Rash on Palms/Peeling and Sore

[Leslie Osher]

Dear Doctor,

I have had a very bad rash near the bottom left and right of my right palm only! It started out to be just very itchy also waking me in the middle of the night, then small raised blisters appeared and the area became inflamed and wider in range. I have been to 3 doctors and we have ruled out any kind of contact dermatitis and I have been on a wide range of different creams and tapes.

My hand now is still itchy, it is peeling, the skin is thick and it is sore and feels like leather, it also now appear on my other hand and in between some fingers..

The next step would be to do patch testing, and they suggest that I go to NY, this is not something I really want to do.

I would appreciate any suggestions you may have, at this point I have been give the strongest ointment there is and it is just making the affected areas more raw in nature.

Thank you for your time.   Leslie Osher

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Leslie:

As much as I can tell without seeing your rash, it sounds like what is called dyshidrotic eczema.  This is an itchy eruption of small blisters which affect the palms and sometimes the soles. Like most forms of eczema, its cause is unknown, but allergy is not usually present, and patch testing is therefore rarely helpful. I don't know what your doctor has recommended, but potent steroid ointments usually help a lot, especially if applied under plastic wrapping or even injected.  If your doctor hasn't tried this, they ought to consider doing so.

Good luck.

Dr. R

[Reenie]

i have the same thing you have. Iv'e been using cortisone cream but it is'nt helping. Have not seen a doc yet. Is yours getting better?
  Reenie

[Tam]

i once had the same type of problem...but more on my fingers, not so much the bottoms of my hands...once doctor told me that it was a fungus and a friend suggested that I put ABSORBINE JUNIOR (or muscular aches) on my fingers.  There is something in that stuff that kills this type of fungus.  I tried it and it worked.  The downside is that the smell is really annoying.. but the peely skin goes away!

[Leslie]

Thank you all for your suggestions, as a matter of fact I am going to try and see the doctor again today, over the weekend things have gottern worse to the point that my skin has split, is bleeding and the itch is unbearable, I have been on the steroidal ointments but perhaps I should ask about an injection.

I have had thr tapes as well, but the fall off right away, bad spot.

Someone has mention HERPANACINE, (don't know what it is or even if I am spelling it right.

Absorbine Junior, who knew?  Anyway it probablr is a form of eczema but neither doctor has suggested that, could this be viral?

[JET]

Dear Leslie,

I have had reocurring eczema for 52 yrs. When I was little they said I was allergic to citrus acid. But citrus does not become acidic until it is concentrated. Orange juice made from concentrate, tomato paste, etc. It comes from too much acid in the stomach. When I get upset my hands break out within a day or two. The only effective treatment I have ever found (and it works for everyone I tell) is a cream (not ointment) that used to be marketed under a brand name called Medrol. It is now only found in a generic and through a prescription. Ask your doctor about Medrol and he or the druggist will be able to give you the generic. Good luck!

[Leslie Osher]

TO JET:

Thank you for your suggestion, I am going to the doctor this afternoon and will ask him about this!  I will let you know...Leslie

[Howard Houston]

I just returned from a vacation in Florida and on my forearms have developed a red itchy rash. I had used a sunscreen. They appear to be like little blisters but no fluid comes out of them when I scratch them. Is this some form of sun poisoning?? Look forward to your response. Thanks Howard

[Anna]

I have had the itching, cracking, flaking, peeling and bleeding thing on my hands and the soles of my feet now for about 3 years. Like the rest of you, I tried everything I could think of and also everything other people recommended. Finally, my Dermatologist gave me a prescription for a cream called Maxiflor and it helps with the itching only. She also gave me a roll of tape that is clear looking and has a strong steriod in it. You cut the tape to fit the areas that are affected and leave it on for 12 hours a day for two weeks at a time. It helps a lot, and it can cause the itch and breaking and bleeding to go away for 2 to 3 days at a time...but it always returns. Just having some relief, no matter how small, from this awful thing is great. The name of the tape is Flurandrenolide Tape. I try to use the tape at night only. I put the tape on my hands and then put on white cotton gloves with the fingers cut out of them. You can buy these cotton gloves at Wal-mart. I wear white thin socks on my feet. Also, keep some vaseline jelly in the fridge and put it on the affected areas several times a day. I even use it at night whenever I am not using the tape. It really does help. Hope this information helps you all, also. Good luck....'Anna'

