Eczema? Bubbly itchy skin on finger (and ping Liz!)

[peliroja]

On my right index finger, above the knuckle, I have a small patch (about 1cm squared) of bubbly itchy skin, which sounds not unlike the condition Liz described in her TRAT blog: "I get mild eczema on my hands, which takes the form of little tiny transparent spheres of goo - think bubble wrap, and that's pretty much how it looks."

I am guessing it is stress-related, and I don't think I've had it before. It's not infected, as far as I can see. Just very itchy and sensitive and annoying.

Any ideas on how to get rid of it?

Thanks,

Peli

[Wowbagger]

I used to get that on my feet: rather bigger blisters. At least two of my kids get it on their hands. It's called pompholyx. Pompholyx (dyshidrotic eczema, vesicular hand eczema). DermNet NZ

We tend to find that cutting down on dairy helps considerably. I haven't had it for years - not since I started cycling and lost weight.

Have you considered buying a bike? 

[peliroja]

Ha ha.

It started after the Dun Run, after the skin on my fingers had got a tiny bit burned on the Sunday. I wonder if that triggered it. It also coincided with getting 14 nasty mosquito bites all over my body.  

[peliroja]

I used to get that on my feet: rather bigger blisters. At least two of my kids get it on their hands. It's called pompholyx. Pompholyx (dyshidrotic eczema, vesicular hand eczema). DermNet NZ

We tend to find that cutting down on dairy helps considerably. I haven't had it for years - not since I started cycling and lost weight.

Have you considered buying a bike? 

Just looked at those pictures.  It's nowhere near as bad as any of them! The bubbles are miniscule and totally transparent. Still annoying, however.

[Wowbagger]

More seriously, I sometimes wonder if conditions like that are associated with higher-than-usual toxins in the system. I was an even more outrageous fatty than I am now, and I am reasonably sure that my  system simply couldn't cope with the rubbish I was throwing at it. A long ride like the Dun Run could, I suppose, cause a build-up of toxins, especially if other factors came into play, like increased histamine from the mozzie bites.

Edit: yes, those pictures are of extreme examples, but it starts off with tiny, clear blisters and eventually new skin grows underneath.

[RJ]

Depending how bad it is, antihistamine might help

(What the doctor prescribed for me when I had something similar, but really big blisters, earlier in the year.  That seemed to be some sort of contact dermatitis - an allergic reaction to something.  The doctor also prescribed a cortisone cream - Betnovate or somesuch, which also helped a bit.  The skin then dried out and cracked quite badly.  The best stuff then was an old tube of Body Shop hemp hand cream  )

[Regulator]

I would recommend Lush's 'Dream Cream'.

My mother, sisters, nieces and nephews, who all have eczema or psoriasis, swear by it.  Their GP is also a big fan now, having seen the results.

Not sure what it is about Dream Cream that does the trick.  Some people think it's the marigold oil - others the clay.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Another recommendation for Dream Cream. It's made of stuff that's good for skin and it has no nasty petrochemicals in it. I've had eczema since I was tiny, spent a fortune on prescription steroid creams to no avail, but Dream Cream works every time.

[Ariadne]

I get something similar when I'm stressed, peli - and I swear by Neutrogena Norwegian formula - it's like magic! But the Lush stuff's no doubt more natural

[Ariadne]

(also, consider simple things like whether you've changed your soap/ washing up liquid recently)

[Phil]

Ha ha.

It started after the Dun Run, after the skin on my fingers had got a tiny bit burned on the Sunday. I wonder if that triggered it. It also coincided with getting 14 nasty mosquito bites all over my body.  

I don't get eczema, but I did once get a really nasty rash on the backs of my hands after cycling a long way in the sun.  I was wearing mitts with a woven string back like these, and every hole had its own little patch of nasty.  It went first pimply, then bubbly, and was alternately itchy and painful.  I killed it with Savlon and Calendula cream eventually, but it took some time to go away.  

[Wowbagger]

I get something similar when I'm stressed, peli - and I swear by Neutrogena Norwegian formula - it's like magic! But the Lush stuff's no doubt more natural

Mrs. Wow uses Nutrogena as well. It makes her smell like a Norwegian fisherman.

[Charlotte]

Another sufferer here.  I often get a non-fungal dermatitis on my hands; almost always it coincides with mouth ulcers and means I'm stressed. 

Aside from the itchy bubblyskin thing, I also get big wide cracks opening up which are exquisitely painful and really, really bloody annoying.

Keeping my hands moisturized half a dozen times a day is as good a way as any to avoid this in the first place (along with diet, exercise and not feeling the need to defenestrate my cow-workers) but if it all goes to hell, I rely on POM steriod ointments.  Dream Cream, et al. works fine as a preventative measure (I particularly like Body Shop hemp cream), but does bog-all once the rot has set in.

