Aa
itchy toe blisters
I have blisters on several of my toes (on both feet) and it's not from athlete's foot or poor shoes. The blisters are extremely itchy/sore and are the size of a pea. I have one on each of the first 3 toes starting with my big toe. They are mostly on top of my toe between the last knuckle and my toenail, but one is on the side/tip of one toe. They are not true blisters in that there is no fluid sack. It is simply a very swollen and red hive. It seems like really firm and inflamed tissue. There's no scaling or flaking skin, in fact, it's shiny and taught from the inflammation. The itching and soreness is so bad that it has woken me up in the middle of the night. The itching is mostly at night, but I can still feel them during the day. I put OTC hydrocortisone and/or benadryl cream on them at night but it helps little.
The same blisters last about 2 weeks and then the healing process begins and they slowly disappear. I had at least 3 separate bouts of these blisters last winter that ended in March. I did not get a single blister after that until they returned last week (Dec. 6) which is around the same time it started last year. It is independent of the shoes I wear. For example, the blisters appeared last week and I've been wearing those sneakers for over a year. I ski often in winter, but I haven't put my boots on yet this year. My diet hasn't changed. My address and work haven't changed. The only pattern I can see (if there is one) is that it happens in winter months.
I have no other symptoms or allergies. I eat healthy, stay active and just got a clean bill of health from my physician after an annual physical. I am straight and not currently sexually active. I don't have diabetes and have never been diagnosed with any other disease.
I have not seen a doctor yet for this one, but I will call tomorrow. I found an old post on this website that also sounds like my condition.
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Dermatology/messages/31698.html
Any advice?
White Male 33yrs old. 5'5" 135lbs.
The same blisters last about 2 weeks and then the healing process begins and they slowly disappear. I had at least 3 separate bouts of these blisters last winter that ended in March. I did not get a single blister after that until they returned last week (Dec. 6) which is around the same time it started last year. It is independent of the shoes I wear. For example, the blisters appeared last week and I've been wearing those sneakers for over a year. I ski often in winter, but I haven't put my boots on yet this year. My diet hasn't changed. My address and work haven't changed. The only pattern I can see (if there is one) is that it happens in winter months.
I have no other symptoms or allergies. I eat healthy, stay active and just got a clean bill of health from my physician after an annual physical. I am straight and not currently sexually active. I don't have diabetes and have never been diagnosed with any other disease.
I have not seen a doctor yet for this one, but I will call tomorrow. I found an old post on this website that also sounds like my condition.
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Dermatology/messages/31698.html
Any advice?
White Male 33yrs old. 5'5" 135lbs.
Boy, it is so strange how we all suffer from the same symptoms and yet we all have so much trouble getting diagnoses and/or treatments from medical professionals.
I suffer from the exact signs and symptoms described by the majority of the posters to this forum. Four years ago, I had my first outbreak, which (coincidentally?) followed my only experience of gout ever in my life (for reference, I am a 25 y.o. woman, in excellent health, very health weight, exercise frequently, but do have low blood pressure and poor circulation, as well as a family history of gout and potentially also chilblains). At that time, I had glistening red, swollen toes that itched and burned tremendously when exposed to hot shower water or covered by a blanket at night. I couldn't help but scratch in the beginning, which led to the development of bluish spots on the itchiest parts of my toes. My doctor was perplexed, suggesting the possibilities of a fungal infection, eczema, or chilblains, without being certain of the diagnosis. She was also concerned because of the proximity of this outbreak to my gout episode, so she performed tests for lupus. She recommended using athlete's foot medication and hydrocortisone concurrently to alleviate the symptoms.
Although no diagnosis was ever made, the problem cleared up after a few weeks during which I followed my doctor's orders and also wrapped my toes loosely in rolled cotton to reduce itching caused by friction. The disappearance of my symptoms also correlated with an improvement in the weather if I recall correctly.
Since that time, I have had a few minor outbreaks of glistening red, itchy toes, but nothing major... until this winter, that is.
Starting at around the same time as the first outbreak (early January), the redness, intermittent swelling, and itchiness returned, but with the addition of blueness and small hives, which I had only seen four years before with the initial occurrence. I was out of my usual treatment (athlete's foot spray), so I decided to see a dermatologist to try and best direct my energy and resources toward relief. At my appointment, the signs appeared mild, and the dermatologist thought it was a minor skin irritation or allergy. In the days that followed, the signs and symptoms got much worse, especially the swelling and small hives. I tried finding ways to alleviate the symptoms, the best of which was icing my toes (although I know now this was probably not a good idea).