[Leslie Osher]

Thank you Anna,

Since my last corespondence I have been put on oral Prednisone therapy, each time the rash cleared up and then came back with a vengence, now it is on my other hand and on the sides of my fingers, and so itchy and even water hurts. I have been to 4 doctors and now I am going to see an allergist.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Granny]

Leslie,

I wish you luck with the allergist. I know that I have something similar to what you have. Mine starts out as tiny 'water blisters' and goes into larger swellings and then are very sore untill finally a thick layer of skin 'peals off'. My Dr. told me 'it's an allergy find out what it is and never eat it again!"  Fat lot of good that did me!  But I have narrowed it down to SOMETHING IN Chili, Taco meat, BBQ sauce, and Spagetti! I can eat any of these things.....but NEVER any 2 in one week! This summer has been the best one I have had in ages! I still am stupid enough to do it once in awhile but now that I know what it is I am careful!  
This may sound funny....but I have stoped using antibactirial(sp)soap and gone back to 'regular' soap and when I have a break-out I wash some dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher..Sure it hurts at the time and, Don't ask me why but it really 'dries' them up and they seem to heal MUCH faster and are much less itchy!  
I really wish you luck!
Granny

[Deborah]

What a relief to know I'm not alone. My hands are driving me and my husband crazy.  Out of nowhere they started peeling, cracking, bleeding at the fingertips mostly.  Then they started getting calluses and cracking on the palms.  Now they are callused between the fingers.  I have been to 2 top dermatologists in New York (Manhattan) now seeing one on Long Island.  They ask what the other doctors prescribed and then prescibe something different.  What a merry-go-round and what an expense.  I wouldn't care if something would help.  Not only do they not commit to what it actually is - there are playing a guessing game on what to prescribe.  I thought it had something to do with hormones since I am in menopause.  Then I thought it might have something to do with stopping smoking after 35 years.  I mentioned these things to all the doctors and they just shake their heads.  How can it be that so many people have this problem and no one knows how to treat it.  I am very embarassed by it.  I know the people in my office sometimes feel funny taking things from my hands when they notice it.  Somebody out there must know what this is!  We can go to the moon - but we can't cure a rash on the hands.  Go figure!!!!

[Leslie Osher]

Deborah, et tal,

Thank you all for your replys! Well to update you, I have been to the allergist and a mild reaction came up to soap, shampoo's, laundry detergents, softeners, etc. I might as well stop living. I find this hard to believe because only my hands are affected.

I too am getting embarassed by they way my hands look. I am now with another Dermatologist who also just put me on another cream, I don't even know what this one is called. The itching at least has stopped but my hands are still very dry, scaley and at the moment I have a big bandage on my hand because the skin on my right palm has split open. Nice HUH?

I have never ever been allergic to anything before in my life, I will admitt that yes shampoo, soap and even water hurt my hands because they are so raw!

I would rather go to the moon!   Leslie

[Mary]

Thank goodness I am not the only one to suffer this affiction! I have been going to the Hospital in Bristol, England for nearly two years with split palms of my hands and feet.  I also have eczema on my arms, back and head.

Perhaps we should press "someone" or "some people" to act on our behalf to try to find a cure.  I for one long for relief and to live normally.  

I, too, feel the embarrassment of working with raw hands looking like I never take any care of them.  Good luck to all.

PS  I am currently trying kinesiology (allergy therapy)! I will let you know if there is real and prolonged relief.

[Mary]

Thank goodness I am not the only one to suffer this affiction! I have been going to the Hospital in Bristol, England for nearly two years with split palms of my hands and feet.  I also have eczema on my arms, back and head.

Perhaps we should press "someone" or "some people" to act on our behalf to try to find a cure.  I for one long for relief and to live normally.  

