A Case of Cracked Fingers


Over the past few months I have been working on some personalized oil blends for a couple of people with extremely dry, cracked and sensitive skin on their hands and fingers.

Both of these people have struggled with the problem for years and have tried all sorts of solutions including prescribed medicines and creams, all with unsatisfactory results.

The blends I have been doing for each of them are not identical, but do have similarities. I'll call the 2 people 'A' and 'B'. In this article we will begin to follow A's progress.

Winter Wear


In A's case, the problem is particular to winter months and is concentrated mainly around the tips of the fingers. 'A' agreed to be documented as we progressed, so we started by taking the 'before' pictures on October 23.

At this time the problem had been present for about 3 weeks. I made a mixture of several oils and told 'A' to apply it to the fingertips as often as deemed necessary or desirable.

After the first week of use, I received a positive report and intended to get pictures, but it wasn't possible at the time. When we did take the next pictures, a couple of weeks had passed.

'A' told me the fingers had actually been doing much better the week before, but due to an unexpected increase of exposure to weather and water, the condition had deteriorated some. Overall, though, there was a positive reponse.

Below are the first 2 progress photos. (Although A has the problem on both hands, I have chosen to show photos of the right hand only because it was easier to pose this hand in a similar fashion for each photo).

October 23 2010

November 6 2010

By the beginning of December, the weather had gotten increasingly cold and bitter, and 'A' reported that the oils weren't able to keep the condition in check on their own.  'A' felt there was a need for additional help.

I did a lanolin-based reparative hand salve that could be applied as a protective layer and gave this to 'A' to try.

More to come.

Comments

Rikke said…
Rigtig spændende. Herhjemme er vi et par stykker, der med stor forventning vil følge med i din følgeton - vi har meget tørre og sprukne hænder om vinteren, og mine håndcremer udøver ingen mirakler :-/

Kh Rikke
Jenn in GR said…
Owie! Those fingers look painful! I'm sure the balm helped!