The Abominable Snowbunny: WTH is EK?

Hey, so every now and then you might see (read?) me mention "my EK". I've never actually met anyone who knew what it is and had to search awhile online before I found definitive information. So I wanted to share since it's something that affects some of my beauty posts. Nail pics to be exact.

What does it stand for?
EK= exfoliative keratolosis

What is it anyway?
EK is a syndrome which affects skin cell regeneration, usually on the hands and feet. Specifically, the cells' life cycle is dramatically short so the skin peels A LOT. Sometimes it's barely noticeable and other times your skin cracks and peels enough to make simple tasks really painful. Mine showed up on my fingertips when I was around 10. It's worst on my thumbs which is why I hide them in a lot of my nail pics. Ragged cuticles and giant hangnails are the norm.
(Fear not, there are no pics in this post!! LOL)

What is it not?
Dry skin: This is why I hate getting professional manicures. The nail tech would always tell me to moisturize my cuticles. Actually, water and most creams make EK worse.

Burns: Many people over the years have asked me what I burned my fingers on! The skin is usually a lot pinker (at best) than the rest of my hands. The pads of my fingers are super-smooth and sometimes appear almost fingerprint-less.

Something gross and contagious!: Ok sometimes it can look gross and alarming. I've been known to cover a really torn up finger with a Band-Aid.

What helps?
The goal is to maintain the healthy skin part of the cycle for as long as possible. But you have to be fastidious...

As little moisture as possible: I use a lot of hand sanitizer instead of soap and water which I know makes people go ew. But that's better than the painful ew of peeling hands, 'k?

Urea: Again ew, but no, it has nothing to do with urine! Its found in many other things besides pee LOL. I saw it recommended on an EK forum so I started hunting for a lotion with the highest concentration I could find. My winner is Heel To Toe Overnight Repair Treatment cream. It's a pedicure product and has urea as the second ingredient.

Protection from...everything :-( When I cook, I wear disposable, food handler gloves so no fruit or veggie juice gets on my hands. Also, I can wash my hands with the gloves on if I touch eggs or meat or what-have-you. Another big one for me is chalk. I dreaded having to write on the blackboard in school. It always caused a huge flare-up. Obviously, just keeping my hands out of anything I'll need to wash off later is good: dirt, nail polish (ha!), makeup (again, HA!).

So there you have it! I truly hope that if anyone is Googling EK they find lots of info. Maybe my post will help. Ironically, the site I found most helpful wasn't medicine-related at all. It was a NAIL TECH site! Advice for techs who might work on someone who had EK. Cool.

As always, stay up out there, peeps!