Itchy peeling callus-like growth on hand, no pain

[WhatsThis716]

I arrived in China about 5 months ago, and almost immediately I got this bump on the palm of my hand.  I vaguely remember it being a very small bump, almost like a tiny sun blister, and I worried it might be a plantar's wart on my hand.  I cut open the skin with nail clippers to see inside, but there was nothing...and it didn't bleed.  Plus, I'd had a plantar's wart before, and it didn't fit with what I'd previously had.

For about 3 months now the skin has been really itchy in this same spot.  Over time, the small bump has spread into a larger (about 1 cm in diameter), round, callus-like formation.  When I scratch it, the skin becomes loose like a callus and I can pull it away with my fingers (this is not like peeling glue from hands; this is like pulling the skin off a chicken...it's pretty thick!).  Again, no blood.  Sometimes the area is tender when I pull the skin away, but there is no pain and it heals over quickly.  Then two weeks later, the process repeats itself all over again.  

The skin appears shiny and leathery, and is slighty pinkish from some angles, but if you were to look at my hand, the spot would be difficult to see because the skin is not discolored.  Also, the skin does not appear to be excessively raised, if at all.  Interestingly, the itch feels like it is in the inside of my hand, almost like there is a bug underneath.

I currently have some problems with athlete's foot and thought it had spread to my hands, but it seems more wart-like than rash-like.  But I'm not certain it is a wart either.  Because I am in China, I would like to avoid going to the hospital altogether because treatment here always involves antibiotics and I am anti-antibiotics unless they are really needed.  Plus, I'm convinced the doctors here have little to no knowledge of what they're doing, so I'm hoping to find an over-the-counter remedy.

Anybody have something similar to this?  

[Jakem27]

I have the same thing and I believe it is parasite related.  I'm doing everything I can to get rid of these things but it is really difficult.

[kittersue13]

I have an area on my left palm, triangular in shape, about the size of a nickel.  It itches and is slightly pinker and more 'leathery' like.  The skin will peel, then heal,and there are flattened circles that appear to be under the skin in a few places, almost like a blister but no fluid or raised areas.  I have tried an antifungal, wart medicine, and now am trying hydrocortisone.  It never goes away but seems like it has shifted a tiny bit.  I am so bewildered by this!  I don't know where it came from or what it is.  Did you ever get an answer?

[mlleelise]

I also have the same exact thing...one intensely itchy spot on my right palm. It peels when I dig at it. Tough leathery, itchy skin.  I've had it for about 5 years now. I live in upstate NY - have never been been to an Asian country.  ANYONE have an answer as to what this is and what to do about it?

[kvrrd]

Started last year on my right palm.  I kept messing with it and it would almost go away then start again.  It finally went away.  Then it moved to another part of my palm and is following the same pattern.  It is now on my other palm.  I've tried at least 10 types of treatments.
Peroxide, yeast fluoc-something, anti-bacterials, anti-fungals, steroidal, cortizones, wart removers, mold and mildew remover, bleach, pumicing, neosporine & bandaged...  yeah, more than 10...
We live in California and go rockhounding and looking for gold, so my hands are exposed to all kinds of stuff.  Then I grow cactuses and dig in the garden and work with the rocks.  I clean the pool.  All the tools I use annoy my palms, even with different types of gloves.  I suspect using my other hand to work with the tools more often may be the reason it spread to that palm.
oddly enough, it calmed down while in Taiwan... I'm not asian.  Lithuanian.  My mother gets all kinds of weird stuff from dirt & gardening.  Immune systems. I also have HCV.  I feel like a microbe hunter...

[Aldusek]

I have the same thing.
first I though it was a wart, but I could not get rid of it using wart medicin.
I have had it about 5 years. It is not spreadding.
It looks like callus, but I don't have any other. And it is not in an area
calluses form. It is itchy, and forms excess skin, which peals.
I am not of an asian origin, and have never been to Asia.
What is it?

[Whatisthisreally716]

I've got the same thing, about 7 months ago and it's exactly the same, it's on my palm and it doesn't hurt at all, it just itches some time, when it started it was flat and couldnt really see much but now its raised just a little and it did dry up and kinda peak off and just repeat the same process, exactly the same, small, round, and very dry no bleeding what so ever, kinda like a callous, I believe it's the exactly the same thing I don't know what it is  

[sasms]

Strange, I have had this same condition in both of my palms of my hands for the past 6 months.  I also live in China (Hong Kong) and do a lot of outdoor activity.  I initially thought this was due to the excessive use of hand sanitiser which is a way of life in HK.  What you describe is exactly what is occurring in my palms.  I shall try the cortisone and see where that lands me in a couple weeks.  Many thanks

[Dingopaint]

I have the exact same thing everyone is describing. Not Asian, never been to Asia. I know exactly when it started - I was in a car accident in 2009 and had to have a lot of glass picked out of me. After I healed, about a week later, I noticed an itchy bump on my right palm. I thought it was glass trying to work it's way out of my skin, and I fiddled with it with a safety pin, then tweezers, then any sharp object I could find as the months passed. I was told that the glass will eventually work it's own way out. Well, here I am 9 years later, and it's still there, and now there is spreading, an additional "bump" that's not a wart and not a callus but more of this insidiously itchy thing. I have tried wart remover, pumice after a shower, apple cider vinegar, steroid cream and NOTHING alleviates or helps it. It's not a surface itch, you know what kind of itch I'm talking about. Deep and subcutaneous. It's driving me nuts and it itches the worst at night. I was hoping for an answer from someone in this thread, but it looks like we all still have our bonding itchy palm thing. I am following this if there is an answer that ever comes up, and of course if I find it, I'll for sure post it here.

[Hvan1227]

Did u ever fine the treatment? Does anyone? I just started to have them and doing everything I can to get rid of it. I will post up treatment when I fine one.

[chillwill377]

O'Keeffe's working hands. For dry hands that crack and split, hand cream. I got the cream for $7. It seems to work on hands and feet.

[Baddog60]

I have something just like that, did you ever find out what it was?

[kymlee6801]

I have had the same thing since I was aroung 5 in the middle of both my hands and feet.  It does not bleed like a plantar wart, and it keeps coming back just like you stated. I am Korean American and am beginning to wonder if it may be asian in origin since even the dermatologists have had difficulty diagnosing me, and continue to brush it off as a wart or callous even though they admit that it does not meet the full criteria of either. Please help.

[JDC743]

I've had the same thing since 1994.   We were building a house and i got a splinter in the palm of my hand from a piece of treated lumber.   I dug the splinter out and thought nothing more about it.   After several months, an itchy bump developed.   The bump became a callous and peeled away.   The deeper the peel, the more it hurts.   this has been repeating itself for the last 15 years.   I would love to know what it is.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It can be due to pompholyx or dyshidrotic eczema. Wash the areas several times with fresh water. Do not use any cosmetic products at the sites. You can apply some calamine lotion at the rash as it will help in soothing the skin. You can take some OTC oral antihistamine medications like Benadryl or Claritin and see if it helps.

For mild-moderate symptoms a weak steroid may be used (e.g. hydrocortisone as dermacort), whilst more severe cases require a higher-potency steroid (e.g. clobetasol propionate, fluocinonide)which may require a dermatologist’s prescription.Also use good quality moisturizers to prevent moisture loss from the skin.

If still the symptoms do not improve then please get a clinical examination done by a dermatologist and get a biopsy done. 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.