Kentucky Rifle,
The secret to dealing with those splits, and preventing them from happening in the first place, is moisturizing your hands.
Soak your hands for 5 minutes in warm water.
Towel them off lightly, then take regular run of the mill olive oil and work into your hands well. Keep rubbing until everything is absorbed.
In 30 minutes, rub a little more into your hands.
If you keep the split moisturized, it's going to heal faster and hurt a LOT less.
Olive oil is a wonderful skin conditioner.