Home remedies for hardened palms

Have you been neglecting your hands lately? You are not alone; most Indian women do – all that household work of cleaning, swabbing and doing the dishes takes a toll on their hands. Their hands take more abuse than just about any other external part of their body; they lose that youthfulness and look rugged and aged beyond years. Their palms especially are more vulnerable and become rough and hard over a period of time. The skin on the hands, as we know, is protected with a coating of oil/sebum. This is what keeps it moist and prevents dry skin. Constant immersing of hands in water, repeated washing with soaps and contact with harmful chemicals in detergents and floor-cleaning liquids (there is very little awareness in third-world countries) make the hands dry and cracked and often causes eczema (also known as housewife’s eczema) and some people are more prone to develop hand eczema than others are. And if this repeated exposure continues, hands also become red and inflamed.

Speaking of house-wife’s eczema or hand dermatitis, the cracks, lesions and fissures usually start on the tips of the fingers, but sometimes the palms get affected as well. There may be scaling, redness and crusting on the hands. Occasionally the edge of the nails become involved, in which case, the nails will become very rough and irregular. Though hand eczema is not contagious, it’s nevertheless a vexing skin condition that causes lot of inconvenience and embarrassment, especially for women who like to have beautiful soft hands.

Therefore, it’s highly imperative that you follow a proper hand care routine and a bi-monthly home-manicure to maintain the beauty of your hands and palms. Act before it’s too late - do not allow all that household chores to suck the life out of you – take some time to cleanse, pamper and nourish your hands. Try and wear gloves when working with household chemicals or gardening to protect the hands and nails. Excessive use of harsh soaps should be avoided. Use healing hand care lotions like Skin MD Natural Shielding lotion and Gloves in a bottle a few hours before and also after doing dishes, gardening or house-cleaning. You could also consider going to a beauty salon or spa and leave the professionals take good care of your hands with a specialized hand care treatment. But if you don't have the time or money to go to a beauty salon/spa or if you cannot afford to buy expensive lotions and moisturizers, then taking care of your hands at home is really easy. Do go through some of the homemade recipes and tips for hand and nail care from here. As for your hardened palms, try your hand at some of these home-remedies. Before that go through the post how to massage your hands the right way.

Home remedies for hardened palms

Get soft palms with butter

Massage the palm with butter, the cracks will disappear and skin will becomes soft and smooth.

Hand skin care with milk and lemon juiceBoil a cup of milk and cool it. Mix two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice and a teaspoonful of glycerine with this milk. After half an hour, massage the palm with this mixture gently. Repeat this treatment everyday.

Olive oil/coconut oil hand care

Gently massage your palms with warm olive oil/coconut oil, leave it on for about ten minutes and rinse off with lukewarm water and a mild soap. For an intensive hand care treatment leave it overnight, but wear some cotton gloves.

Oats hand mask

Mix one teaspoon of oats flour, olive oil and glycerine with water. Mix all the ingredients to a paste of desired consistency. Apply this paste on your hands and palms with a gentle massage. Leave it on for twenty five minutes and rinse off with lukewarm water and soap. This oats hand mask acts as a gentle scrub as well and is softening and gentle on the sin as well. You may also try this other hand mask.

Honey mask for your palms

Boil and mash a potato add a few teaspoons of milk and 3 tsp of honey. Blend this mixture really well and then massage this onto your hands and palms. Leave it for about 15 minutes and then rinse off with warm water and a mild soap. This hand skin care recipe will nourish and rejuvenate your hands and soften your palms.

Get soft hands with kokum butter

Melt 2 teaspoons of kokum butter by placing the bowl on a dish of warm water. Add 2 tsps of almond oil and 5-10 tsp of cucumber juice. Mix well and apply this hand cream by gently massaging it in. Add more almond oil to the mixture, and bathe your hands on it for five minutes to intensify the effect. You can also try making Satin hand cream, Almond hand cream, few homemade hand lotions and this wonderful homemade hand cream too. If you are not the DIY type, then you may try this Better Botanicals Kokum Butter Body Balm for Dry/Damaged Skin.

 

For those you who do a lot of typing, you need to relax and soothe those tired fingers and palms from time to time and it certainly doesn’t take much time. Here’s what you should do. Squirt a small amount of moisturizer onto your hand and then using the fingers of your other hand start massaging the fingers from base to tip. Gently press your thumb all over palm as well. Do so until the moisturizer disappears. Repeat the same procedure for the other hand as well. 

Not only feels great but relaxes you in seconds flat; additionally it softens your palms also. You may also want to check some exercises for your hands and fingers and a few terrific exercises for your wrists as well.

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