Thanks everyone ... I keep one of those little 7"x 4 1/2", six ring, loose leaf notebooks for all my camping and fishing references, and made a page with all your recommendations. Went to see the ole Doc for followup on some previous tests I've been going through and sprung this cracked thumb skin business on him. Although he's a general practioner and not a dermatologist, he did prescribe a moisturizing lotion with 12% lactic acid, called AmLactin, and says it's good for dry skin that is about to crack open; says to use it only on my thumbs and finder tips, especially around the nails and especially at bed time. He says for a everyday hand lotion, he personally likes "udder cream" that they use for the milking cows! Guess he's an old farm boy at heart! Anyway, found some of that at my local Wally-Mart and it's called "Udderly Smooth" and it was only $1.50 (4oz tube). Kinda like the stuff! Thanks again, Dale

normally no...but this week has been a killer...my lips are chapped and hurting...and my thumbs both have splits...I usually lather on Lanolin grease I got thru Amazon and sleep in gloves...that clears it up in a couple of days...Hubby ordered four huge bottles of Amlactin for Christmas...he uses it and we sent a bottle to his Mother and gave the other ones to the kids...it doesn't work for me...I got a bottle subscribed a few years ago and hubster ended up using it...Now that its on Amazon he loves it! There is a lanolin grease called Lansinoh you can find at some drugstores and also back in the baby department at Walmart...its sold for nursing mothers...lather some of that on your hands and sleep in gloves...you'll be amazed at the results! I think every one of our bodies are different and you just have to keep searching till you find what works for you!!

Boy, skin must differ a lot from person to person, which I guess makes sense. I have a lot of winter damage to my hands. I start out with dry skin, and then I develop sores from Raynauds that often crack and bleed. I'm amazed that a dermatologist would advise against using skin creams for crack-prone skin. If I didn't use some serious products on my hand I'd probably have gangrene at this point. No exaggeration. For me, nothing heals existing damage like Working Hands. Other products like the Aveeno I mentioned above might prevent cracks from starting, but I don't know that for sure. I never heard of Gloves in a Bottle, but I just looked it up on Amazon and will probably try it. Thanks! This post was edited by alisande on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 16:55

I use a product called Callex. It comes in a small jar and I order several jars at once from Amazon. I believe it is also sold at CVS, etc.. It was recommended to me by a coworker who was told by her podiatrist about it. It is the consistency of Vaseline. I put it on at night with socks. It works really well to keep my heels smooth.