I, too, feel the embarrassment of working with raw hands looking like I never take any care of them.  Good luck to all.

PS  I am currently trying kinesiology (allergy therapy)! I will let you know if there is real and prolonged relief.

[janet]

I too have the fingertip problem.  It began last November; I had nothing even remotely similar in the prior 56 years of life. I still have it - the progress is always identical: smooth fingertip, a building up of something from beneath the skin, with concurrent thickening and even a yellow tinge (lovely), a vague numbness of the thickening skin, then the peeling begins, often 3 layers.  I cannot touch paper or fabric without wincing, the skin actually breaks open and bleeds with little or no provocation and it looks dreadful. I have been to three doctors - my family doctor who is also my brother and especially wants to find an answer - and two dermatologists, who have been 100% unhelpful. I have put far too much cortisone and steroid based creams on the fingertips, and have decided to stop and stick with Vaseline and an occasional soak in a strong hot water and Epsom salts solution, which seems to help, I know not why.  I also tried PUVA for a month, 3 times a week, and it did help for a short time, but then the condition returned.  The oddity with my fingertip problem is that it has always been only 3 fingers on each hand - never ever the ring or little fingers on either hand. They're perfect.  And the six affected fingertips are now somewhat spatulate, and discernibly larger, or "fatter" than the other four fingertips.  As a professional who has to meet and greet some very high profile people, this is getting tiresome.  I now wear little white nylon gloves at the keyboard and much of the time in public - I look like an aging Minnie Mouse. A friend is going to Italy next month and she is going to look for very soft very thin leather gloves, which won't help the condition, but will help my morale.  The condition worsened this summer, putting paid to one doctor's "positive" diagnosis of psoriasis of the nail - never mind that my nails look perfect and are very strong. I'm just happy to find this site and realize I'm not alone. Sorry I have no solution; let's all keep looking, because it is highly unlikely that the medical profession is going to solve the problem for us - there's no research foundation money for Funny Fingertips.

[janet again]

I just ran across something on a New Zealand website for skin problems.  Those of us with the peeling fingertips may have exfoliative keratolysis, or something very much like it. It appears that there is no cure. How annoying. Look is up.  The complete address is http://www.dermnet.org.nz/dna.exfol/exfol.html

[Jackie]

My husband has has the same sort of problem. He has been told "Oh it's excema, and there is cure" there has to be someone out there who knows why the symptoms just appear, splitting on the palm of the hands and soles of feet, resulting in bleeding and irritation. Allergy therapy hasn't helped, doctor after doctor....nothing!! The only relief he has had is from a blend of oil that I did for him, as I am a qualified Aromatheraptist but the problem has never gone away for good.

We thought that it was a chemical reaction to bottled beer, soaps etc etc, nothing seems to help.  It's such a mystery.

[Madeleine]

For me, everything started with what I thought was athletes foot. I bought lamisil cream and used it for a month but the rash kept spreading. I went to see a doctor who immediately said that it was tinea pedis and prescribed me a cream called mentax, which did not do anything at all for me. Today, I went back to see a dermatologist because the rash has spread to the top of my foot (both sides) and I have got small little raised clear bumps all over the feet and hands. They are itching and are probably fluid filled. The dermatologist told me that it was not probably not athletes foot and that it looks like an exzema or an allergic reaction. He prescribed claritin for the itching and two different kinds of ointments to use . When I put these ointments on my rash it burned and stinged like crazy. Now when the ointment has dried it is white and flaky. I want to know if this is because it is healing or if I am using the wrong medication. My feet are very swollen and red and I can not see the difference now from before. My doctor told me that if it is a Fungus I will know after I put on the ointments because they will make the fungus worse. I don't know what to do, I can not sleep at night and all I think about is this. If anybody knows please answer.
thanks

[stephanie]