The next week, I saw an internist. She was confused, ran gout tests, did extensive blood work, and ordered x-rays, ultimately referring me to a podiatrist. When she failed to follow up with me at all, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and focus fully on relief.
For the past 10 days or so, I have tried everything: hydrocortisone, athlete's foot spray, wrapping my toes loosely with rolled cotton, keeping my feet warm, keeping my feet cool, walking in the ocean, taking NSAID's. So far, nothing has made a lasting impact on the itching, although the athlete's foot spray appeared to reduce the redness and swelling. I have also developed a pea-sized, hard, flat, disc-like knot under the skin of one toe, which is gradually beginning to look more like a surface-level blister.
I'm awaiting my appointment at the podiatrist, but I am happy to have read this discussion because I feel much more educated and am almost certain I am suffering from chilblains.
To those who don't feel the environmental factors suggest this diagnosis, I wanted to mention that I lived in warm climates during both major outbreaks, and my current climate is rather dry (I lived in North Carolina the first time; I now reside in southern California). I cannot correlate my outbreaks to any one experience of cooling and warming, and yet I suspect this happens to all of us quite frequently without our noticing.
I wish I had a good answer for the itching and burning - it sounds like we're all just doing our best to get through this, and I'm no exception. I will say, my symptoms are terribly uncomfortable, and they have persisted for about five weeks now, with varying degrees of intensity. You can do it! (But, hey, if anybody comes up with a good solution, please do post immediately.)
I'm going to try keeping my feet warm now after reading this forum, even though that sounds so very uncomfortable.
WISH ME LUCK!
I suffer from the exact signs and symptoms described by the majority of the posters to this forum. Four years ago, I had my first outbreak, which (coincidentally?) followed my only experience of gout ever in my life (for reference, I am a 25 y.o. woman, in excellent health, very health weight, exercise frequently, but do have low blood pressure and poor circulation, as well as a family history of gout and potentially also chilblains). At that time, I had glistening red, swollen toes that itched and burned tremendously when exposed to hot shower water or covered by a blanket at night. I couldn't help but scratch in the beginning, which led to the development of bluish spots on the itchiest parts of my toes. My doctor was perplexed, suggesting the possibilities of a fungal infection, eczema, or chilblains, without being certain of the diagnosis. She was also concerned because of the proximity of this outbreak to my gout episode, so she performed tests for lupus. She recommended using athlete's foot medication and hydrocortisone concurrently to alleviate the symptoms.
Although no diagnosis was ever made, the problem cleared up after a few weeks during which I followed my doctor's orders and also wrapped my toes loosely in rolled cotton to reduce itching caused by friction. The disappearance of my symptoms also correlated with an improvement in the weather if I recall correctly.
Since that time, I have had a few minor outbreaks of glistening red, itchy toes, but nothing major... until this winter, that is.
Starting at around the same time as the first outbreak (early January), the redness, intermittent swelling, and itchiness returned, but with the addition of blueness and small hives, which I had only seen four years before with the initial occurrence. I was out of my usual treatment (athlete's foot spray), so I decided to see a dermatologist to try and best direct my energy and resources toward relief. At my appointment, the signs appeared mild, and the dermatologist thought it was a minor skin irritation or allergy. In the days that followed, the signs and symptoms got much worse, especially the swelling and small hives. I tried finding ways to alleviate the symptoms, the best of which was icing my toes (although I know now this was probably not a good idea).
The next week, I saw an internist. She was confused, ran gout tests, did extensive blood work, and ordered x-rays, ultimately referring me to a podiatrist. When she failed to follow up with me at all, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and focus fully on relief.
For the past 10 days or so, I have tried everything: hydrocortisone, athlete's foot spray, wrapping my toes loosely with rolled cotton, keeping my feet warm, keeping my feet cool, walking in the ocean, taking NSAID's. So far, nothing has made a lasting impact on the itching, although the athlete's foot spray appeared to reduce the redness and swelling. I have also developed a pea-sized, hard, flat, disc-like knot under the skin of one toe, which is gradually beginning to look more like a surface-level blister.
