What are rhagades and fissures on the hand?
Fissures are thin, elongated cuts that form on the fingers. Fissures are usually shallow and form on the stratum corneum, but can be 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 which can react with the skin causing dryness and cracking. Among such pharmaceuticals are some biological drugs used in cancer treatments such as: afatinib (Gilotrif), osimertinib (Tagrisso), cetuximab (Erbitux), panitumumab (Vectibix), gefitinib (Iressa), erlotinib (Tarceva), trastuzumab (Herceptin), lapatinib (Tyverb)
.
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.
To heal it is necessary not to get the part wet: water, and even more so detergents, cause irritation and prevent repair. Therefore the part with fissures should be ‘dry-washed’ with disinfectant such as aqueous Benzalkonium chloride solution.
A help for damaged skin
- Apply PEG Balm and, if possible, cotton gauze to repair the part.
Avoid getting the affected area wet, as water and detergents can cause further irritation and slow healing.
When the cut or fissure has completely healed, resume normal cleansing. Use Eudermic Cleansing Base as an alternative to aggressive, foaming soaps and detergents.
