What are rhagades and fissures on the hand?
Fissures are thin, elongated cuts that form on the fingers. Fissures usually form on the stratum corneum – the outermost layer of the skin – but can occur deeper.
What are the causes of rhagades and fissures on the hands?
The causes, which can be of various kinds, are:
- Dry skin caused by poor skin nourishment
- Use of aggressive detergents
- Use of drugs. Among the drugs, oncological treatments with biological drugs such as Afatinib (Gilotrif), osimertinib (Tagrisso), Cetuximab (Erbitux), Panitumumab (Vectibix), Gefitinib (Iressa), Erlotinib (Tarceva), Trastuzumab (Herceptin), Lapatinib (Tyverb) their frequent skin reaction is the formation of cracks arising on dry skin.
.
How to treat cuts and fissures on the hands
Cuts and fissures on the fingers and hands can be very irritating, painful and difficult to heal.
Avoid getting the affected area wet, as water and detergents can cause further irritation and slow healing. Therefore the part with fissures should be ‘dry-washed’ with disinfectant such as aqueous Benzalkonium chloride solution.
A help for damaged skin
- Apply PEG Ointment and, if possible, cotton gauze to repair the part. The gauze and PEG Ointment dressing should be changed once or twice a day until the wound has fully healed. When the cut or fissure has completely healed, resume normal cleansing.
To be avoided
Avoid getting the affected area wet, as water and detergents can cause further irritation and slow healing.
CLEANSING
When the cut or fissure has completely healed, resume normal cleansing. Use Eudermic Cleansing Base as an alternative to aggressive, foaming soaps and detergents.
Recommended products:
Further insights