I'm awaiting my appointment at the podiatrist, but I am happy to have read this discussion because I feel much more educated and am almost certain I am suffering from chilblains.
To those who don't feel the environmental factors suggest this diagnosis, I wanted to mention that I lived in warm climates during both major outbreaks, and my current climate is rather dry (I lived in North Carolina the first time; I now reside in southern California). I cannot correlate my outbreaks to any one experience of cooling and warming, and yet I suspect this happens to all of us quite frequently without our noticing.
I wish I had a good answer for the itching and burning - it sounds like we're all just doing our best to get through this, and I'm no exception. I will say, my symptoms are terribly uncomfortable, and they have persisted for about five weeks now, with varying degrees of intensity. You can do it! (But, hey, if anybody comes up with a good solution, please do post immediately.)
I'm going to try keeping my feet warm now after reading this forum, even though that sounds so very uncomfortable.
WISH ME LUCK!
ymp10 might have nailed my problem - dyshidrosis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyshidrosis
Chillblains looked close but not quite and had only vaguely similar symptoms.
Worth a look.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyshidrosis
Chillblains looked close but not quite and had only vaguely similar symptoms.
Worth a look.
Hi, i have the same problem and was told by family doctor that it is a Raynauds syndrome, autoimune disorder. I use epsom salt bath and after apply Calamine lotion. It calm redness and swellenes down. It doesnt go into blisrery state.
I have the same thing. I have red blistery type bumps that are sorta flat on my toes. My big toe doesn’t have the discoloration but internally it feels like someone smashed my toe with a hammer. Started out on one toe and spread to another. Toes are purple sometimes. My next two toes have the redness pain itchiness. When I pinch up the red bump there is a little white mark that appears.....my next thought was planter’s warts. I have had it now for about 4 years on and off. I am in Michigan and usually they start to appear in January and last until July. I went to two different Podiatrist and both sad they had no clue what it was. One sent me to an Infectious Disease doctor and he blamed it on nerve damage or a long term side effect from having West Nile Virus. To me it was a blow off answer instead of saying I have no idea what it is. I have Benadryl spray I use daily and it helps with the itching, swelling and pain. I also use a cream that is prescribed for my dry skin that has steroids and you can get an over the counter form of it, it is called Ammonium Lactate Cream 12% which has steroids or stearates in it. What makes me mad is that foot doctors have no clue what it is! My internist thinks it is a fungal disease but the foot doctor said there is no evidence of fungus my toe nails are very dry and brittle. I am a retired professor and did all the research over the internet to see what it could possibly be or relate to and I thought about Gout and Chilblains and even Cancer. I do not think it is any of these. I think this is an unresolved new disease that has not been discovered. Now the West Nile I had was the most severe with Meningitis and Encephalitis and I was in a coma for 15 years. I was not expected to live and was left with permanent nerve damage to my central nervous system and suffered some brain damage from the fever. They also think I contracted Lyme Disease but the test results were inconclusive. When I am stressed these do come out. I wear the same tennis shoes and there is no restriction on my shoes. I have always had healthy feet. I do take three blood pressure pills and just recently started taking a statin for cholesterol. I did notice when I take the statin they might have come out. I also use a paraffin wax bath daily for circulation and pain relief. Most of the rash from the West Nile was on my back, hands and feet. Clueless as to what it is.....
I also have this problem and looked it up and figured that it was Chilblains. I saw that they suggested taking Amolipidine for it. I talked to my Dr. about it and she didn't know if I had Chilblains or not and kept coming up with other reasons. She prescribed the Amolipidine for me and it seemed to work. But this winter, it's back again, but the itch isn't as bad, but I'm getting the blisters. I keep my house cool because of hot flashes. I am keeping it cooler this year, so that may be why. I try to wear socks, but they cause my blisters to hurt, so I take them off. I am going to concentrate on keeping my feet warmer. I'm glad that I found this because now I know that a lot of other people have it too! Been reading the replies and getting more ideas on how to help with this problem.
