OT - dry, cracked skin

Hi,

This may not be the most relevant place to post this query but I'm
hoping someone else may have gone through the same thing and can give
me the benefit of their experience.

Basically, the skin on my hands has been really dry for about a year
now and I'm starting to wonder if it will ever get better. It started
just after I gave birth - my hands, feet and ankles became really dry
and a bit flaky (sorry if anyone's eating right now!) and I figured it
was a reaction to my fingers and ankles being so swollen while I was
pg. I also guessed that having to wash my hands so often from changing
nappies, wiping up spills, etc, wasn't helping but that it would get
better relatively quickly. The trouble is, while my ankles and feet are
a bit better, my hands are still terrible and the skin is actually
starting to crack around the top of my nails which looks horrible but,
more importantly, hurts like h*ll. I've tried various hand creams
(including that Neutrogena one that's meant to be for Norwegian
fishermen or something) but nothing really seems to work and I'm
starting to get a bit hacked off with it now. Anyone have any
suggestions?

I should come clean up front and admit that I don't religiously put the
cream on *every* time I wash my hands, simply because I don't always
have the time - oh, and I've also had some allergic reactions to some
brands of soap and babywipes, which is probably also contributing to
the problem. Do I just need to bite the bullet and basically keep my
hands submerged in hand cream at all times, even if it means the baby
squirts out of my hands like a bar of soap?

Cheers

Helen