Fingers cracking in cold weather

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Boonieman

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Joined
Feb 19, 2017
Posts
382
Location
Meade County, Ky
Ok, not exactly an RV topic, but this is general discussion, right? I grew up in the Midwest, nice cold winters, and I happen to love snow and cold weather. Call me a weirdo, but it is what it is. And my jobs all my life have been in chemical plants, which means a lot of outside time in cold weather trying to keep the places running. No complaints from me, except in cold weather the ends of my thumbs and fingers get dry and crack and is very painful, like a paper cut. I hadn?t been on my last job very long and It had turned cold and I came in the control room and was commenting to my crew how my fingers hurt from the cracking of my skin. They said yeah, we hav some superglue in our shift drawer you can use. I thought they were just kidding their new supervisor, but they convince me because my fingers hurt pretty bad. They put a couple drops on the cracks in my fingers (with the warning to not touch my eyes or anything else until it dried). The pain instantly went away, and the cracks healed within a couple days. All the years I endured this problem, and such an easy fix!! It really works. I have been messing with firewood and just had to ?fix? myself for the first time this season and thought I would pass it along to my cold weather friends on here. Maybe it?s common knowledge, but I was in my mid fifties before I heard about it. Long term health affects? Dunno. I?m almost 63 and not gonna worry about it. ?
 
What ever works. Just don't touch any other fingers together till it drys. I tried using super glue many years ago to put a model car that my girl friend bought me for Christmas. Ended up getting two fingers and my thumb stuck together, man did she laugh. Ended up soaking in her finger nail polish remover to get them apart. I lost her to cancer in May after 35 years of wonderful marriage.
 
Super glue is pretty much the same stuff as surgical glue.  I have used it on some pretty serious injuries wilderness camping over the years.  Between that and duct tape, my first aid kit is complete! ;)

If you want to prevent the cracking, use udder balm.  You can find it at most farm stores and works great.
 
Used on the battlefield now too, to quickly close wounds. Know several guys that have closed up some pretty good cuts on hunting and camping trips with super glue. Amazing stuff when you're in a pickle.
 
I learned, many years ago, that to close a scalp wound you can tie two strands of hair together and put a drop of super glue on the knot. After about 5-6 days cut the hair. It's great for suturing little kids to prevent the pain of injecting a local anesthetic. 
Bob
 
MNGator said:
Super glue is pretty much the same stuff as surgical glue.  I have used it on some pretty serious injuries wilderness camping over the years.  Between that and duct tape, my first aid kit is complete! ;)

If you want to prevent the cracking, use udder balm.  You can find it at most farm stores and works great.

Called Bag Balm. Comes in a small square green can.
 
I use a product called 'New Skin Liquid Bandage' to seal the cracks.  It's more flexible than super glue and is antiseptic.  Stings slightly less than super glue.  ;D

They used both surgical glue and dissolving stitches on me.  The glue itched like crazy!

 
Use a good coating of corn huskers lotion or vaseline all over your hands and thin rubber gloves at night.
 
All good advice!

I found out long ago that I can put on enough clothes to stay warm, but I can't take enough off to get cool.  I worked in Chemical Plants for 20 years until I got my present desk job.  Best way to keep your feet warm is to wear a good warm hat, the rest will take care of itself.

"CX"
 
Mother told me about Bag Balm years ago when I complained about dry hands.  She said that when she was a child they used it on the farm for softening the cows' teats after milking.  Mother died at 94 more than 10 years ago so Bag Balm is a really old product!

ArdraF
 
used to happen to my feet as a kid in Iowa.  Dad used used Corn Huskers on them.  I'm not sure it really fixed anything...more of a soothing treatment.

I wish we'd had super glue back then!

I knew super glue could be used like that for cuts and such, and that they used it surgically.... but I would not have thought about doing it for cold cracking!  Thanks for the tip.  did it sting going on?

A few years back camping with son's cub scout pack.... a kid fell and cut his head.... well in the pack we had an anesthesiologist, a cardiac surgical nurse, and a PA.  One of them had a kit complete with medical grade super glue and even a skin stapler.  It was funny in a way, a team of three medical professionals all huddled around that boy at the picnic table in the campground.... he wouldn't have had better care had we taken him to an ER
 
I have spent 30 plus years in barns working with horses and used bag balm and super glue every winter on myself.
Both products worked great for me.
 
bag balm and zim's crack creame work for me.
i have an a problem with super glue ever since i owned a supermarket and one busy saturday a carpet in the wine section stated to split,i grabbed the super glue and glued it and my fingers to the floor ,there i was on my knees with customers all around till i could get somebody to bring a razor blade.
 
beaverfever said:
bag balm and zim's crack creame work for me.
i have an a problem with super glue ever since i owned a supermarket and one busy saturday a carpet in the wine section stated to split,i grabbed the super glue and glued it and my fingers to the floor ,there i was on my knees with customers all around till i could get somebody to bring a razor blade.

Don't tell us you amputated your fingers with the razor blade.  :eek: ::) :'(
 
Nu-Skin, Super Glue and their relatives also work great on blisters if you drain the fluid in them first.
 
taoshum said:
Nu-Skin, Super Glue and their relatives also work great on blisters if you drain the fluid in them first.

curious about more specifics with a blister...do you mean to seal up a needle hole where it was drained?

I don't know what nu-skin is, but I tried some of that liquid bandage stuff one.... felt like i was putting acid on an open wound.....not cool!
 
I use something called South Texas.  Yeah.

I had to go through Arctic Survival in Fairbanks Alaska back in 1984.  I had to go to the hospital when I came back because my fingers were so cracked and dry.  They gave me some kind of lotion or salve or something and said try to avoid cold exposure.  I had a kind of dumb look on my face for a couple of days trying to figure out how I was supposed to avoid cold exposure in Fairbanks Alaska.
 
BLW2, No, it has never stung me going on, and the pain relief is almost immediate. I never was dilligent about putting preventive salves on, so prevention might be better, but at my age I havent learned bu now, so doubtful. ?
 
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