Why do I have itchy bumps on the back of my hands and wrists?

[Rapunzel43]

I have been dealing with this problem for over a month now.  Twice I have tried to get in to see my dermatologist to no avail.  I have itchy bumps on the back of my hands, some of my fingers and the top of my right wrist.  This is all on the back only and it has not spread to any other part of my body.  I have tried different moisturizing creams with vitamin E, coconut oil.  Cortisone-10, Gold Bond, peroxide and Neosporin with band-aids.  I wash my hands thoroughly a lot everyday, I have OCD.  I use an anti-bacterial soap, I talked to a nurse over the phone and she suggested I go see my dermatologist as well.  I explained the situation to her and she did not feel that this was anything serious that it wasn't life-threatening or life-altering.  I have a ganglion cyst on the top of my right wrist also.  They are not bleeding and there is no absess, there is nothing leaking out of the infected areas.  In the winter season I am used to having dry, red, irritated skin and a few cracked areas on my hands and wrists and I use plenty of moisturizing cream.  But this is a first for me, I don't know what to do?  I am really worried and scared, I am 45 years old now and I have been dealing with a lot of tension and stress as well as anxieties.  My counselor and I have discussed this a couple of times that I might be going thru pre-menopause.  I've also dealt with some other health problems back in the fall and the early part of this year.  Twice I found myself at the emergency room.  The first was for stomotitus and the second time was for an absess in a very, private area of my body.  Both had to be treated with antibiotics, a pain killer and I was taking a probiotic.  All of that is over now but my hands I do not know what this is?  I am hoping that someone here can reach out to me and help me, please?  I hope to hear from someone here, hopefully soon.  Thank you, bless you.

[purple1234567]

Sounds like you have a lot going on!  Do you remember what was happening when you noticed the itchy spots first appear?  Have the dermatologists you have seen given you any clues other then you are not going to die?  Does it seem like there are times the bumps and itching is worse?  

[Rapunzel43]

Hello COMMUNITY LEADER!  Thank you, thank you so much for responding to me.  I am sorry for being so late.  A one, 000 pardons, please forgive me for being so late replying to you.  I have been busy with some appointments, grocery shopping and errands.  Twice in March, I went to see my doctor that deals with allergies, sinuses as well as skin problems.  He prescribed steroid pills called, PREDNISONE, 10MG I took the last one on Friday and I had my second appointment with the Dr. that day.  They helped some but he did not renew the prescription.  I told him I was also dealing with some bad headaches and sometimes migraines.  He prescribed, MELOXICAM, 7.5 MG.  I started them on Saturday morning, two a day for one week and after that one a day for one week.  I do not go back to see the Dr. until early May.  However, I was told that if anything should come up I could call and make an appointment to see the Doctor earlier.  I am dealing with a bad headache now and I took two Meloxicam this morning.  The Dr. thinks that the skin problems with my hands and wrists could be poison ivy or poison oak.  I do not know how this could have happened to me because I have never had it before.  This started at the end of January or early February and we have had a very cold winter.  Unless I have some place to be then I am in the house during the winter season.  Wintertime is not my favorite time of the year, in fact, I hate it more and more as the years go by.  I cannot wait for spring to finally arrive, which in fact it already has.  The weather has improved some and then finally my favorite time of the year, SUMMER!  I have been told that the oil of poison ivy or poison oak can be on things and this would be the time of the year to get it.  This is a mystery to me, it has not spread anywhere else on me and there is no discharge, no bleeding.  I have tried four times now to get in to see my dermatologist and unfortunately, they are booked solid.  I already have an appointment with my dermatologist later in May of this year and I am definitely keeping that.  I just called today for the fourth time to see if I could see the Dr. at the dermatology clinic and I was told that I am doing pretty well with the appt. in May because if not for that I could not be seen by the Derm. Dr. until June.  I finally got around to making an appointment to see my gynecologist for a yearly check-up, which will be this Friday so I am grateful for that.  Then I finally worked up the courage to make an appointment for a physical/check-up at a clinic with a new Dr., which will be less than two weeks away.  I am weary, worried and apprehensive about all of this.  I am sitting here now as I compose my response to you and I am scared.  That I could have something seriously wrong with me.  I don't know what to do?  The itching can happen during the day but I've noticed that it can flare up at night.  In addition, since I have seen the Dr. at the ear, nose and throat clinic where they also deal with skin problems on Friday.  There are more bumps on the back of my hands and I have noticed that I am dealing with some slow healing.  I have always been a slow healer anyway but now there are some things especially now that are very slow to heal up.  For a while, it looked as if they were not healing at all.  Aside from the bumps that I already had, there are a few small bumps in the palm of my right hand.  This skin problem with my hands it is worse on the right than on the left.  The Dr. gave me an ointment called, MUPIROCIN, USP 2% to put on a would that I have had on the top of my right wrist and on a cat scratch on my right, index finger.  I have a cat and it was a small scratch if I am not mistaken.  The scratch happened after I started taking the steroid pills.  I was supposed to put the ointment on and then put band-aids on.  I have tried that and since the steroid pills have stopped the scratch is healing it is dry, flat and I can see a mark where the scratch was so that will eventually fade out.  The wound is my biggest problem the steroid pills did help it some but not completely.  The ointment I think is helping but I stopped using the band-aids because I believe the band-aids caused more itchy bumps.  Last night I did not use the ointment because I have also been laying on lots of moisturizing cream.  On Friday I bought, GOLD BOND ULTIMATE Skin Therapy Cream, HEALING w/ALOE - Penetrates 10 Surface Layers Deep.  I got up very late in the middle of the night and put on a Vitamin E Skin Cream.  It is by, Fruit of the Earth, and I was using Vaseline Intensive Care Deep Moisture Jelly Cream.  I'm almost out of that so I will have to buy more the next time I go shopping.  I was also using the generic brand of, EUCERIN SKIN CALMING DAILY MOISTURIZING CREME, I got that sometime ago at Walmart and it is by, EQUATE, that is a popular, common generic brand for a lot of products at Walmart.  My right hand at the wrist is itching now and whenever I give in and scratch, therein lies the problem because it causes more bumps.  I just want whatever this is to go away and leave me alone.  Because I am constantly afraid and worried.  I can't take the tension and stress.  I'm constantly under tension and stress, anxieties and for me it is always the worst-case scenario.  If you would like I recently have posted all of the other medical concerns that I have here in my JOURNAL.  Just before I started composing my reply to you, it is my very first entry in the JOURNAL section here on my profile.  I have taken some pics of my hands so once I have uploaded them on my laptop I will see how they turned out and maybe upload them here.  I will go back and use the ointment, MUPIROCIN, USP 2% tonight but it is hard to do that because with the weather still being cold my hands get so dry, irritated, red and chaffed.  I need moisturizing cream but I'm supposed to use the ointment so putting both on I'm afraid that it is counterproductive.  I hope I have not left anything out if so then once I have heard back from you and I really hope that you will reply to me again.  Then I will have to convey more about my situation to you the next time.  I really hope that you or someone here can help me, please!  Thank you for your time.  Have a good evening.  

