The war against dishpan hands

I have horrible hands that look about 20 years older than the rest of me.  Largely a result or dermatitis/eczema and too much use of cortisone creams.  Over the last few months it has been completely out of control.  Cooking isn't exactly great for them, given the number of times you wash your hands, or wash fruit and veg, wash up dirty dishes etc.  So after consulting a number of people, this week I waged war.

First: I purchased a pair of premium, latex free, super-sensitive washing up gloves.  I never usually use washing up gloves because they tend to irritate my skin more than the water.  This time I splurged.

Then: a neighbour put me on to this fabulous hand cream from the Body Shop.  I have tried most "miracle" creams under the sun, and usually as soon as I put them on I am in all worlds of pain from the stinging, and they don't do much to improve my hands.  This one is different.  It doesn't smell lovely but within a day of using it I noticed considerable improvements.

Lastly, a week of antihistamines.  The Asthma Foundation's Twitter feed kept informing me of the extreme pollen counts over the last few weeks, and my constant sneezing tipped me off that its that time of year again.  I love spring, if only it didn't make me so terribly uncomfortable.

So I am at the end of the week of the war against dishpan hands, and I think I may have won!