Recurring skin infection vs rash vs fungus vs viral

[tobydog]

I have had a recurring skin condition for at least 10 years.It starts with just a few tiny pinkish raised bumps with a darker pinpoint center, only on my fingers on the left hand. They are slightly tender.After a few days the "bumps" will crack open and the skin will be rough & scaley around it for a few more days & then will dry up & disappear. Recently it has broken out with multiple bumps on my forefinger,has cracked open lines in my skin where the natural fold lines are located on my finger,and is now spreading around the finger.It is very tender and itchy now and today I noticed bumps on 2 other fingers on the same hand. They also feel tender to the touch.If left uncovered it hurts to touch anything and is itchy.If covered with  bandaides,it becomes slightly weepy and the skin turns white.All the skin is scaly now,except where the new bumps have formed. The split in the skin has healed. I have tried hand lotions, but the area "burns" when the lotion is applied.It feels worse(itchy & tender) when I leave it uncovered.I have looked everywhere on my body and these are the only places that it is located.It has rapidly come to this point in the past 2 weeks.The area encompasses the last 2 joints of my finger. I live in rural Alaska and do not have access to a dermatologist and the doctor here has no idea what it is.If you want a picture to look at I can e-mail you a digital one. Thanks for you assistance.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

What you have sounds like dyshidrotic eczema.  This rather common condition produces small blisters on the palms or soles.  The term "dyshidrotic" means "bad sweating," which it looks like but isn't.  This is not an infection or fungus, and cannot be spread, though of course it can appear on other areas of the body.  Cause is unknown.  If it isn't bothersome, it doesn't have to be treated.  If it is, potent topical steroid creams (like fluocinonide 0.05%) can help a lot, along with moisturizers like petroleum jelly.



Worth a try, for sure.



Take care.



Dr. Rockoff

[fooble]

I think I have the same thing.  Sitting at the computer, my palms became itchy.  Whether it was one or both, I can't recall, but just itched like hell.  So, of course, I scratch 'em, rubbed them together, even slapped my hands violently together several times just because it felt so good and didn't appear as destructive as scratching.  Later, those tiny bumps, always in groups like little skin Nazis, would appear on fingers of both hands, increasing the size of joint or tip, feeling swollen.  These little Nazi bumps then decided to colonize the heel of my hands, both of them.  And when the bumps finish their business, they're gone in a few days, or longer, only to be replaced by dry skin there, which is dead skin.  It separates and can be peeled off.  When I first had this, I also had athlete's foot.  So I naturally thought this must also be the same fungus on my hands.  But, seeing Dr. Rockoff's observation, I'm inclined to believe it might actually be this schizoid excema he's talking about ... because the Clotrimazole fungus cream didn't keep it from coming back.  Damn Nazi bumps.

[paranoid1]

For the past few years i`v been getting an itch on my groin ,leading down to the anus, i`v used allkind of topical creams, it will dissappear for a while and return after a few weeks. Recently i`v been getting some pimplelike acne in the pubic hear area, i have not been sexually active for the last six years.

What could it possibly be.

[Curly2]

My son has a scaly rash all over his head.  His doctor thought it might be fungal and sent it away form testing.  It took 4 1/2 weeks and she called me last night with what kind it is.  He is currently on medication for it - started 4 days ago.  I have always had sores on my head for at least the last five years.  I thought it was just excema - since I have a history of it.  I am currently two weeks into the testing process.  Did I pass this to my son.  How can I be assured to get rid of it from my family.  My son is six his sister is four and my youngest is 2.  How can I rest assured no one else will get it?

[Curly2]

My son has a scaly rash all over his head.  His doctor thought it might be fungal and sent it away form testing.  It took 4 1/2 weeks and she called me last night with what kind it is.  He is currently on medication for it - started 4 days ago.  I have always had sores on my head for at least the last five years.  I thought it was just excema - since I have a history of it.  I am currently two weeks into the testing process.  Did I pass this to my son.  How can I be assured to get rid of it from my family.  My son is six his sister is four and my youngest is 2.  How can I rest assured no one else will get it?

[XTC]

I started having this skin infection or something on my chin. A day or two before it developed I had been with my boyfriend and we had been kissing a lot.  My chin got irritated from his facial hair and was red for a day or so and dry and kind of cracked.  I washed my faced with a coarse facial scrub and the next day my chin had multiple bumps on it that looked like they were filled with fluid.  When I popped the bumps it the whole thing spread and it made one huge bump the size of a quarter.  I ended up going to the doctor a couple days later after using ointment of some sort of on it and it not getting any better.  The doctor told me that it was staff infection.  Since it was the first time that i ever had something like this I thought nothing of it.  It ended up turning into a big scab a couple days later and then went away.  Then for the next 5 years I keep getting it.  Sometimes worse than others...but always in the exact same place.  Do you have any idea what it is?

[chris00000]

A related discussion, What do I have? was started.