The People's Pharmacy® with Joe and Terry Graedon

Use a band-aid over the Vaseline or A&D, at least at night... during the day if possible.
When it's really bad... I lotion heavy and put on latex gloves overnite.

Split finger tips have been a severe problem for me for years. As a union carpenter and as a contractor, working outside in the cold all winter caused my fingers to split to the point of asking my doctor if he could stich them up.

I have found the cure. I am NOT a salesman for the company, and make nothing in the promotion of the product. In fact I have given bottles to anyone with the splits that I encounter, because I know the pain.
PORTERS LOTION from Bozeman Montana WILL cure the splits.

I start using it in the fall and all winter, and have never had a split since. All those other cures DO NOT WORK!

Porters does. www.porterslotion.com/

I've found a product on-line called 'No Crack' Hand Cream from Dumont Company in Wisconsin to be very effective. What I also like about it, besides being very good for chapped hands and splits, is it's not greasy.
I use 'Liquid Bandage' with it and I think I get just about as much relief as I can and I've tried a lot of products.

Thanks,
Bill B.

My husband and I swear by Desitin ointment (used to prevent diaper rash) for this problem. I think it's the zinc in it that works. We first put the Desitin on the cracks in the fingers at night, cover with a bandaid to keep it from getting on the sheets, and by morning the cracks are much better. If they're still painful, continue using Desitin (during the day, too, if you want) for another day or night, or two.

Dear Graedons:

I used to have problems with split fingertips. I live in Western Canada in Southern Alberta and our winters are very dry. Every winter I experienced extremely sore fingertips and thumbtips, they would split , partially heal and resplit. Then, five years ago, I installed a humidfier onto my furnace. End of cracked finger/thumbtips... none since that time. I also used to have very dry feet (heels and soles), it also cured this problem.... so please tell your readers to install a portable humidifier, attach humidifier to furnace or boil the kettle often.... get moist air into living area (mainly sleeping area).

Ralph Dowson

I have used a Lotil cream manufactured in England for this problem. Can be purchased in US and works great.

The splits on my fingers cleared up completely and quickly after adding more Vitamin D to my daily regimen. When through a simple blood test it was determined that my Vitamin D levels were low, my Dr. told me to up Vitamin D intake to at least 2000 mg per day. This was originally done because bone scan results seemed to be a bit worse each year. The finger split cure is a happy accident which occurred in trying to solve another problem.

Nancy

Neutrogena's Norwegian Fishermen formula handcream was the only product which fixed the problem for my mother - she used to dread lambing time on the farm because of the painful splits on her hands.

I recommend pure lanolin.

From memory I think it is hydroscopic lanolin. I got it from a compounding pharmacy.

You will have a faint sheep smell for awhile when you first put it on. I usually put it on at night - rubbing it in well.

Dick

I tried soaking my fingers in a small bowl of warm water and a pinch of the type of salt that is "dirty" looking--sea salt with lots of the natural mineral content. It is not a cure, but the more often I do it the better the skin and nails have become. Works to relieve fungus too.

The best treatment I've found for severely cracked fingers is "Nexcare Skin Crack Care." It looks like a tiny bottle of clear nail polish, and you brush it onto the crack just as you would apply nail polish. It seals the crack, and is waterproof and long-lasting. The creams and lotions mentioned are good, too, but this is best if you have to go to work with a severely cracked finger.

I have suffered from very dry 'winter' skin all of my 70+ years. A few years ago, on a routine wintertime visit to my dermatologist, he took note of the split skin on my fingertips at the edge of each fingernail, and excitedly stated that he had a new remedy--super glue in each crack.

I tried it right away and it worked like a charm, relieving the pain and hastening a cure. As he told me this, he pointed to a young Dr at his side, his son, who had just completed his residency at a major hospital, as the source of this latest info.

I like to use the Loctite brand, because the glue remains useable until it is gone, unlike many tubes of super glue.

I recently underwent thoracic surgery, which entailed a very long incision from the middle of my back all the way around to the front. I awoke to discover it had been glued, not sutured, shut and it healed very nicely.

It's the Norwegian Formula Body Emulsion from Neutrogena that works the best. It fixed my cracked fingers and my gator-looking legs. I alway put it on before I leave the house and it stays on for a long time. I can even feel it after I was and I work in a kitchen. I wash all day. I have tried every thing there is and I keep coming back to the Neutrogena Body Emulsion. I don't try anything anymore. It's burning money.

I have had splitting finger ends for years, working outdoors, especially in the winter, but my son told me about O'Keefe's Working Hands Cream, and it cured my problem. It is not especially greasy, but does have parafin. Just put it on as you go to bed and leave overnight. Thanks for all your help.

In reference to painful split fingers, after many trips to a few differant doctors and many failed solutions, I read in a women's magazine a possible helpful hint which I tried and it worked wonders, no more splits: just take a 1200 mg Flax seed oil soft gel daily takes about a week to work been doing it for years NO MORE SPLITS. David

We use Zim's Crack Creme liquid skin care on our fingertips and heels during the winter months. It's fantastic, very effective and very pure, only 5 ingredients. Be sure to get the liquid version. www.crackcreme.com.

Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Skin Therapy Lotion keeps my fingers from cracking.

