Soothing home remedies for dry, cracked hands and fingers

The dry, winter months can wreak havoc on your skin. Here are our 8 favorite home remedies for dry, cracked hands and fingers.

1. Exfoliate with sugar and olive oil. Place 1- 2 tablespoons sugar in your hands, add a few drops of olive oil, and rub the sugar and olive oil into the front and backs of the hands. Ann Marie Gianni says exfoliating this way just once a week makes a difference. For best results, repeat up to four times weekly, and always apply lotion following the home remedy.

2. Wear gloves to bed. Start a new night time ritual. Ann Marie Gianni recommends rubbing coconut oil, jojoba oil or vitamin E into the hands and then slipping on a pair of gloves or wool socks. This strategy locks in the moisture overnight and makes your hands seriously smooth.

3. Oats bath. Soak your hands (or whole body!) in a basin treated with raw oats and warm olive oil. Ann Marie Gianni says to relax for 10- 15 minutes while the deep moisturizer works into your cracked skin.

4. Olive oil and rosemary oil. Rosemary is a natural antiseptic that prevents infection, says Ayurvedic Cure. This is important if your dry skin has cracked. To heal cracked skin, massage warm olive oil treated with a few drops rosemary oil into the broken skin. Take special care to massage in between the fingers and around the nails. Slip on a pair of cotton gloves and rest for 30 minutes. Finish by washing your hands in warm water.

5. Butter. The fat in butter feels wonderful on chapped skin, especially on broken fingertips, says BoldSky. Butter will keep your hands moisturized and soft, which is why it is recommended to apply the butter at night and then cover the hands with cotton gloves so the butter has time to soak in deeply.

6. Petroleum jelly, sugar, dish soap, and lotion. This Grandma Is Fun swears by this routine for healing dry, chapped hands and fingers. First, spoon 1/2 teaspoon petroleum jelly in the palm of the hand. Sprinkle a teaspoon sugar onto the petroleum jelly and mash together to make a paste. Use a significant amount of pressure to rub the home remedy over both hands, rubbing away the dead skin. Wash your hands with hot water and liquid dish soap. Finish with lotion.

7. Lemon juice, honey and baking soda. This recipe is ideal for people combatting not just dry, cracked hands, but also discolored age spots. Begin by washing your hands with warm water and a mild soap. Massage a mixture of equal parts lemon juice, honey, and baking soda into the hands for a full minute. Relax for 5 to 10 minutes and then wash once more in warm water. Bellatory recommends this treatment twice weekly.

8. Avocado and sugar. Mash a ripe avocado and one tablespoon sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Massage the home remedy into the hands, allowing the sugar to exfoliate while the fats from the avocado nourish and repair. Ayurvedic Cure says it's best to wash with plain water and avoid soap immediately following treatment.

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