I am soo happy I came across this post.  I too have had this annoying problem.  I have even been to the hospital twice for it and was treated like a leper.  Like i belonged in quarentine.  My doctor also thought FUNGUS, but it made things worse.  He then referred me to a dermatologist, with no help whatsoever.  I have it on my hands.  It started under my name ring, as a small patch of blisters that were severely itchy.  It then spread to my other hand, and it kept spreading and clearing back and forth on both hands.  I have tried every thing...you name it, I tried it.  I have been using Hydrocortozone Valerate Cream and it helps sometimes. but if you use it too often you get zero results.  I also used Diprolene and Elocon.  Those worked for awhile, but again...stopped.  No one knows what is wrong with us.  I researched this online and came to the conclusion that it is Dishydrotic Eczema.  Also, for all of you females out there that have this...look to your family to see if they have it too.  It runs in the family if you do have Dishydrotic Eczema.  My sister and my niece have it also.  On the hands.
If anyone comes up with anything that works please let us all know.
Stephanie

[Leslie]

Well I finally had a Biopsy done on my left palm. The results are SPONGIATIC DERMATITIS. I don't even know if I'm spelling it right, I am on a slew of topical medications and put back on Embeline which the doctor said should work. Well it did not work the first time and it is not working now.  My right thumb is so sore from cracking that I have to keep a bandage on it.

The doctor said it is an allegy, all I know is that I am FED UP, sick of going to doctors and I really don't know what to do.

The only real relief that I have had in 1-1/2 years was when I was on the prednison!

Leslie

[Wayne]

I have never meet anyone else with this hand rash.  It's truly embarrasing to shake hands with this scaly, red, cracking, and irritated right palm.  I usually try to high-five with the left hand to avoid contact (that's okay on the tennis court, but hard to do in church).  I'm 50 years old now, and have had this since I was about 18 (except for about 10-15 years).  I've been to so many dermatologists I've lost track.  It's comical now to watch the new doctor always look at it and say I need some type of steroid cream, and they never work.  The really weird cure came from working in a chemical plant, and I had to dip my hands in a recovery vat (about once per hour) that primarily contained ethylene glycol (anti-freeze without all the extra ingredients).  The vat was very cold and somewhat slimy.  Of course I immediately washed my hands with plain water and toweled dry after each time, and after about 3 months, the problem went away for about 10-15 years.  I play tennis about 3 times per week, and each time really tears it up.  I would love for someone to come up with a cure and share with all of us.

[John]

Thank God I know other people have the same problem! 10 months ago I began to develope what I thought to be athelites foot on my right foot don't I now wish that was the case! After several failed treatments I got to a good dermatologist and he told me that I had dyshidrotic eczema and I hate it. He has tried several treatments none of which stop my break outs. I have both hands affected completely and both sides of my right foot. I have been taking Prednizone in variing amounts for 4 months and get some relief. I am 36 very active and work with my hands. Between the eczema and drug side affects I know what many of you deal with day in day out. Hope to all!

[Julie]

Janet, Leslie, and others,

  Go to www.eczema-assn.org which is the URL for the national
eczema organization based in Oregon.  You can read back issues of
the newsletter and a special section of suggestions from readers
on what treatments have helped them. This site is wonderful, and professional, with dermatologists on the board (no wild claims of secret cures, nobody trying to sell you anything)

  Also search dyshidrotic eczema (which occcurs on either the palms and fingers or the soles of the feet, or both) on yahoo.com and on google.com.

   A depressed immune system because of emotional stress *often*
triggers this type of eczema.  If you've been through a divorce,
death in the family, or similar situation, this *may* be what brought on the eczema.  So, if you're not doing regular exercise
and yoga or meditation or some other form of physical and mental
relaxation, start and keep up such a program. One study showed that children with eczema all improved after receiving regular massages from their parents (who were trained to give the massages).  If you can afford a weekly massage, try it and see if it helps.

[tracy]

I am so upset after reading the postings on this horrible condition I have developed--I am 30 years old with no previous problem and I am just not happy with the "no cure" answer--All the women in my family who have it or have had it have also had a thyroid problem--is there anyway these two conditions can some way be connected--I am going to have mine checked today for it was suggested to me to do so for it seems to be inlarged--Are there any others here with this condition joined with a throid condition as well???---Tracy