What’s the best way to get rid of seriously dry skin?

There are all sorts of lotions and potions on the market for dry skin. Most them are fine for everyday use, but what can you do if your skin is dry to the point it cracks and even bleeds a little? I ran into this problem when my son was still in Elementary school. I tried everything I could think of, but his hands hurt so much that I couldn’t put anything on them. I had tried putting petroleum jelly on them before he went to bed and then having him wear gloves all night. That worked sometimes, but only before his hands had gotten to the point where they hurt so much that I couldn’t rub anything into them. I didn’t know about coconut oil at the time, or I would have tried that! I don’t know if it would have worked once his hands were that bad, though.

One day, his hands were the worst I had ever seen them. Anything I thought about using would just make his skin feel like it was burning, so I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to just let them go, but didn’t want to force him to let me smear something on them while he screamed in pain. I thought about it for a while, and finally came up with an idea. I took him to the kitchen, and slathered his hands with vegetable shortening! It didn’t hurt at all! It’s nice and thick, so it doesn’t just wash off easily. I had him put on his night-time cotton gloves. The next morning, his hands were so much better! After a few days of this treatment, they were soft and smooth.

I’m happy that his hands don’t get so chapped anymore now that he’s older. I’m still keeping this idea in mind in case it ever happens again, and I also wanted to share this in case anyone else could benefit from the information. I also wonder if it would work well as a substitute for diaper rash cream. Let me know if you try it; I’d be very interested in how it works!