Hand and foot cracks

　　The skin of the hands and feet, especially the palmoplantar skin, has the following anatomical and physiological characteristics: the hands and feet have no hair follicles and sebaceous glands, and the stratum corneum is often thickened for protective purposes, making the skin dry and hard to resist the erosion of various physical and chemical factors in the external environment. However, due to the lack of sebum protection, in dry and cold seasons, due to the traction of movement on the local skin, local injury occurs and cracks appear.

　　Exogenous factors:

　　1. Physical Such factors as dryness, friction, and外伤 can promote the onset of the disease.

　　2. Chemical Acids, bases, organic solvents, etc., will dissolve the sebum, causing the skin to lose its lubricating and protective properties.

　　3. Biological Such infections as fungi can cause excessive keratinization of the skin, losing its original protective ability.

      In addition to general symptoms, it can also cause other diseases. Hand and foot cracks can cause disharmony of Qi in the body, poor blood circulation, malnutrition of the meridians in the extremities, gradual drying and withering, becoming brittle, and repeated friction or traction, leading to cracks.

　　Hand and foot cracks are more common in adults and the elderly. The affected skin is dry, rough, thickened, cracked, and the cracks often run along the skin creases. Lesions are prone to occur on the fingers, palm, edge of the hand, heel, and plantar surface of the foot, and the edges of the foot, where the skin is keratinized and frequently rubbed. They often occur in autumn and winter, gradually heal as the weather warms up, and are slow to heal. They are divided into three degrees according to the depth of the cracks:

　　First degree:The affected skin is dry with cracks, but only involves the epidermis, without bleeding or pain.

　　Second degree:The affected skin is dry, the cracks are deep into the superficial dermis with mild tingling, but there is no bleeding.

　　Third degree:The affected skin is dry, the cracks are deep into the dermis and subcutaneous tissue, often accompanied by bleeding, pain, or tenderness.

　　Hand and foot cracks are a common skin disease in the elderly during winter, so the prevention of this disease is particularly important. The following are some preventive measures for this disease:

　　1. In dry and cold seasons, it is advisable to eat more oils.

　　2. For patients with a long course of disease or the elderly, it is advisable to increase nutrition and eat more foods such as pork liver, pork skin, mutton, ejiao, and cod liver oil capsules.

　　3. Due to the cold and dry climate in winter, the elderly sweat less, and the skin is prone to cracking and wrinkling, so special attention should be paid to the cold and warmth preservation of the hands and feet, frequently soaking them in warm water, and applying some oily skin care products to prevent frostbite and exacerbate hand and foot fissures.

　　4. In daily life, it is also important to pay attention to a diverse diet, eat more fruits and vegetables, drink plenty of water, and consume foods rich in protein in moderation to maintain skin moisture and elasticity, which can prevent the occurrence of hand and foot fissures.

　　Daily Health Care

　　1. In daily life, it is important to avoid using too much alkaline soap, alkali water, and other detergents when washing hands and feet.

　　2. In winter, hands and feet should be soaked in warm water frequently, dried after bathing, and skin care products should be used to maintain skin moisture, and warmth should be kept.

　　3. When working in an environment that is easy to cause occupational hand and foot fissures, labor protection should be strengthened to reduce the possibility of disease.

      At the time of diagnosis, in addition to relying on clinical manifestations, auxiliary examinations are also needed. The diagnosis of this disease is not difficult according to the objective manifestations and subjective symptoms of hand and foot fissures, and no additional examinations are needed.

　　Patients with hand and foot fissures should pay attention to a diverse diet in their daily lives, eat more fruits and vegetables, drink plenty of water, and consume foods rich in protein in moderation to maintain skin moisture and elasticity, which can prevent the occurrence of hand and foot fissures.

　　For patients with hand and foot fissures caused by primary diseases, active treatment of the primary disease should be given, such as tinea manuum, eczema, ichthyosis, palmoplantar keratoderma, and others. For mild cases, topical emollients or ointments such as 10% to 20% urea ointment or compound salicylic acid ointment, compound urea cream, vitamin E cream, 10% cod liver oil ointment can be used. It is better to soak the feet in warm water before taking medication. For patients with thick stratum corneum, it is advisable to first soak the hands and feet in hot water, then use a blade to thin the thick stratum corneum, and then apply the above cream or ointment. Fissures can be treated with rubber bandage or hard paste of triamcinolone acetonide, neomycin sulfate, thymol (Fuxingning) for softening the stratum corneum. In addition, topical applications such as 0.2% estrogen cream and 0.1% tretinoin (retinoic acid) cream can be chosen.