My usual method involves slathering on a mixture of Betnovate or similar, mixed with a heavy emollient cream, then putting a pair of light cotton gloves on before I go to bed.  When I wake up, the skin is hydrated and the cracks have closed up.  The ointment stings like a bastard, but it works. 

[pumpkin]

Diet/stress are two triggers of eczema. Dairy products are often a contributory factor as is lack of sunlight. i used to work with someone who suffered terrible eczema and her baby inherited it. On a trip to Australia, she found the abundant sunshine just drove the eczema away so successfully she emigrated there. It may be worth trying a few experiments cutting things down in the diet eg dairy,wheat based products etc. I suffer from slight psoriasis which flares up if I get over-worried about something. Best thing to is not worry about things I have no control over.

[Hot Flatus]

SCABIES!!!!


...is what I thought I had when I got these symptoms a few years ago, especialy as they appeared symetrically on my forearms.  If it is eczema them get some Hydrocortisone cream from the chemists, over the counter.  Blitz it with that for a couple of days (apply sparingly) then start a daily moisturizing regime (diprobase is good) to try and stop it coming back.  Mine is worst in winter to easter and during times of tiredness and stress.

[fred the great]

There can be loads of reasons for itchy skin. Ask your Doctor for a referral to a proper skin clinic.

They have these ruddy big magnifiers and can see the problem more easily. They can also  take a skin scraping and have the Doctor's diagnosis confirmed by a laboratory.

Don't just assume that it could be eczema or something similar or purely stress related as you could spend a fortune on unsuitable creams

Sorry MP but too much cortisone is definitely not to be recommended

[Hot Flatus]

I didn't recommend using too much.  I recommended using over the counter 1% cortisone, and using it sparingly.

[Regulator]

...

Any ideas on how to get rid of it?

Thanks,

Peli

You could just get Woolly to 'kiss it better' on a regular basis!   

[Julian]

Peli that's exactly what I get - it's pompholyx, also known as dishydrosis, and it's a form of eczema.  I get it on my hands and feet, and I've had it since I was seven years old so I doubt very much that it's due to build-up of toxins!

Stress triggers it, as does really warm weather.  It's just annoying (unless the bubbles burst and then get infected and you get fleshrot like I did, but that's only happened once and I've had it for twenty years.) 

Calendula cream can help, as can Dream Cream.  When mine got really bad I was prescribed steriod cream for it, but that's not very nice.  For immediate relief try plunging your hands into a sink full of very very cold water (or very very hot water, but that makes it itch more when you take them out.)   

I wouldn't bother with a GP.  Mine diagnosed chilblains, then chickenpox, then psoriasis, then self-inflicted-self-harming-attention-seeking-behaviour (as I had scratched the skin off by this stage), and it got worse and worse until I couldn't hold a pencil at school because my hands were giant and lumpy and raw.  Eventually I was carted off to see a skin specialist who looked disbelievingly through the giant wodge of notes from my GP and said "it's eczema," gave me some steroid cream, recommended calendula for any future break-outs and all was well. 

[alan]

I am guessing it is stress-related,

Probably it is. I get it ONLY when stressed.I use it's appearence as an indicator to alter cicumstaces to de-stress.
The centre of my universe:AKA Marj: got some magic cream a while ago when I had a particularly bad attack of eczema which helped enormously.I'll ask her later what it was.

[peliroja]

Thanks everyone. It's more bubble wrap-like and itchy today., but still covers just a tiny area.
I'll try calendula as I am allergic to anything even slightly scented/perfumed. I can't walk past a Lush without wheezing and coming out in a rash. 

[fred the great]

From what Liz says you don't appear to have very good Doctors these days

In my wifes case we attended our local Private Hospital and she consulted the Skin Specialist Doctor  within ten minutes. Using this ruddy big magnifier the Doctor said "Yes I can see the problem" and we left after  30 minutes complete with a specially formulated and rather expensive cream. This was a Hospital product not a commercial product.

And yes it worked successfully

[hellymedic]

I am not a dermatologist but I do wonder if this localised eruption is a phytophotodermatis, ie the skin has reacted to a sensitiser (often a plant) + UV light.

The sensitiser and the light do not, in isolation, cause the problem.

[alan]

Using this ruddy big magnifier the Doctor said "Yes I can see the problem" and we left after  30 minutes complete with a specially formulated and rather expensive cream. This was a Hospital product not a commercial product.

Do you think the doctor knocked it up himself?

Witch which doctor?

[Hot Flatus]

I asked my doctor if 3-in-1 oil would be any good, but he said its shit.