For years I’ve had difficulty with my finger tips splitting in the
dryness of the winter. Makes it uncomfortable to do any work.
Yesterday a light bulb lit in my head, why not use crazy glue to
glue the cracked skin together and start the healing. Works like a
charm, a quick 30 second solution.
What is laughable is that it took years to see this simple solution.
No doubt some of you have already discovered this. For those who
have not, here it is to share. Makes it easier to make lots of
jewelry, in the winter.
I also use crazy glue to protect the split skin issue. I have had
much better results when I first use a small round diamond bur (about
3 mm) to grind away the hard dry skin next to the split. This appears
to make a significant difference as it reduces the strain on the
skin. The crazy glue then holds and protects.
I hope that this will help out those that have this issue.
Good solution. This is also the idea behind the product "new skin"
which is based on super glue.
Another thought would be to try O’Keeffe’s Working Hands (comes in a
green plastic round tin). Works on my cracked feet and hands like a
charm. Used regularly, prevents the cracking all together
I too suffer from these finger splits and started using super glue
years ago. When I told my doctor, she was horrified and suggested
that I at least use sterile surgical glue. I live in central New York
and it has been a winter for the record books. I have noticed over
the years that my fingers start to split when the temperature goes
below 40 F. and I start to wear wool gloves. I have confirmed this by
taking trips to warmer placed and my fingers immediately begin to
heal. I prefer to try and avoid the splits by rubbing a liberal
amount of Working Hands ointment and Aquaphor into them at night and
occasionally during the day. I have also tried to stop putting them
directly into ammonia and water when cleaning polishing compound from
a finished piece. I do this to clean the dirt from my hands. I use a
green hand cleaner instead and this seems to also help. I keep making
jewelry and, curiously, the pain goes away when I am working. It is
only when I stop that I notice the pain. Making jewelry is not
without its wear and tear on the body. I blame it for much of my
hearing loss. While somewhat off topic, these types of discussions
are interesting and one of the reasons why I am so attentive to
Orchid. Thanks. Rob
Many times I have used superglue (crazy glue) to seal cuts, but
every time, because skin is flexible and the dried glue, inflexible,
the glue seal has always failed and I’ve had to redo it over and
over again. Also, when the hardened glue digs into your cut, it’s
blooming painful!!! In the end it was more hassle than it was worth
so I stopped using it. Hopefully others have had more success with
it.
If the super glue does not work by itself to hold the split skin
together until it heals, I use a bit of cotton from the end of a
cotton swab applied to the wet glue. Very durable.
I don;t get split fingers any more. It was by accident I realized
that my fingers are fine this winter. Now I not only work in metal
but i sculpt in clay wax use silicone molds punish my hands a lot.
It was because I had an unfortunate reaction to medication and well
let us just say rash explosion the medical salves were pricey and
the govt had screwed up and I had to pay for all my meds for months.
So I bought good old trusty Desitin zinc oxide diaper rash cream it
cools numbs and stops the itching FAST and the side affect though
greasy as heck was my hands look fantastic LOL so either volunteer
to change those diapers or just buy some and use it when you are
done for the day and can allow it to be absorbed I don;t know if
anyone elses hands ache at the end of day but this cooling numbing
thing feels good
Super glue and the medical glue are essentially the same thing. When
I had a knee replacement a couple years back, there were no stitches
and no staples. They glued my knee together. One funny tidbit about
the super glue on my knee, it is a great cure for baldness. The hair
on my leg didn’t seem to want to grow back, except where the glue
was. I had a mohawk for months on my knee until I got up the nerve to
shave it to be able to wear a skirt again.
An other preventative for split skin is an old one from Diary’s that
quilters have taken up. It is know as “Bag Balm” great salve that
keeps the fingers and hands nice a supple. Not like that hand cream
crap they try to sell us. It was originally formulated to salve a
cows udders so they didn’t crack. If it is good for the tits it is
good for the fingers.
This winter I found a remedy for a split finger that worked very
well. My split was next to the top of my thumb nail. Using a large
bandaid I squeezed alarge amount of Desitin (zinc oxide ointment)
into the padded area of the bandaid and then covered the crack. Used
another bandaid to hold it on if needed. Cleared away excess and
found I was able to continue working. At night Iput a glob of
Desitin in the thumb of a nitrile glove and wore the glove
overnight. Put gloves on both hands and treated the rest of my
fingers to handcream. I like Lansinoh Lanolin. Never had a skin
split last more than threedays. Desitin also works great to heal
split lips.
Ouch!! Those cuts and cracks including ones at the corner of a
fingernail are persistent nuisances.
I’ve found there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation that is
involved. The edge of the skin around the wound dries, hardens and
keeps the wound open. Additionally this hard ‘lever’ edge enables
the movement of the pliable skin around it to focus forces to the
small ends of the wound over and over causing reinjury during the
healing process.
Occasionally trimming off some of the hard edge of skin (not so much
as to cause addition trauma) can lessen the ‘lever’. In the end, the
quickest path to healing is to protect the cut and keep it
pliable… at least during the night with a bandaid and ointment.
Super Glue will work as long as the wound doesn’t open before it is
fully healed. Not ideal, but it will give it a good chance to get
better.
Have tried almost everything, but most of the time I look at these
and never get around to doing anything about them at all except to
say “Dang!”… day after day. Ha!
Thanks for all the good about using superglue for cuts,
and especially for Richard Hart’s suggestion about using some of the
cotton on thetip of the swab to hold it together.
As Jay mentions, the edges of the wound are a pain, as they dry and
harden, and reopen the wound repeatedly. I trim the edges whenever
necessary and slather the area with a good skin repair hand lotion.
Whenever I’ve been doing metalwork, I then spend the evening
applying the lotion to my entire hands, putting extra on the worst
affected areas. By the morning, my hands are usually nice and soft
and ready to go. I get similar problems at times as I play the cello
too. I have to be extra careful when doing metalwork, as saw blade,
file or burn injuries to the ends of my fingers make playing my
cello impossible and that is not a good situation to be in when
playing in various groups every week!
I use organic coconut oil every night and NY’s rough Winter along
with abuse from multiple mediums, (metal, wood, clay, etc.) didn’t
dry my hands out the way they have in previous years. I swear by it
for everything from lotions to cooking.