I have always had cold hands and feet and being an avid hiker in all seasons this has caused major issues for me in the winter as I seem to have this issue in hands and feet. I need to be very careful not to let my hands get cold in winter, mostly my fingers as once they start to get cold the pain is intense and it takes a very long time to heat back up. No burning like in my toes but the cycle is similar - everyone else will be hiking in liner gloves and I am wearing liner gloves, heavy gloves and heat packs! As far as my feet, last year was the first time I noticed the itching issue after a colder hike - two toes swelled, turned bright red and the itching was crazy. I assumed it was from the long hike and iced them - didn't help. I dealt with it and it went away when the weather turned. This year during a very cold hike (temps ranged from -15 to -40) I could not regulate my toes well enough and they got too cold. There was no frostbite but the problem with swelling, itching and redness (almost purple) has increased significantly and the skin is very hard, tingly and when the most swollen toe flops on the floor (I say that because it is a little like a Flintstone toe with the swelling) it hurts. So - for the hikers out there - how do you deal with this when hiking long distances (>10 - 12 miles) in the very low temps? As a hiker I never wear cotton (hiking or not) so I know its not a moisture issue and my socks are designed for the weather and the right layering to minimize any affects on circulation - so, how do you handle the hikes to prevent this from occurring?
There were never any blisters in my case. The itching has disappeared using the methods I described in my previous post.
Try looking into Gout, I also had blisters on my feet. they are gone now, due to I have changed my diet. Try the diet briefly and see if it helps.
Here's my itchy toes story. I am 62 years old. Last September the end of one of my toes started itching. I had been going barefoot more frequently than usual in a chilly house in the northern US Rocky Mountains. My first reaction was to apply Lamisil, thinking it was a fungal infection. That did not help so I tried some Neosporin. No help there either. Then I put a thin slice of fresh garlic (excellent anti-bacterial and anti-fungal) on the itchy area and held it in place with a band-aid. That actually seemed to work. I say "seemed' because the problem disappeared, but, in retrospect, it might not have been a result of the garlic, but rather the additional warmth of the band-aid? Fast forward to December. Still going barefoot but in a different location (southern CA). A few weeks ago the weather was getting cooler. The problem reappeared and started to spread a bit. I tried the garlic and band-aid trick, but it did not seem to help this time. I flew back to the midwest for the winter holidays, and while I was there I wore socks all the time in the house. The problem disappeared. Then I flew back to southern CA and resumed going barefoot in a chilly house (we have had some relatively cold weather the past week). The itchy toes problem reappeared and was spreading quickly. Itchiness, redness, swelling, no blisters (yet?), and a very slight feeling of numbness (commenter itch69 also reported this). I was uncomfortable enough to do a web search about it and ended up here.
I appreciate all the shared experiences that I have found at this discussion forum. My toes look like the chilblains pictures at Wikipedia. Here's what worked for me. One of the posts here (hda007) talked about Ibuprofen. In the past I had foot pain for years and took a small amount of Ibuprofen daily. Then I had orthopedic foot surgery to correct the problem, and last fall I started to take less Ibuprofen and a few weeks ago I stopped taking it entirely. This evening, I put on some cotton socks (as the other posts here recommended) and took a 200mg over-the-counter tablet of Ibuprofen. An hour or two later, I am in complete RELIEF and COMFORT!!! Right now I am thinking that during the time I was taking Ibuprofen for foot pain, it might have affected my immune system in some way. Yikes. Well, I'm going to experiment with weaning myself off it. In the meantime, I think I have a way of dealing with the itching, and I expect the redness to disappear in a few days. Happy....
In summary, cotton socks instead of bare feet in a chilly house, and Ibuprofen when needed. This works for me.
I appreciate all the shared experiences that I have found at this discussion forum. My toes look like the chilblains pictures at Wikipedia. Here's what worked for me. One of the posts here (hda007) talked about Ibuprofen. In the past I had foot pain for years and took a small amount of Ibuprofen daily. Then I had orthopedic foot surgery to correct the problem, and last fall I started to take less Ibuprofen and a few weeks ago I stopped taking it entirely. This evening, I put on some cotton socks (as the other posts here recommended) and took a 200mg over-the-counter tablet of Ibuprofen. An hour or two later, I am in complete RELIEF and COMFORT!!! Right now I am thinking that during the time I was taking Ibuprofen for foot pain, it might have affected my immune system in some way. Yikes. Well, I'm going to experiment with weaning myself off it. In the meantime, I think I have a way of dealing with the itching, and I expect the redness to disappear in a few days. Happy....
In summary, cotton socks instead of bare feet in a chilly house, and Ibuprofen when needed. This works for me.
