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Palm of my Hand is Dry, Cracks, & Itchy

I am a healthy 28 yr old male. No medical history I am perfectly healthy aside from my right hand.

I have had a persistent dry right palm for over 3 years now, and it has recently gotten painful and extra dry. I wulod describe it as dry, rough, thickened, cracked skin on my palm. I do not have health insurance so that is why I have not been able to go get it looked at yet.

Looking closely it is dry, has cracks, itches. It makes it hard to do any type of physical work because if any dirt or debris gets in the cracks it irritates even more and hurts a bit more too.

I think it is eczema or something but I am not sure. Any suggestions on a diagnosis for this? It is on my right hand palm and on my right hand fingers in smaller areas. Please see the picture attached.  I work from my computer so it is not like I do hard physical labor to cause this.

Please please if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.
39 Responses
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Avatar universal
I had this condition a few months ago. My left palm became very itchy and red. The skin finally started to peel and wanted to crack. I thought it may be a fungal or yeast type infection so I treated it with white vinegar . I soaked it very well about every two hours for about three days and it cleared up completely.
Helpful - 2
1 Comments
Awesome i hope it works for me.
Avatar universal
its fungal.. you need to put Lotrimin on it..  it gets rid of it in a few days..
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I also have similar problem on both the palms of my hand, though the right one is affected more for the past 4 years now. I have just started using a cream named human+kind. It is very effective and available online. Pls see if it helps. At least the pealing of skin stops completely. go on the net for human+kind. and let me know if it helps.
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Avatar universal
It may be a contact dermatitis. I would try changing the computer mouse. Make sure it is all plastic. The same thing happened to me.
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Avatar universal
I had been suffered from dry eczema for a couple of months and I have done everything to relieve. I have Ulcerative Colitis and am using Imuran which affects the immune system.
But I finally found the reason to my problem and how to resolve it in short and long term:
1- The problem was because of allergy to either paper or ink (I figured out that the problem happened when I dealt with hundreds of pages of print in a week).
2- I could keep it almost in the same condition (or slightly better) by keeping it wet using ointment or skin creams. But "Betaderm" ointment (needs prescription) had better results (used it for 2-3 weeks). Especially the ointment works well after bathroom when the skin is fresh.
3- I didn't know this is because of paper/ink (I thought of mouse, notebook touchpad, latex gloves, etc.) so thanks to a pharmacist in Edmonton who advised to use cotton gloves, I avoided touching almost everything at work.
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I play cards twice a week could that cause my hand problem. I have had it for a year dry itchy callous cracked no pimples no seeping
Avatar universal
i have what you described as tiny itchy bumps that i ended up just pinching them off because they were very itchy and there was tiny drops of liquid or puss inside then eventually my palms got dry spots half an inch wide and the skin flakes off then it cracks in the middle if i use cream with a glove on over night for a few days it will heal but it always comes back i have had this problem for about 5 years now how do i get rid of it?
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Avatar universal
i also work out alot doing body building, that i dehydrate myself
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Avatar universal
Its gone away so far so im set. herbalists use liquid substances, so i soak my hands in the medicine. A MD has told me before that my eczema is curable(controllable) with gummy tablets that she prescribed me. but by that time my eczema when away.
Helpful - 0
4851940 tn?1515694593
Althletes foot is a funal disorder.  The fungus thrives in warm and humid conditions. So it is important to dry well inbetween the toes and apply antifungal cream and/or antifungal powder.

As for your hands.  Do not use normal soaps because this soap dries the skin too much.  As well as as using the mediction that is helping (if it is not, then you may need a different one), use highly moisture creams.  You can buy cotton gloves and apply a lot of moisture cream and the gloves when you go to bed at night.

Wear gloves when you go outside to protect the skin the the weather.
When your skin cracks and splits on your fingers, put on a plaster to protect it so that it does not get dirty and infected.

Also keep a note of anything that you touch that might aggravate the condition so that yu can avoid touching it or use protective gloves before you do.  You will probably be allergic to rubber and latex too.  You can buy Nitrile gloves - these are what doctors and dentists use (and me).  

