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.