Brown spots on skin after handling flowers

[YoungMan85]

Hi, I do landscaping and gardening for a living and about two weeks ago, I noticed something on my hands.  Maybe an hour after handling some flowers (marigolds, petunias, and chickweed), I noticed a burning sensation in my knuckles.  That went away after an hour or so, although it continued if I dried my hands roughly with a towel for the next few days.  Anyway, a day or so after the initial contact, I noticed about 10 small red marks on my right hand, and 2 or 3 on my left hand -- on the knuckles or the base of my fingers (back of the hand, not the palm side).  They looked to be deeper than the surface skin.  Over the course of a few days, they turned brown, and now some of them have scabbed and disappeared, leaving pale skin underneath, which looks kind of like a scar.  Today I noticed a few more brown spots on the back of my right hand, which are slightly raised to the touch, even though I haven't touched those plants since then.  These new spots feel like scabs which will fall off soon.

I work outside and rarely wear sunscreen, and the summer here was very hot and humid, with some high UV days.  I'm hoping it's just a reaction to plant matter + UV, but I had another mysterious breakout in early July (little itchy red spots in clusters on my forearms and backs of knees, which itched for a week or so and disappeared a few weeks later)...so I'm concerned that these different things might be symptoms of one infection/virus/disease, rather than isolated events triggered by relatively harmless things.

Any insight would be appreciated.

[YoungMan85]

The marks on my hands are all gone now. Thanks for your reply.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it looks like contact dermatitis or phytophotodermatitis. Take some antihistaminic like Benadryl or Claritin and apply some calamine lotion on the rash. If the symptoms persist then please get it examined from a dermatologist.
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 doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.