I do a lot of planting and wear the Nitrile gloves so that I do not catch any germs and bacteria through my cracked skin.  At the moment it is fine.

Bacteria can enter through the broken skin, so it is important to keep it protected.  

I have recently started to take B12, magnesium, zinc, multvitamins as well as drinking a lot of natural yogurt (may be that is helping).  

Your hands may get red with weepy spots, but this is not Rosacea.  By what you say, you suffer from eczema.  You can urticaria and these are spots that itch and weep and you can urticaria different parts of the body.

You only get Rosacea on the face and it can affect the eyes.

With the hand skin problem, you need to find the right cream that will help you.  Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated as this is important for healty skin as well as having a healthy diet.

As you dad is a herbalist he should be helping you more with your problem.  Calendula petals are very good for the skin.  

Hope you get sorted out soon so.  But remember as you have this problem now, it is likely that you may experience flare ups from time to time as you get older.
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Avatar universal
I used hot water actually to relieve the itch, and rinse it over with cold water.
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Avatar universal
I had a rash before, and it was not pretty. my skin would turn red plumped up with dark red spots and they hurt. looked like Rosacea. ( That's how bad it was) But i was very little back then. i am not sure how it disappeared. but it used to start every winter.
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Avatar universal
well honestly I hope you feel better, because it creeps the crap out of me just to hear about it. I feel bad for you. Well back on subject with fungal infections, it is true that on contact. My mother went to a SPA and SONA (i think i spelled it wrong, the place where you wash up, in hot water) and got it because she had wore the slippers that some woman had fungal infection on.
But my hands may be eczema, because so far no one has caught my infection, but my father has athletes foot and i never got it from him. I asked him before why he had not cured it earlier. he told me the same thing you said. As people age, they get all types of skin problems, that there is no point of curing them, if its going to comeback again.
It makes me hate myself sometimes. Me myself, work out everyday, got built and alot of people especially girls found themselves falling in love with me. but my hands affect alot on me. when i stare at them, i see cracks, redness, wrinkles, hardened skin. and i hate when people just look at my hands especially after i shook theirs. Always look at me and say, WTF is wrong with his hands. Or How is he going to Masturbate? (all that weird stuff) It makes me angry that people cant appreciate others, especially the handicapped and physically disabled people. Its sad how people judge others. Looking at them and saying incredibly disrespectful things behind others backs. It makes me sick. well i have taken medication for a while and it works well for me. but after too much of activities with my hands especially in the cold, they crack up and bleed.

I was at a friends house the other day, and my medication was mixed with vinegar. they always would be like, do you smell vinegar? its sooo funny sometimes. today my teacher thought someone had brought salted pretzels and hotdogs with mustard. which i do not know how she smelled vinegar as something else. Vinegar is so obvious. Well my hands are getting better!
Helpful - 0
4851940 tn?1515694593
I do not know why I have so many skin problems.  May be because of genetics.  I am allergic to rubber and latex, soaps and perfumes and chemicals (even their vapour).  I am also allergice to goats cheese, this made my lips swell and tingle.

I am allergic to my cucumber plant leaves and cypress.  I am allergic to dogs (I start to cough and wheeze) as well as smoke.  I have a very sensitive nose and have picked up the minutes smell of gas once when no one else detected it.

I was also exposed to carbon monoxide some years ago when we were on a boating holiday.  I knew straight away that something was not right becuase I felt sick when we entered the boat.  The engineer said everything was fine.  But I felt worse and worse.  It turned out the fridge gas outlet pipe was blocked.  I was ill for quite a long time after that.  

At your age, I had no skin problems at all.
Helpful - 0
4851940 tn?1515694593
Fungal infections are spread by contact.  Even if you walk barefooted in a shower room after someone who has a verruca, you can catch it.