My splits were from the newspaper! I started wearing cotton gloves and no more splits. Something in the ink or acid wash in the newspaper was causing my finger tips to split. I had tried everything and one morning I heard a sizzle and felt a split opening up as I held the paper. I have NEVER had another split with the gloves.

DRINK PURIFIED WATER. A few days ago I noticed that my fingertips were starting to crack again, as they have every winter season. I then realized that I had not been drinking my normal daily volume of purified water so I upped my minimum daily water intake back up to 6+ glasses immediately. I said purified water because I believe it rehydrates the skin but it likewise helps to remove other harmful toxins from within the human body.

Jointly, I have been using a heavy coating of "udder cream" (available at most pharmacies) on my fingertips and hands 3 times a day; rubbing and massaging the lotion into my skin until it disappears. (Udder cream in the tips of disposable glove would probably help for even added crack hydration.)

My fingertips are now definitely on the mend. Remember and take heart! I painfully waited a couple days before reacting to my split fingers, so now it's going to take as long to heal them! I hope this helps you! Happy Holidays! :) :)

I have this cracking/splitting skin problem on my fingers every winter. Oddly enough, if I have acrylic fingernails applied, the splitting and cracking does not occur.

I have found that CARMEX works quite well for cracked fingers as well as cold sores and chapped lips for which is is marketed.

I have suffered from split fingers all my adult life and so has my mother and my grandmother. I have a background in nutrition and take many vitamins and drink plenty of pure water. Nothing seemed to help. After reading the suggestions on this site, I remembered that I had some Bag Balm in a drawer from my elderly dog whose pads were worn. I rubbed some into the 5 fingers that were splitting and felt immediate relief. Within minutes, the skin was less hard and the splits felt soothed. I won't know for sure for a few days, but this seems to work the best of all the remedies I've tried over the years. I plan to slather it on at night and wear gloves to bed. I'll keep you posted and thanks!

My husband and I both suffer from this problem. Last year one of our surgeons shared some of his hand cream that he swears by with me and now half of my hospital is using it. He has used it for years for the splitting problem. When I went online to order it (it can be found at pharmacies also) I found another product that helps heal also, and it works really well. The two together are the best help we have ever found. The hand cream is TheraSeal Hand Protection and the "healer" is HANDY manum by DERMAdoctor.

Hi everyone and thank you for posting your helpful suggestions on this website. I have Raynaud's Disease, which affects the blood flow to my fingertips. After reading everyone's ideas on how to heal the splits in my fingertips, I found one comment in particular that I could totally relate to. It was the one by LC on 11/20/07 when he mentioned that he asked his doctor to stitch up the splits because they were so painful. I had just asked the exact question to a nurse the day before I found this topic online (sadly the answer was no).

Anyway, I decided that since I had tried most of the other suggestions, that I would order some lotion from porterslotion.com. Well let me tell you, it truly is the only thing that is allowing my skin to close back up. I have tried everything, including Vicks VapoRub, Bag Balm, Vasoline and every lotion imaginable. It has almost completely healed a crack on my thumb that I have had for two months, and I've only been using the Porter's Lotion for 48 hours!

I am going to place another order for more of their products since the original lotion works so well. I highly recommend Porter's Lotion to anyone with fingertip cracks or any disorder that would make it more difficult for the body to heal itself quickly from cuts or cracks. And like the gentleman LC said, I am not profiting by endorsing Porter's Lotion. I just want other people to finally experience the relief that I have long sought out.

I too suffer from the splits. It is currently 4 a.m., and I cannot sleep dut to the pain. Last year I came close to going to the hospital, my fingers were so painful.

I have a small split on the tip of my thumb I've had now for years that won't close up. I've tried everything, from Neosporen, steroid creams, butterfly bandages to try to hold it shut, even tried a product called Split Finger Fix, which was basically superglue, that didn't work either. I've always worn bandages because without it will hurt.

At my most recent dermatologist appt. she said they couldn't take a stitch becuse of the location and she gave me the strongest steroid cream on the market, which a month later hasn't worked either. She said the next step is a slice biopsy -- not appealing -- to see if there's something in there preventing it from closing up. I will try some of the suggestions I've read here. Does anyone else have any other remedies for me?

I've been suffering since I was 17, I'm 64 now... thought after menopause my splits would go away or ease up some. Instead I don't get relief in the summer anymore. There are times I literally cry with pain, it gets so bad I drop stuff... not to mention how unfeminine I feel. I can hide them under gloves in the winter... summer they're out in plain view. Band-Aids bring me relief, but don't solve the problem, as soon as they come off the spilts start to open again.

I've seen so many dermatologists in my lifetime... they prescribed a steroid cream and tell me to keep my hands out of water as much as possible... ha!

Glad I found this forum... I'll try some of your suggestions... thanks!

Wow! I posted a message on 3/10 about my split thumb--I have since used the Nexcare Skin Crack care and also started taking Flax seed oil, 1000mg daily and it's amazing! The split hasn't completely closed yet, but after only a few days it doesn't hurt or sting anymore, and I can tell it's healing from the inside--for the first time in 4 years! Sounds silly to get so excited about this but my husband has called me "Bandaid Lady" for the longest time. Just wanted to let people know that I appreciate their help.

Tie an onion to your belt!

Just Kidding, use some numbing agent to ease the pain and stick your finger in cider.