I find little relief from the skin on my knuckles drying,
cracking & peeling
in large, unsightly, oozing patches (... I apologize for the
graphic
detail...) after working on bonsai or on landscape plants even
a short
while. I live with it, but my doctor and pharmacist both
recommend for
treatment of the condition an externally applied steroid
cream-- and the
pharmist recommends an anti-fungal cream, additionally. The
after-the-fact
"doctoring" of disrupted skin with external creme application
takes three
days to accomplish healing. Have others found a better
solution--
hopefully preventative?


1. Preventative: Those thin rubber gloves that doctors,
dentists, and almost anyone else who has to touch another human
being on a regular basis these days. They don't feel it, but
they're fairly puncture proof and they are like a second skin and
allow you to do everything you can do otherwise with bare hands.
You can buy a box of 100 for not much money.

2. Immediately after the fact: A potent anti-inflammatory skin
cream. Bag Balm or Udder Cream (both made for cow and goat teats
that get irritated) are excellent. I find that the Burt's Bees
hand salve (beeswax and something stinky) help hands that are
already irritated.

3. Regular dosing with an antihistamine may also help keep you
from getting such a severe reaction, but I suspect you've tried
that.

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