipe.

But with dry raw materials we do it differently. Pour the steamed flowers into heated fat (you can take pork or, better yet, badger) and keep in a water bath for about 30 minutes, making sure that the mixture does not boil. After removing from the heat, carefully filter the mixture and store in the cold (before use, slightly warm it up, not on an open fire). For 50 g of any fat, you need to take 1 teaspoon of flowers of both herbs.

Recipe 3. Plantain cream. Take dry plantain leaves, grind them into powder, add a little vegetable or olive oil to the mixture, mix. Add 9 parts of Vaseline to the resulting mixture and mix everything well again. Such a cream will have pronounced wound-healing properties.

Recipe 4. Carotene cream. Grind washed and peeled carrots in a blender or on a fine grater and mix with any fat (pork, badger, Vaseline). Keep the mixture in a water bath for a quarter of an hour (the mixture should not boil, so as not to destroy vitamin A) and filter. Store in a cool place.

Recipe 5. Cream for cracked heels. Heat 100 g of vegetable oil until warm (about 40 degrees), add a piece of wax approximately 3x2x1 cm in size and stir so that the wax can melt. Now add 1 teaspoon of glycerin and sea buckthorn oil, which has the ability to quickly heal wounds, to the composition, mix well. Store the composition in the refrigerator, using daily 1-2 times a day. It is better to carry out the procedures at night and put on a simple sock on the feet lubricated with cream. The ointment can also be used to treat cracks on the hands.

Recipe 6. Liquid ointment for hands and feet. To prepare it, we only need 2 components: ammonia and glycerin. They need to be taken in equal quantities, mixed and applied to the skin daily. To use on the heels, the soles of the feet should first be steamed in hot water and wiped dry.

Recipe 7. Honey cream. To prepare this remedy for cracked hands, take 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, a raw yolk of one egg and 50 g of flaxseed oil. Mix all the ingredients and add 2 tbsp. candied honey. Mix the composition again and use it completely throughout the day, lubricating the skin of your hands several times a day. The ointment should not just be spread on the skin, but also rubbed in lightly, which will help remove dead skin particles.

Recipe 8. Herbal ointment. Prepare a herbal mixture in advance, consisting of plants with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and wound-healing properties: chamomile, plantain, calendula, succession, etc. Take all the herbs in equal quantities and grind for ease of use. Now take ½ tbsp. of the herbal mixture and brew it with ½ cup of boiling water, leaving it to infuse for 8-9 hours (overnight is possible).

To prepare the ointment, take 1 tbsp. of the infusion, add 50 g of softened butter or lard and 1 tsp. of natural honey. Mix everything thoroughly and use to lubricate the skin if cracks appear on the hands.

Recipe 9. "Mayonnaise" for dry skin of hands. To prepare the ointment, you need to mix (you can use a whisk) the raw yolk of one chicken egg, a tablespoon of any vegetable oil and a teaspoon of table vinegar. As you can see, the same components are used as for making homemade mayonnaise, so the ointment will be very similar in appearance and consistency to this product.

Recipe 10. Ointment for cracks around the nails. To prepare the ointment, we will need dry or fresh celandine grass and flowers. For 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil, take a handful of plant material and keep it on the fire until signs of boiling appear. Without allowing the mixture to boil, remove it from the heat and add beeswax to the composition (a piece measuring 4.5 x 4.5 x 1 cm). Mix the composition thoroughly, making sure that the wax is completely dissolved. If necessary, you can put it back on low heat. Store the cooled ointment in the cold, using it to treat and relieve pain from cracks on the hands.

There are a great many such recipes for homemade ointments from various components, so you can always choose one or two with available components. But the possibilities of folk treatment, and in particular herbal treatment, are not limited to ointments alone, especially since the use of creams and ointments will bring the best effect if the skin is pre-prepared for their application. Medicinal baths with hot water and useful components will be a good preparation for the skin of the hands.