As people get older, the skin changes.  Also sometimes people develop allergies, either from foods, chemicals, soaps, detergents, perfumes, plants, etc.
Whilst when young poeple may not have a skin problem, as they get older they may develop skin allergies and contact dermatitis.    Unfortunately, we live in a world full of pollutants.  

Some young people with asthma and eczema can grow out of this.  In my case I grew into it.  That's how it is.
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Avatar universal
Why do you have so many skin problems?(no offense)
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Avatar universal
i use a herbal medicine, i use it almost everyday so its getting better. using hot water actually "burns" the itch. my father had told me, do not use hot water, or it will make problems worse. fungal infections are contagious but from what i was told it is not contagious unless someone (for example) wore the same gloves you wore.
Helpful - 0
4851940 tn?1515694593
If you read sadeqq post dated Sep 19, 2009 you will have seen that he used an ointment called Esperson which is a Topical corticosteroid and this cured his hand.
Helpful - 0
4851940 tn?1515694593
If you are talking about Rosacea and/or dermatitis and eczema.  The answer is: no, it does not pop out.

For my hand problem which is dry eczema, Dermatitis means inflammation of the skin.  I use Diprosalic ointment that was prescribed by the doctor.

It "melts" the hard dry skin and helps the skin to heal.  I do not have to use if very time.  When it flares up it is extremely itchy and the more you scratch the more it itches.  I sometimes have to bite my fingers, but find that placing the hot itchy hands into COLD water cools it down.  Hot water aggravates it and makes it worse.  

The thing is, is to cool the inflamed hot skin, not make it more hot.
Helpful - 0
4851940 tn?1515694593
You should see your doctor so that you can get the right medication to treat it.

If it is a fungal infection, as you say, fungal infections are highly contageous.  Ask your dad.

Athletes foot, verrucas, warts, Thrush are types of fungal infections.

Rosacea is not a fungal disease.
Helpful - 0
4851940 tn?1515694593
Your profile says you are 15.
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Avatar universal
In chinese culture, Noncurable skin Chronic (rosacea) is a disease(Please do not be bias with what Chinese say) , the reason is that it is not curable. at least they have not been able to fully cure it.

It is sad that you have this skin problem. Hope you get better.

BTW when you said it flares up, you meant it pops out right?
Does it hurt?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
BTW i am only trying to help, but basing on your judgment, you believe that i do not understand anything. I understand this has nothing to do with education, but i am trying to explain that i have the ability of knowing the symptoms. Most people believe that Herbal Doctors are not as better than Medical Doctors, most people are wrong, Medical "Medicine" was based on Herbal Medicine. Herbal Doctors existed for over 2000 Years.

I am just SAYING.
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Avatar universal
first of all i am not 15, i am 16, my father is a herbal doctor, and teaches many things about medicine, you may think i am young, but i am a junior in Stuyvesant, with 98% Average. Currently taken the PSAT and had gotten 215, which is 2150 in SAT. Sooo, before you start saying that i am too young, date back in your childhood and explain what you've gotten. besides, it is very rude to think that i am too young and do not understand the facts. i do not know how to explain it, doesn't mean i do not know what it is.

I was told that (by a Medical Doctor) and my father (a Herbal Doctor) that this was a type of fungal infection. It is not contagious. But after i saw that the young man had a similiar looking problem. i had gotten cream for it before, it worked, but got worse afterwards.

I Am Only Trying To Help. You may think you have more experience than me. which is true, does not mean you understand more than what i learn from professors and doctors that teach me things.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
But yes it maybe dermatitas, but in chinese culture this disease(bacteria) only appears on hands, it looks similiar though, so it may be dermatitas. its definitely not eczema, because true, eczema does itch and crack, but since i have this problem, it mainly starts forming the bumpy liquid bubble(after scratching them) and they itch. also when they itch, the more you scratch them, the more the become agressively painful and itchy it becomes. It is curable though. but takes alot of time. BTW, has anyone with this symptom put their hand in hot water?(i mean really hot water) it soothes the itchy-ness but makes it worse. it itches so bad that sometimes it makes me want to scratch my palms with a blade on it.
Helpful - 0
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