Several years ago I had been to the dermatologist about this very thing. I was treated for a fungal infection and prescribed Silver Sulfadiazine. My dermatologist was spot on. This stuff worked great. A little bit goes a long way, Dried up the blisters and they didn't itch or hurt. As with all medications there are risks and things that you cannot be allergic to so ask your physician if it is right for you. Being a fungal infection, you may want to consider get new socks and shoes as not to pass the fungus. I have heard that you can put your shoes in the deep freeze to kill fungus although I have never done this. It has been years since I have been treated for this but the problem has returned. Time to see my dermatologist again. Hopefully someone gets some use out of this. Definitely worth asking your doctor about.
Im having the same problem. This has been going on for months and now my toes are swelling and look like sausages and my toenails are going funky and they partly fall off
I have also been using witch hazel and getting pretty good results. It seems to calm down the itching fairly quickly.
I've recently experienced this on one toe; it's excruciating! Came to the conclusion it was chilblains as well. I found great relief from the pain and itching by wrapping my toe in a tissue drenched with witch hazel, put a sock over it and wore it around all day like that. I applied it anew last night and this morning when I woke up it was gone!!
Witch hazel!
Witch hazel!
I have had these symptons for over 30 years. Winter time only. Relief - sticking toes in snow or ice cold water - relief but not a cure. In the 80's a doctor in Wyo. told me "in texas, we call this hoof rot". He gave me a perscription for a spray. 100% effective. I moved, used up the spray, and threw it away. I've told other doctors about this Wy. doctor jokingly making the comment about "Texas hoof rot" and the spray. Not one doctor can figure out what this spray was. It truly worked for me for years and I am still upset I did not keep that perscription bottle of spray. If anyone goes to a doctor - please ask them about "texas hoof rot" as someone, somewhere, will know what this pertains to. I remember this spray was cold, white, and dried my toes out and was in a very small container. So I know that there is help out there, just need to find it! I'm going to read up on Chilblains, no matter what - that spray worked!
I too have the problem of blistering/itching toes in winter only. Doctor said Chilbains. Gave me medication to open vessels in feet. No help. Does help keep my toes and fingers from freezing so fast in cold weather. My wife washed all my socks in vinegar thinking possibly the detergent was the problem. No help. Benadryl works. After trying all the suggestions offered
I thought it had to be something like an allergy. The Benadryl relieves the itching and eliminates the blisters. As long as I take the Benadryl, no problem. Hope this works for others..
I thought it had to be something like an allergy. The Benadryl relieves the itching and eliminates the blisters. As long as I take the Benadryl, no problem. Hope this works for others..
I think I can help you all some!
I have had the same symptoms for about 4 years now. It happens every winter, small, itchy red spots that grow larger and swell and turn shiny and are very painful to touch! When I went to the doctor I mentioned chilbain and he said there is no way my feet have got THAT cold. He finally told me it was Raynauds disease and gave me a BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE just want people to see that! haha It doesn't cure it but seems to help. It helps dilate the vessels helping the blood to flow more freely....I also get them on my fingers as well. I take my medicine (metroprolol Tartate) and keep my hands and feet warm and try to avoid temp changes. It is a pain in my butt but I am glad to see I am not the only one with this problem.
I have had the same symptoms for about 4 years now. It happens every winter, small, itchy red spots that grow larger and swell and turn shiny and are very painful to touch! When I went to the doctor I mentioned chilbain and he said there is no way my feet have got THAT cold. He finally told me it was Raynauds disease and gave me a BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE just want people to see that! haha It doesn't cure it but seems to help. It helps dilate the vessels helping the blood to flow more freely....I also get them on my fingers as well. I take my medicine (metroprolol Tartate) and keep my hands and feet warm and try to avoid temp changes. It is a pain in my butt but I am glad to see I am not the only one with this problem.
Listen up, folks, because this is a doozy: A specifically nasty type of HPV.
It causes some or all of the following:
genital warts, cellulitis, hydrentis suppurativa, chilblains, athletes foot.
ALL ARE CONNECTED WITHIN YOURSELF.
THERE IS NO CURE.
Now you know. Sorry about ruining your day.
It causes some or all of the following:
genital warts, cellulitis, hydrentis suppurativa, chilblains, athletes foot.
ALL ARE CONNECTED WITHIN YOURSELF.
THERE IS NO CURE.
