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Thread: "fissured" knuckle

  1. #1
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    Default "fissured" knuckle

    I've been hitting the makiwara on and off for 20 years or so and I have developed thickened patches of skin over my knuckles. These aren't callouses. I don't hit a rough surface or attempt to "toughen up" the skin. The thick skin seems to be a side-effect of impact over time.

    When it gets cold I sometimes experience cracking and bleeding from the natural skin folds in the knuckles, which seems similar to chapped lips. This year it is particularly bad for some reason. It is quite painful and the skin in these deep cracks through the thickened skin continues to split and bleed.

    Since it is not a case where I could put a bandage on it and let the skin heal for a week like a skinned knuckle, but rather seems to be the fissuring of this thickened tissue I don't know how to care for it.

    Has anyone else ever encountered/resolved a similar problem?

    Thanks,

  2. #2
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    If you're not going to go see a doctor, then you can try the following: Trim the dead skin from the edges, squirt some Desitin into the crack and butterfly it shut. Pure Lanolin also works well, and can also be found in the baby aisle at most pharmacys (Nursing mothers use it for cracked nipples). Or just cream up with the Desitin and cover it with a band-aid.

    Alternately, you can trim the dead skin from the edges and super glue the crack shut.

    Either way, I would recommend using a heavy duty moisturizer like Bag Balm (which also has lanolin) every night at bedtime (best to wear socks on hands or gloves if you don't want greasy sheets). And drink lots of water.

    If it doesn't get better it could be a fungus, in which case see a doctor.
    Best regards,
    Bruce Mitchell

  3. #3
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    Thanks Bruce. My wife actually has a tube of lanolin-based stuff left over from nursing. Great suggestion. As for the greasy sheets...

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Geoff View Post
    ...When it gets cold I sometimes experience cracking and bleeding from the natural skin folds in the knuckles, which seems similar to chapped lips.
    This is actually a not uncommon problem.

    There could be several causes, including but not limited to infection, nutritional deficiencies, and so on.

    The above advice on treatment is good, but I'll also add some advice for prevention:

    Drink more water
    Add Vitamin C
    Add a multi-vitamin & multi-mineral

    The above, of course, assumes that you're not already doing so.

    In the winter, most modern people (who often are already in a state of mild dehydration) don't drink enough water, and since cold air contains less moisture than warm air the moisture on the skin evaporates more quickly than it does in warm weather.

    Additionally, in the winter most people eat fewer servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, and so vitamin and mineral deficiencies can develop. (The symptoms you describe could be a result of mild-but-chronic scurvy.)

    If the treatment modalities suggested by Bruce and the prophylactic modalities I suggested don't help (and even if they do, it's still a good idea), by all means, get thee to a healthcare professional for a good check-up.


    HTH.
    Last edited by Brian Owens; 1st February 2009 at 16:54. Reason: Reformatted for readabilty
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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