Skin on Hands Peeling

[Carmen]

My boyfriends hands started peeling about a week ago and he does not know why. The skin on his hands just comes off and it is pink and he says the lines in his hands hurt. We don't know what to do. He has been putting lotion on them but it does not seem to work.

[Andrew de-Boeck]

A deficiency in ZINC can also cause peeling to occur. A tablet supplememt or foods rch in ZINC such as shellfish may be beneficial

Regards

Andrew de-Boeck

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Carmen:

Some people's palms (and sometimes soles) just peel from time to time.  The fancy name for this is keratolysis exfoliativa.  Nobody knows the cause, it isn't infectious, and it goes away.  heavy mositurizers like Eucerin or Aquaphor (both OTC) help a bit.  If they don't, a dermatologist might prescribe a cortisone cream if there's some eczema too, but your description doesn't sound much like that.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff