1. Ingredients are extremely important! Use hand creams that have glycerine and real oil-base instead of cream with mineral oils or silicones. Mineral oils and silicones create a false layer on the skin and make your skin even dryer with time. The main ingredients in your hand cream should be glycerine, a pure oil like almond or olive oil, and clean saturated fatty acid like stearic acid and acetyl alcohol.
2. Wash your hands as often as possible instead of using sanitizer. The alcohol in the sanitizer makes the skin very dry.
3. Don't over soap your hands, use one pump of soap only. Using a lot of soap is not good for your skin, surfactants are very drying to the skin.
4. When using hand cream with fragrances, use products from companies that focus on formulas for sensitive and aging skin. Beware of fragranced hand creams with cheap ingredients and high alcohol levels that leave your hands even dryer.
5. Apply Glycerine based hand cream before bed, not just during the day. Night time is a great time to apply more cream to get your skin even softer overnight. Try using gloves and socks after applying the hand cream to increase long-term termination and really heal those big cracks.