DEAR DR. GOTT: I am writing in hopes to get a response for a terrible problem my daughter is having with her fingertips. When she was just out of the Air Force, she began a business cleaning homes. She had her hands in water and chemical cleaners constantly. She hasn’t done that job for the past five years, but since then, she has a cracking of her fingertips that is painful, and they sometimes bleed.

Her pharmacist and family doctor told her that this would probably never heal. She has tried tea-tree oil, Corn Husker’s lotion and every cream we can think of. It used to get worse in the winter but now happens year-round. Would seeing a dermatologist help? Or is this really something that she will have to live with? I’m afraid that she will eventually get a bad infection or something else. She’s now six months pregnant, but anything that you suggest could be held off until after the baby is born.
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