Tiny, clear bumps on fingertips?

[1234_5678]

About a month ago, a tiny bump on the tip of my pinky finger showed up, and about two days later, another one on the knuckle of my little finger appeared. I've had some before, and they've always been on my hands. The bumps are a little bigger than a pin head, and are clear, unlike a pimple. They do not itch, and don't seem to hurt. If you pop them, clear liquid come out, and after about a day or two, they seem to heal and disappear. Doing some research, I believe it is pompholyx, a form of dermatitis. I figured that it would be best not to pop the one on the tip of my pinky, and see if it would heal on it's own, but as time went on, it grew worse. Now, it's swollen to about the size of a BB, and it rough, like a callus. It hurts when touched. It seems like it's irritated from underneath, and needs to be popped, but I can't seem to get anything out of it. I'm trying Freeze Away, and  I believe the bump has become infected. Other than that, I have not a clue of how to heal this. Any ideas?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Chances are there that the bumps were due to contact dermatitis or pompholyx but since they are painful, even herpetic whitlow cannot be ruled out.

Herpetic whitlow is a painful viral infection occurring on the fingers or around the fingernails and is caused by infection with the herpes simplex virus (HSV). My sincere advice would be to get it evaluated 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.

[1234_5678]

Actually, looking at pictures of pompholyx, theis doesn't seem to be my issure. The bumps are not red or swollen at first. But the description for popholyx sounds vermy much like my condition.