My eldest had really sore hands and we realised he was reacting to the hand soap at school. I took emmolient to school so he could apply it after washing his hands and we took a hand soap for him to use. They have since changed the hand soap at school and his hands have been much better.
E45 do a good cream that is for skin complains. I have always found it very good
I bought a scratch sleeve and put hydromol ointment on at night and wash his hands in the morning when we take it off. X
Had you tried epiderm? It worked really quickly on my son’s hands and it was minimally applied as he hates creams! X