Hi all,

I've had a long-term problem with my hands now and wonder if any of you have any suggestions.

My hands get incredibly dry, mostly the fingers from where they join the hand to the very end. My cuticles also get very dry and crack frquently.

I have tried numerous hand creams from the cheapest drug store brands right through to La Mer hand cream. I've tried washing them less, applying moisturiser every time I wash them and even got my derm to look at them. My derm's suggestion was to apply Vaseline to them very thickly, then put my hands into rubber gloves for a couple of hours each night. He also suggested Vaseline and cotton gloves when sleeping.

I have tried it all, and what usually happens is the skin will improve for up to a couple of weeks at the most, then, it starts to dry out again and is usually worse than before.

I don't overly wash my hands, rarely wash them in anything other than luke-warm water and only use mild soaps like Dove on them, and don't really do any physical work with them that could be causing this.

Has anyone any ideas on something that may work?

Thanks in advance