Now you know. Sorry about ruining your day.
Hi again, I posted in this thread back in 2010 and have had this condition for about five years now. After trying a number of different remedies over the past several years, I think I finally found something that works - gingko biloba.
It's only been just over a week since my symptoms started this year, but then I started taking 240mg of gingko biloba daily. After a few days, the itchy redness went away and now (knock on wood) my toes are back to summer normal.
I started taking gingko biloba after reading about how it's supposed to increase circulation. Has anyone else had success with this?
It's only been just over a week since my symptoms started this year, but then I started taking 240mg of gingko biloba daily. After a few days, the itchy redness went away and now (knock on wood) my toes are back to summer normal.
I started taking gingko biloba after reading about how it's supposed to increase circulation. Has anyone else had success with this?
After several winters of having some of the symptoms described above (no blisters but redness, itching, burning, some discoloration) , I finally asked Google and this thread popped up. The problem usually effects my right big toe and to a lesser extent my left big toe. In bad winters, the tips of my pointer and middle toes can be effected too. My two outermost toes have never been effected which I find odd because my pinky toes are basically non-functioning stubs (I cannot wiggle them and have no real muscle control over them - I suspect for me they are vestigial remnants like the appendix!). I had been treating the inflammation as a fungal infection with anti-fungal cream but I realize now it probably wasn't the anti-fungal medication but most likely the cream itself that was soothing the burning and itching. At least I now have an idea of what I am dealing with.
I HAVE THE SAME THING,IT MAKES ME CRAZY, I NOT ONLY HAVE IT ON MY TOES, BUT ON MY HANDS AT THE SAME TIME... HAVE YOU FOUND ANYTHING THAT HELPS. PLEASE IT IS DRIVING ME INSANE
I've posted this back to gr99, mainly because I'm not sure exactly how this forum works and they were at the top.
I'm not sure if my post will be of any help to anybody either, but I just wanted to say thanks to everybody whom has posted. The itchy toes were driving me mad..they are also red and slightly swollen. It's the itch that is mainly driving me crazy. They only started 2 or 3 days ago, but I have had them in my past, though can't remember the exact circumstances. Factors that may affect me this time are: I quit smoking 2 weeks ago, I generally have low blood pressure (though haven't been to a doctor in couple of years so may have changed), I spend a lot of my day sat down in front of a computer, I am 44, I am not overweight (if anything I'm probably a little underweight), we have had some real cold nights over the last 2 or 3 days/nights. I live in NZ and it's the middle of winter, it never gets particularly cold where I am but, it can occassionaly hit freezing (though rarely) - I realise that may be cold to some, but I lived in Ireland and Britain before this and it was definitely colder there.
I have also noticed that I have several small red blotches on my arms and back of my hands, which may or may not be related. My toes itch like crazy. Other parts of me itch a little but not in the same place consistently except for my toes. I bought some new socks recently and have been wearing them (they are very dark blue).
At one point it actually felt like there were minute insects running around inside my socks and eventually I got so crazy with it that I sprayed a bed-bug treatment (that one isn't supposed to spray on skin) onto one of my feet and toes and weirdly enough it stopped itching almost instantly, which made me think that it was some little bug that I can't see, but started itching again a few hours later.
So since reading this post this evening, I now at least have some possible answers but I'm still not sure why the spray worked and I still feel the occassional itch. However, I will now investigate chilblains, raynauds, hand foot and mouth and bad circulation. This is more information or hope than I had several hours ago and as I can already feel the itching returning I am eager to find some more long term solution than spraying them with poison...also I'm not sure if it's the poison or the cooling affect etc
Oh dear , that was a bit of a ramble, but basically I just want to say thank you for giving me things to try...and weirdly to know that others have itchy and red toes and are actively looking for solutions, makes me feel better at least mentally.
I'm not sure if my post will be of any help to anybody either, but I just wanted to say thanks to everybody whom has posted. The itchy toes were driving me mad..they are also red and slightly swollen. It's the itch that is mainly driving me crazy. They only started 2 or 3 days ago, but I have had them in my past, though can't remember the exact circumstances. Factors that may affect me this time are: I quit smoking 2 weeks ago, I generally have low blood pressure (though haven't been to a doctor in couple of years so may have changed), I spend a lot of my day sat down in front of a computer, I am 44, I am not overweight (if anything I'm probably a little underweight), we have had some real cold nights over the last 2 or 3 days/nights. I live in NZ and it's the middle of winter, it never gets particularly cold where I am but, it can occassionaly hit freezing (though rarely) - I realise that may be cold to some, but I lived in Ireland and Britain before this and it was definitely colder there.