For baths you can use plants such as:

• chamomile (infusion of 1 tbsp. of herb and 1 cup of boiling water),
• linden (decoction of flowers),
• nettle (pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 tbsp of plant leaves and leave to infuse until the temperature is tolerable for your hands),
• herbal collection: nettle, calendula, chamomile, oak bark, plantain leaves, bird cherry shoots (the composition of the collection can be changed depending on the available herbs, for ½ liter of boiling water take 1.5 tbsp of the herbal collection and leave for 20 minutes, then use as a filler for hand baths).

But baths can be made not only from medicinal herbs. You can also use other components:

• flaxseed (a decoction of 100 g of seeds and 500 ml of water, which, to enhance its properties, is recommended to be mixed in equal proportions with a strong infusion of chamomile),
• oatmeal (cook a thin porridge with milk, season it with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and honey, and use the slightly cooled mixture to steam your hands),
• soda and sea salt (for 1 liter of water take 1 spoon of salt and soda, such a bath will have a softening and disinfecting effect),
• potato starch (for 1 glass of boiling water take 1 teaspoon of starch, stir and dilute with 0.5 l of hot water),
• water after boiling potatoes (add 1 tbsp of starch and vegetable oil to 1 liter of broth),
• milk (dilute half a liter of milk with water 1:1, add 1 tbsp of glycerin and starch to the mixture),
• infusion or decoction of hernia herb (a wound healing agent, also effective for dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis).

Hand baths can be done daily or every other day. The procedure lasts 10-20 minutes, after which the hands must be dried with a napkin and lubricated with cream (a pharmacy or cosmetic cream will do, as well as any ointment that can be made at home).

Another effective procedure for the problem under consideration is compresses, which help well with a crack on the hand:

• warm mashed potatoes with milk,
• a mixture of honey, glycerin and oatmeal (we take honey and glycerin in equal proportions and add enough flour so that the mixture acquires the consistency of thick sour cream),
• fresh cucumber slices, grated vegetable pulp or cotton pads soaked in cucumber juice (moisturizer),
• composition of honey, butter, flour and vodka (we take all components in equal quantities).
• rye bread crumb soaked in milk,
• fresh yolk of 1 egg mixed with ½ cup homemade sour cream and the juice of half a lemon,
• chicken egg yolk mixed with 70 ml olive oil and 3 tbsp natural honey,
• Mix half a glass of natural honey and vegetable oil, add 1 teaspoon of salicylic acid, stir, warm slightly and apply to cracked areas of the skin.

The compress is usually applied to cleansed skin of the hands for 15-20 minutes. The composition for the compress is applied to gauze or polyethylene film and tightly fixed on the hand in the area of cracks. After the procedure, the wound is washed with boiled water, milk or herbal decoction.

Since cracks on the hands usually appear due to excessive dryness and insufficient elasticity of the skin, it is very useful to include various oils in the treatment compositions, which will soften the skin and retain moisture in it.

How can oils be used for cracked hands? They can be added to ointments, compresses and compositions for medicinal baths, and also make medicines based on them:

• Mix equal parts olive and almond oil, soak gauze in the mixture, then wrap the areas of the hands with cracks in the skin. Place the hands in a plastic bag and insulate them with woolen cloth on top. After half an hour, remove the compress and blot the remaining oils with a napkin.
• In the same way, you can use cedar or sea buckthorn oils, which can stimulate regenerative processes in the skin and accelerate wound healing.
• We prepare a remedy based on hernia grass and olive oil (you can take any other vegetable oil). For ½ liter of oil, take 100 g of chopped fresh grass, insist the composition for 7-8 days and use to lubricate hands (the procedure is carried out several times a day). The oil has softening and wound-healing properties.
• Mix 10 drops of lemon essential oil with a bottle of glycerin. Apply to hands before bed.
• Tea tree oil mixed in equal proportions with olive oil (has antibacterial and softening effects).
• Grape seed oil (improves metabolic processes in the skin and the absorption of nutrients, saturates the skin with vitamin C, increases local immunity).
• Any vegetable oils help retain moisture in skin cells.

Unfortunately, the appearance of cracks in the skin is not just an external defect. Often, internal problems are behind its appearance. Some of them cannot be solved only by folk methods of treatment, while others (such as a lack of vitamins and minerals, metabolic disorders) can be corrected with the help of nutrition and folk recipes.

