Growing Blood Blister on my Finger.

For the past month I've had this kind of blood blister grow on the tip of my right ring finger. The blister is NOT under my nails but on the tip of my finger adjacent to the nail. I will attach a photo.
In the beginning it started as a small reddish bump and I would accidentally bump it somewhere and it would bleed for a few minutes and then it would stop. For the past 2 weeks I've been very careful to not bump it anywhere and it hasn't bled since. I did notice that the skin on top of the blister was starting to dry and be able to peel off. I finally was able to take off the upper layer of skin and now the blister itself seems to be growing upwards from the tip of my finger. Last night I tried to burst it with a disinfected needle to try and drain the blood since I wasn't seeing any kind of improvement. It bled for about a minute and stopped but it's still red underneath. The strange part is that I could see a "ring" of my normal skin around the blister that doesn't grow over while the blister itself seems to be protruding up. There IS a layer of skin over the blister but it seems very thin, smooth, and it's kind of shiny. You can see the ring of normal skin in the attached photo. It's definitely not a regular layer of skin that we all have on our finger tips. The part that bothers me is that it's growing upwards from the tip of my finger and I really can't tell what it is. Do blood blisters take this long to heal? I've never had something like this before. Thank you for your help!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It looks like a blood blister from the symptoms and picture as they are very common on hands. It is a type of blister that forms when subdermal tissues and blood vessels are damaged without piercing the skin. It is commonly found on hands. Elevate the hand, give rest to the part, apply cold compresses, soak the blister in Epsom sale and keep the hand bandaged so as to avoid its rupture. If the blister breaks, quickly rinse the area and apply an antiseptic such as neosporin. It is not recommended to break a blister because it may often lead to infection.

If the symptoms worsen or persist then please consult a dermatologist. It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[martikadragoon]

Blood blisters can take a long time to heal especially when it's right against the nail on the tip of your finger because the skin there grows a little differently. You can't exfoliate it as you would the rest of your body.

Blood blisters can heal, you described the skin on top of the blister to be thin and shiny after you took off the top layer of skin. . Although blood blisters can be popped there's still a layer of blood cells left behind between the layers of skin. It's basically as if those blood cells have stained the skin there but if you were to pop it again it most likely wouldn't actively bleed.

However I am not sure why it would be growing upward so I'd suggest checking it out with your dermatologist. I'm not a doctor, just someone who likes learning about problems of the skin.    You may want to post this on the "Ask an Expert" forum.

Sincerely,
Cindie
Martikadragoon (CL Dermatology forum)

[CassCore]

You were right to leave the skin on and just poke it with the disinfected needle. Keep the area dry and it will eventually heal! You just use your fingers so often it's hard to keep the blister unirritated. The redness is normal- just the brand new skin under the dead layer. Leave the dead layer on as long as possible to keep the raw skin underneath protected. If it does fall off prematurally just cover with a baidaid and give it time to become less raw and new. Good luck!

[martikadragoon]

CassCore is right about leaving the skin on and using the disinfected needle.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It looks like a blood blister from the symptoms and picture as they are very common on hands. It is a type of blister that forms when subdermal tissues and blood vessels are damaged without piercing the skin. It is commonly found on hands. Elevate the hand, give rest to the part, apply cold compresses, soak the blister in Epsom sale and keep the hand bandaged so as to avoid its rupture. If the blister breaks, quickly rinse the area and apply an antiseptic such as neosporin. It is not recommended to break a blister because it may often lead to infection.

If the symptoms worsen or persist then please consult a dermatologist. It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[Lourdes77]

Thank you very much for all your recommendations, I have made an appointment with the Doctor tomorrow to determine what exactly is wrong, since it's been quite sometime now since the blister appeared and has not healed. I will keep you posted on the results as soon as I receive them.