# Fingertip sores **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027 "2001-02-19T00:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![insider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/1 "2001-02-19T00:30:13Z")
I have been having problems with the tips of my fingers at either side of the nail where it leaves the skin. A crack forms and splits open. It becomes red,inflamed and very sore to the touch. I noticed that my son-in-law had a bandaid on his finger and I found that he had the same problem. When recently having dinner with a friend, I noticed that he had a bandaid on his finger and he also had the same problem. I recently got gas and when I went to pay I noticed that the gas station clerk had a bandaid on her finger and she too had the same problem. Is it just coincidence or is something strange going on here? I try not to be too paranoid but even paranoids have enemies! ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/2 "2001-02-19T00:52:19Z")
(Twilight Zone theme playing) Ah, give your local hosptial information line a call, its free, ask them about it & let us know. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/3 "2001-02-19T01:06:27Z")
I get those things. Every time I get a new one I notice I’ve “lost” an hour or two, and there are werid scorch marks in my lawn. Seriously though, I do get those on my thumbs. I suspect it’s a vitamin deficiency or something. Also, I work for the Post Office (easy now - don’t make eye contact), and plunging my hand into stacks of letters really aggravates it, and makes it hard to heal. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/4 "2001-02-19T01:07:31Z")
I also get werid typos. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/5 "2001-02-19T01:17:59Z")
Try this: [http://athena.medicdata.com/FIT3/cracked-fingertips2.htm](http://athena.medicdata.com/FIT3/cracked-fingertips2.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/6 "2001-02-19T02:31:38Z")
While TLD’s site give correct information for prevention once open these little cuts hurt and re-open and get blood everywhere. I try to keep hand lotion on my hands all winter long but some cold winters seems worse for cuts than others. At the first sign of a “cut” I apply Instant Krazy Glue. No kidding. And if I try to approximate the edges and hold the cut closed while the glue sets, so much the better. By the time the Krazy Glue falls off the cut is healed. And it is safe as houses. Jois ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/7 "2001-02-19T03:50:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jois \* > At the first sign of a “cut” I apply Instant Krazy Glue. I do that with paper cuts…it’s great! ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/8 "2001-02-19T15:11:48Z")
Sounds like a hangnail sort of, doesn’t it? e.g. hangnail: a bit of skin hanging loose at the side or root of a fingernail ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/9 "2001-02-20T19:07:56Z")
Hi Handy! As if you would know, living - in California, right? The old fashioned word(s) for these “cuts” is chillbanes or chill banes? While some might be located near the side of the finger right about where the nail and skin meet, the cut will be located at right angles to the nailm not along side like a hangnail. Knuckles are favorite places, too. Jois ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/10 "2001-02-20T19:39:55Z")
Here’s a reference for [chilblains](http://www.dermnet.org.nz/index.html). That link is the only one that came up right away that had pictures. The first thirty or so links that came up on [http://www.google.com](http://www.google.com) were basically one paragraph descriptions. Ooooo, [another](http://www.dermis.net/doia/diagnose.asp?zugr=d&lang=e&diagnr=991500&topic=t) one. If that looks like the problem, I found that a good glycerine/silicone hand cream helps, but there seems to be a lot of other info out there. Tisiphone ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/11 "2001-02-20T20:11:23Z")
I used to get this very severely. Started after I worked for a year as a dishwasher at an IHOP in Philly. My brother had it too ( I inherited the honored position 😃 ), he called it the IHOP Rot. We used to get a pot of Hydrophyllic Ointment made up by the local pharmacist, and that worked nicely. Also, Vitamin E oil is the Universal Panacaea around here for skin wounds, cuts, scars and chicken pox. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/12 "2001-02-21T01:24:27Z")
For trusty medical info I use [http://www.webmd.com](http://www.webmd.com) they are kinda nice, they don’t try to spook ya. Never heard of a chilblain. Here is what they say it is: "(chil´blän) one of the mildest forms of cold injury, characterized by recurrent localized itching, swelling, painful erythema, and sometimes blistering and ulceration, caused by exposure to cold and dampness. It occurs chiefly on the fingers, toes, ears, and face, but may involve other areas of the body. Called also pernio. The basic cause of chilblain is sensitivity to cold, sometimes resulting from circulatory disturbances, which may be corrected in part by exercise and proper diet; severe cases require medical attention. Extreme heat or cold applications should not be applied directly to chilblains. This condition should not be confused with “frostbite” FROSTBITE, another type of skin damage caused by exposure to cold. " Still think its not a hangnail, Jois? ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingertip-sores/55027/13 "2001-02-21T06:17:50Z")
Of course! And I did say it was an old fashioned, right? Are you having a nit-picking day? 🙂 Jois