Well,
I battle dry skin from the inside and the outside. First, I make sure I'm not dehydrated. The heat in our house is set a comfortable 71 degrees but just the furnace venting the warm air into the house dries everything out so I make sure I have some liquid refreshment throughout the day and by my "stitching chair." First sign of skin drying out for many people is noticing the skin is starting to look flaky, especially the top of the hands.
I only use lotion on my hands and lower arms after my shower in the a.m. and before I go to bed for the night. I really rub the lotion into my hands and fingers and then wash before I stitch.
Hope your finger gets better real soon. Hope this helps.

All that Bermuda said I agree with. Keep hydrated. I use this test on myself. Gently pinch the skin on the top of your hand if it quickly lies flat again, hydration is ok. If the skin keeps the pinch for a short time you are most likely dehydrated. I like to drink coconut water myself, along with good old plain water. One thing I do is use neosporin as a hand cream. Both in the morning after my shower and last thing at night. Believe it or not it does not stay greasy and it doesn't take much, just a tab. I live in SoCal on the edge of the desert. The air is dry here year round. In between using neosporin I use just good hand cream/lotion. I hope this helps. One question, do you use a thimble when you sew?

yes i hear you those are the sad days of not being able to crosstich i find it is the aida and the seizing i agree with the other 2 replies i drink a lot of water what ever u do do not try to crosstich with a band aid learnt my lesson on that one i use nivea sos repair and care at night gl
Happy xstitching when your finger gets better
Blessings

I, too have that problem. I work at a job where I frequently have to wash my hands. Years ago, a dermatologist told me to use Dove or Oil of Olay soap. It works nicely. Neutrogena Rainbath is also wonderfully hydrating on my dry skin. I agree with the ladies. Put on a lot of lotion before bed. Hope this helps.
Hope you get to start stitching again, soon!

There are hand lotions for cross stitchers....123stitch.com carries it, I know. I have not tried it yet.

I would like to report that I finally got a box of Thread Heaven and began using last night and tonight. The finger ends that were feeling pretty dry are feeling less "scratchy" and dry. Has anyone else noticed this? Is this a side benefit of a thread conditioner? If so, why has nobody mentioned this? Will report more later, but this is very interesting.

Thank you for your suggestions. I probably don't drink enough water. Think I'll try the neosporin tonight. Everyone here is so kind!

terry, could you be allergic to the sizing in the fabric? I know that when I first start a new project my hands break out. The skin itches, flakes and cracks open. My doctor prescribed an ointment. I think it's cortisone or a steroid. I have to look again. It's low dose and he told me to use as little as possible. It clears it up right away. I get a similar reaction when I prepare certain fruits and vegetables. I can't keep much on my bedside table because of my granddaughter and once I am in bed ..... So I don't apply lotion or the ointment as often as I should. Hope that you find the cause and a solution soon.

queen, I lived in Victorville, CA. Although I do not like the desert, I did prefer the dry heat to humidity. Roses grew beautifully there.

Terry,
If you use the Neosporin on your cut finger, it would be a good idea to just watch to see if the NEO is helping or not. This is NOT meant to scare you but my husband got a couple of cuts on his lower leg last year. We cleaned the cuts, then applied Neosporin and over the next few days the area continued to look inflamed instead of getting less inflamed or better. We went to a doctor about 2 days later when the cuts STILL looked inflamed, ie infection? Doctor did give DH antibiotics but when we told him how we had applied Neosporin to both cuts during the preceding days, Doctor instructed to "stop applying Neosporin and switch to Bacitracin" because he had noticed SOME patients were starting to have an inflammatory reaction to Neosporin. Now that doesn't mean Neosporin does not work. I've used it without a problem. We've used it for YEARS with positive results but I think that DH is one of those people. After that doctor's advice, I made sure I use Bacitracin on DH with positive results and healing when he was cut or scratched from gardening or when he gets a wound. (Probably caused by my rosebushes getting trimmed.Beautiful roses but nasty thorns!)

I also have very dry hands , so I use Udder cream . I use it like hand cream . It wont stain your fabric .
After I do the dishes ,my hands are like sand paper.
Udder cream comes in a white jar with black cow spots . I got my last jar at Safeway.

I have suffered from cracked hands for years. I also use udder cream. So each time I wash my hands, or do the dishes, I apply some and it's great. I haven't had any problems this winter. It is totally non greasy and has never hurt my stitching. Linda