Mia, my whole hands don't get swollen...just where the eczema is, like near the joints mostly. I don't even get it as badly anymore...not on the other parts of my hands. But when those cracks happen, it hurts. And there isn't really a very large rash or anything...not red particularly unless I scratch it. It's just so itchy, then painful.
Lots of good ideas there to try. But what happens a lot of times, one thing works for one person, but not another. I have no idea why. The same thing happens with prescription stuff.
Bag balm is good, healing stuff, but since it's got lots of lanolin in it, some people are irritated by that. But anything is worth a try. I've even used olive oil but it's so messy that I haven't used it much so I can't say if it works or not.
I think stress is my biggest trigger that makes it flare up. Another thing that could really help is a narrow band uv light....very expensive. My son has psoriasis and it's all over him. He gets little red spots and they get kind of dry but he doesn't have the plaque kind...not the white, scaly stuff. I bought him a 6' tall, narrow band uv light...was about $2,500 and you must have a prescription for it and be under a dr's supervision. But it really has helped him a lot. I notice in summer when I'm out in the sun more, the eczema is very mild or non-existent. I also have it worse like some of you in winter. It could be a combination of being dryer in the air and the sun rays....a little bit of radiation. lol.
A tanning bed might help, but actually, the rays of the sun that do any good are the narrow band uv so the tanning bed has a lot of light rays that don't help too much, but might a little. And then there's the danger of skin cancer with that. So, geeze! You can hardly win. I guess if you have it severely, I'd go see a dermatologist and try a Rx cortisone ointment because when it's real, full blown eczema, most hand lotions won't do a thing it seems or at least that's been my experience. Dry hands, yes. Eczema, not much.