Traditional medicine recommends paying attention to your diet when cracks appear on your hands and adding foods rich in vitamins A, E, C, etc., fatty acids, and microelements. Particular attention should be paid to cereals, fish, vegetables, fruits and berries, and natural freshly squeezed juices.

During the treatment of cracks on the hands, you need to eat a lot of onions for a week (1 onion per day in different dishes in fresh form). Onions are rich in vitamin C, biotin, which promotes regenerative processes in the skin of the hands, folic acid, which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent, potassium (this is not only food for the heart, but also moisture for the skin), cobalt (disinfectant effect). For dry skin, it is also useful to make onion masks.

To saturate the body with carotene (vitamin A), the most suitable composition is carrots and vegetable oil. Wash and peel the root vegetable, grate it and pour oil over it so that it barely covers the carrots, heat the composition to a temperature of no more than 80 degrees and simmer for three hours over low heat, cool and place in a cold place. Carrot oil should be consumed for at least 1 month.

Gelatin also has a strong moisturizing and softening effect, so masks with this substance are recommended for dry problem skin. If gelatin is taken internally, it strengthens the nail plates, eliminates dry skin and makes it stronger and more elastic, since it is a component involved in the synthesis of collagen. For cracks on the hands, it is recommended to prepare a mixture of 1 teaspoon of gelatin and ½ glass of cool water twice a day (the mixture must be infused, stirred and drunk). Such internal treatment is also recommended to continue for a month, but it makes it possible to cope even with deep cracks between the fingers, on the palms, on the heels.

Homeopathy for cracked hands

By the way, the task of treating cracks on the hands caused by negative external and internal factors is not alien to homeopathic science. Since this is a fairly common problem, many homeopathic remedies have been developed that can help solve this problem. But the variety of reasons for the appearance of such a defect on the skin and the accompanying symptoms that may indicate pathologies in the body impose certain restrictions on the choice of drugs.

For example, if you are prone to cracking of the skin in the area of your fingers and nails, a homeopathic doctor may prescribe the following medications:

• Petroleum (useful for hangnails, cracks and itching on the fingers and between the fingers, and cracks in the skin due to frost),
• Graphites (for cracks on the fingers, deformation of the nails, for persistent damage, the drug is taken in the form of an ointment prepared from 1 g of the medicinal substance and 10 g of petroleum jelly),
• Natrium muriaticum (especially effective for hangnails and cracks near the nails, persistent recurring and hard-to-heal cracks),
• Ranunculus bulbosus (heals cracked fingertips),
• Acidum nitricum (useful for deep, bleeding cracks of any location)
• Arundo (prescribed if cracks appear on the heels and fingers)
• Sarsaparilla (for cracks on the lateral surfaces of the fingers and toes)
• Manganum aceticum (cracks in the area of the finger joints).

If the patient has dry and cracked skin on the fingers, sweaty palms and slow wound healing, the drug Silicea is more suitable.

To combat cracks on the palms of the hands, it is better to choose the drugs Calcarea fluorica and Oleander. But Sepia will help with cracks on the back (outer) side of the hand. If there is no clear localization of cracks, then the following homeopathic medicines can be prescribed: Lachesis mutus, Natrium carbonicum, Acidum fluoricum, Zincum metallicum (cracks from cold), Sulfur and Calcarea carbonica (if the appearance of cracks is caused by winter cold or prolonged contact with water), Cistus cannabilis (for thick, rough skin with deep cracks).

It should be said that it will be very difficult to independently select an effective drug, and even calculate the necessary dosage. When choosing drugs, homeopathic doctors are guided not only by symptoms and diagnosis, but also by the constitutional and neuropsychiatric characteristics of the patient's body. If such moments are not taken into account, even the drug, in the pathogenesis of which there are cracks on the hands, may turn out to be ineffective. And if we are talking about skin defects associated with certain disorders of the body, the treatment regimen should also include those homeopathic remedies that will help cope with the underlying disease.