I’ve had cracked skin on my fingers for many years, and I usually try to manage the problem with a bedazzling variety of moisturizing creams - with and without hydrocortisone - that seem to become less and less effective the more I use them.

But since I moved way up north a few years ago, and what with age and all, the problem has been getting exponentially worse. This winter, it’s so bad that I went see the dermatologist for help.

He gave me a great piece of a advice that I’m passing along, because it also works wonders on my residual limbs’ skin:

Get an air humidifier and don’t let the humidity in your home drop below 35%.

It took a couple of week for the cracked skin on my fingers to finally heal. But also, to my surprise, my painful scars got better within 3 days. I wasn’t expecting that! My scars are much less itchy and the skin around my residual toes is a lot more flexible, making walking genuinely less painful.

If you have skin problems on your residual limbs in the winter, try an air humidifier!