[purple1234567]

I wouldn’t stress that this rash is anything serious- people get rashes a lot and this one doesn’t sound like anything that would be cause for a huge concern. Keep your appointments, but in the meantime- try not to stress (in fact stress can cause rashes too).
You may try keeping a journal and keep track of what you are eating, items you are using on your skin, stress levels, etc- note how the rash responds and you may be able to track down what the cause is better.

[Rapunzel43]

Hello COMMUNITY LEADER again, thanks you for your quick response.  I have had my gynecological exam and my Dr. saw no cause for concern during the check-up.  I got the results in the mail 6 days afterward and my Pap Smear is NORMAL.  Therefore, I am very thankful for that, that's one less thing that I have to worry about.  In addition, I'm glad, I just uploaded some brand new pics on my profile here and I took them of my right hand.  I chose the ones that I think really do show the rash on the back of my right wrist.  I am really nervous, scared and worried because I have a check-up/physical tomorrow with a Dr. that I have never went to see before.  I'm really hoping that it will be turn out to be okay, my gynecologist even told me that tension and stress can cause a rash.  I'm not eating anything that I have not ate before.  I use different kinds of moisturizing creams that are not hurting me.  I still have been using hydrocortisone cream as well.  I mentioned all of the creams that I have been using in my earlier responses to you.  It can itch some during the day but it flares up a lot at night.  I tried the ointment called; MUPIROCIN, USP 2% but I really don't see any improvement.  The cat scratch is gone so it has left a mark but it is fading.  I've noticed this about myself since I was a child:  I've always been a slow healer and I'm not the only member of my family that is this way.  I would greatly appreciate it a lot if you could take a look at my pics, please.  Maybe then if you could look at the photos and see what it is I am talking about you might be able to understand what this is on the back of my right wrist.  In addition, of course there are the itchy bumps that I have had on some of my fingers, on the back of my hands and on my wrists.  However, for the most part some of those are gone but not all but   it is getting better.  I had to stop taking the MELOXICAM, 7.5 MG. because it was causing a rash in another part of my body that is a very private area.  I also dealt with that time of the month too.  I discussed what I have been going thru with my gyne. Dr. and she said it is possible that I could be going thru what is called perimenopause or premenopause.  Last month my menstrual cycle started on the 18th or 19th and this month it started on the 10th.  Mine keeps starting earlier and earlier each month and it has been like that for quite awhile.  My appt. with my gyne. Dr. was on the 5th of this month, the very next day that is when the rash in the private area started.  However, I also have very sensitive skin and with my problems with depression and OCD I do not practice personal hygiene on a regular basis.  I use feminine cleansing cloths to freshen up sometimes.  On Wednesday the 10th that is when my menstrual cycle started and I had to force myself to take a shower.  It made a big difference with the private area rash.  I will have to shower to get ready for my check-up tomorrow as well.  I read the directions on the box for the hydrocortisone cream and it can be used in the intimate part of the body and I put some of the cream on the private area rash and it helped also.  I apologize for going on and on but I do not know any other way to convey my health concerns to you or to anyone else here that I hope can help me.  My Dr's. appt. is tomorrow at 2:30p.m. in addition, I have a lot to do and there never seems to be enough time to do what I need to do.  I don't know if I will be able to log back into my profile to see if you or anyone else has replied to my recent comment and my new pics.  I really do appreciate your responses and your help, thank you so much!  I really do hope to hear from you or anyone here that can help me again, thank you.  Bless you.