Dyshidrotic Eczema on the Fingers and Hands

Hello Everyone,

I am a healthy, 47 year-old male, and I have had dyshidrotic eczema (atopic dermatitis) on my hands for the last year-and-a-half. It mainly consists of tiny, red fluid-filled blisters in between my fingers, on the sides of my fingers, on my palms, and at the wristline. Sometimes it is just one blister here and there; other times it is a cluster of blisters that eventually fuse into one larger, irregularly-shaped blister. Some of the blisters are itchy and/or painful, others have no itch or pain at all. Usually, they disappear in a matter of days, but there are always new ones appearing in other places so the condition never really seems to go away. Initially, the blisters only appeared during the hottest summer months, but now I have them at any time of the year. I use only baby soaps and mild shampoos, I do not expose my hands to excessive amounts of water, I use "sensitive" laundry detergents and fabric softeners, I am under mild stress but control it to the best of my ability, I do not have any major allergies (except perhaps dust mites), and my diet is generally healthy.

Is there anything I can do to treat the blisters and prevent recurrence? I could not find anything new on the Internet that has helped me and my doctor said he could prescribe topical steroids for quality of life improvement, but there is no cure and it may become chronic. The only thing I haven't tried is cutting out nickel-rich foods such as almonds, figs, pineapples, red wine, chocolate, whole grains, but these are considered "healty" or "beneficial" foods (in moderation) so I don't really feel like giving them up so quickly.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

If you do not develop symptoms on consumption of the food mentioned, you can rule them out as triggering factors. Maintain a food dairy and note down your symptoms, this will help to narrow down the search. Besides avoiding the triggering factors, treatment for atopic dermatitis is with cortisone based creams and moisturizers. You should take a short bath or shower (no more than 10 minutes) only once in a 24 hour period. For adults, showers are generally better than baths. While longer baths or showers, especially in hot water, can be quite relaxing, they will also increase the loss of natural oils from the skin and worsen skin dryness. Always wear gloves for washing and while going outside, as cold increases drying. Don't wash your hands any more than necessary and use very mild soaps. Apply constantly plenty of good moisturizing creams and alternate with steroid creams. Use a humidifier in the rooms to avoid dryness.
The moisturizers need not be the expensive ones; even vegetable shortening is good enough, only it needs to be applied adequately and at frequent intervals.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[smiling_at_you]

Thanks for the general tips, but none of this is really relevant to my condition as I do not have dry or cracked skin. In fact, my skin is quite soft and supple, yet I still develop the small blisters on the sides of my fingers and in-between them, as well as on my palms and wrists. It is nearly impossible to identify all food triggers as processed foods contain so many individual ingredients. I do not want to use cortisone creams or drugs; I prefer a home remedy.
Thanks!