I have also noticed that I have several small red blotches on my arms and back of my hands, which may or may not be related. My toes itch like crazy. Other parts of me itch a little but not in the same place consistently except for my toes. I bought some new socks recently and have been wearing them (they are very dark blue).
At one point it actually felt like there were minute insects running around inside my socks and eventually I got so crazy with it that I sprayed a bed-bug treatment (that one isn't supposed to spray on skin) onto one of my feet and toes and weirdly enough it stopped itching almost instantly, which made me think that it was some little bug that I can't see, but started itching again a few hours later.
So since reading this post this evening, I now at least have some possible answers but I'm still not sure why the spray worked and I still feel the occassional itch. However, I will now investigate chilblains, raynauds, hand foot and mouth and bad circulation. This is more information or hope than I had several hours ago and as I can already feel the itching returning I am eager to find some more long term solution than spraying them with poison...also I'm not sure if it's the poison or the cooling affect etc
Oh dear , that was a bit of a ramble, but basically I just want to say thank you for giving me things to try...and weirdly to know that others have itchy and red toes and are actively looking for solutions, makes me feel better at least mentally.
I thought I had a bad rash then the itching got so much worse. I have actual blisters that can be popped and liquid continually comes out. When my feet are dry they are flaky and the top layer of skin can be peeled off. The itching is absolutely maddening. Tried caladryl but it makes my feet so dry they crack and bleed. Only thing that helps me even a little is a&d ointment or sometimes neosporin. Help!!!!!
THANK YOU - THANK YOU - CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH. Had my first decent nights sleep last night and first day I could stand it and not go crazy. I googled itchy, swollen toes and came up with this site. I read your advice about Prep H and had some unopened gel in the med cabinet. It was almost instant relief. I've had this for weeks just like the picture with the red toes. Last night it moved to the second foot. Like many I had treated it as atheletics foot and nothing worked. Tried some prescribed cream and it didn't work. Tried calamine lotion and it didn't work. I wanted to chop my feet off. Thanks for giving this 70 year old a decent nights sleep and itching relief with a simple remedy. By the way I live in the Lake Tahoe area of California and have for 50 years. This was the first time I experience Chilblains. You are a life saver.
V Granny
V Granny
I found a cure for my chilblain problem after 4 years of living hell every winter. Docs are useless for one. I lost so much sleep. Swollen red toes, blue spots and bumps and blisters, itching, pain when touched...it was bad. I started to think what else has the same symptoms...hemorrhoids. What fixes them, preperationH. I tried PrepH on my toes, the cream version, and they stopped itching the first night. After only a few days my toes were coming back to normal. After a week, they are normal. I used it 3 times a day on my toes. Now if I feel any hint of it coming back I use the prepH and its stops. No more lost sleep. No more irritated toes. I needlessly suffered all those years when the answer was a few bucks at the local store.
It makes sense to me. The blood vessels are obviously getting messed up, blue spot and bumps of blue. The tissue gets inflamed, red swollen. Its also itchy and painful...all like hemorrhoids!
I think the medical community needs to look at this differently. They havent been able to fix it, they dont understand it, and I dont here of then trying preperationH!
Try it people, it cant hurt. It worked a miracle for me. I am normal again!
Prepreation H cream with:
Glycerin 14.4%
Phenylephrine HCl 0.25%
Pramoxine HCl 1%
White petrolatum 15%
I bought thee generic version. There are many types so look at the ingredients.
It makes sense to me. The blood vessels are obviously getting messed up, blue spot and bumps of blue. The tissue gets inflamed, red swollen. Its also itchy and painful...all like hemorrhoids!
I think the medical community needs to look at this differently. They havent been able to fix it, they dont understand it, and I dont here of then trying preperationH!
Try it people, it cant hurt. It worked a miracle for me. I am normal again!
Prepreation H cream with:
Glycerin 14.4%
Phenylephrine HCl 0.25%
Pramoxine HCl 1%
White petrolatum 15%
I bought thee generic version. There are many types so look at the ingredients.
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