Preventing sore thumbs

[Robbie58]

Hi - I've got a really simple tip I've been meaning to pass on for ages to help prevent the tips of the thumbs getting sore from pressing tablets out of their packaging.
I don't know if anyone else gets this but I get about 20 tablets a day out for Jackie and after a while it was splitting the skin by my thumbnail. The answer to it for me was those rubber thimbles bank tellers use for counting notes. You can get them for about £1.50 in a box of four from a stationers and cut them to size if you need to. There are four different sizes in the boxes I get. I keep one by the medications all the time and pop it on before I press the pills out. Those packs can be really tough - but this really has helped.

I know it's not much but I hope it helps someone x

[susieq]

that's a good idea Robbie

I found that splitting the foil on the back with my thumbnail before pushing it out helps too !

[Robbie58]

Thanks susieq that's a good idea too but I don't think my thumbnails are long enough! Cheers

[bowlingbun]

Especially at this time of the year, I'm very prone to split skin round my thumbs, it really hurts. Try to avoid putting your hands in water as much as possible, use gloves, and have hand cream alongside every sink in the house, and on your bedside table. Every night before you go to bed, be sure to rub it in well.
My late husband was a marine engineer and used a lot of hand cleaner to get rid of oil etc. His hands also got very chapped until he started using cream at night, it really made a difference.

[Robbie58]

Hi bowlingbun - there's a really good ointment called flexitol that heals the splits in a couple of days. You can get it in Boots quite cheaply

[bowlingbun]

Yes, I've got some of their heel cream, their hand cream, and also the nail and cuticle cream, pleased with all of them. I holiday in Crete regularly, and always come home with hand cream based on olive oil, which is also good. I must put cream on my hands at least ten times a day, maybe 20!!!

[Robbie58]

Morning Susie - I tried that this morning with my thumbnail and it did make it easier to get the pills out - thanks. Don't know why I never thought of it before! It was easier when pills came in bottles!

And thanks Bowlingbun for the reminder about handcream - neutrogena is really good but I keep forgetting. Hope you are well x

Robbie

[bowlingbun]

Make sure you have some on the bedside table, and get into the habit of putting it on every evening, last job of the day. Then it hopefully has a few hours to soak in. I didn't realise how many times a day I washed my hands until my son's partner moved in, and she started making comments that I had OCD!

[Eun]

I just use the point of a ballpoint pen to rip the foil at the back and then the tablets pop out easily.

Eun

[Robbie58]

Hello Eun, thanks I will give that a go.