Chrissy
I too developed excema in college--on my right hand at the tips of my fingers mostly. I attribute many of my outbreaks to stress or changes in the weather. What works for me most of the time is managing my stress and anticipating stressful times (or changes in season) so that I can keep my skin moist and protected from chemicals, extremes in temperature, etc. When I do feel an attack coming on (tightness in the skin, redness and red dots below the skin), if the patch feels hot to the touch I immerse it in very cold water several times over the course of one evening. Along with stress management, that usually keeps an episode from cracking and bleeding. Also, Glysolid skin cream (available at many nail shops and manicurists) helps keep skin from chapping. This usually helps me in the wintertime to avoid outbreaks then. And, of course, I always wear gloves for any unusual hand work (gardening, dishes, cleaning, working with unpainted metal). I'm proud to say (knock on wood) that I haven't had an outbreak in over a year. I attribute it to my diligence. Good luck. I can sympathize.