Sunday, June 20, 2010

cracked skin on fingers

Some people have a hand in everything: gardening, decorating, car repairs, cooking, cleaning. But having a hand in moisture-robbing materials like soil, solvents and soapy water can quickly leave skin chapped and cracked.

Cracked skin can look like a dried-up riverbed, and it's caused by the same thing: lack of water. It starts when water is lost from the skin surface, leaving behind layers of dry skin cells, explains Stuart M. Brown, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

"Dehydrated skin is brittle, like fingernails," explains Leonard Swinyer, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. And, like fingernails, brittle skin cannot bend easily without (ouch) cracking.

Low humidity is a prime dryer. Dry air sucks moisture out of skin, as any desert dweller can attest. But home heating in any clime creates a desertlike atmosphere inside your house that can be equally dehydrating. That's why cracked skin is a particular problem in winter.

Moisture routinely does a disappearing act in the face of irritants like detergents, perfumes, lotions, rubbing alcohol and nail polish remover, Dr. Swinyer says. It makes sense to avoid household substances that cause dry, cracked skin, but many people work with moisture thieves like paints, solvents and other chemicals everyday.

Certain conditions, such as psoriasis, eczema and some allergic reactions, can also cause skin to thicken, dry and crack. Likewise, thick, dry calluses are common fissure sites, says Lon Christianson, M.D., a psoriasis expert with the Dermatology Clinic Limited in Fargo, North Dakota, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology.

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