Dyshidrosis Support Group

Hello everyone.

If you are reading this it is because your hands and/or feet are suffering the pains the DE immensely. I know that is why I joined.

I am 27 and this started a year ago. It came and went with only a few blisters on my hand... and then the last month it has been unbearable and came with the strength of nothing I have seen before. Blistering vesicles which leak that serum that makes your skin crack like glass. Then your skin bleeds and makes it almost impossible to make a fist.

Mine was even worse - it would get infected regularly because of where it was on my fingers - nearly went to the Emergency Department several times.

Why did I finally decide to join? I woke up this morning and I noticed a blister on my foot. The first one. Which lead me to some questions. But first here is my history.

10 Months ago: Its started on ONE finger on my left hand... went away on its own.

Last month - DOMINATED my right hand pinky and ring finger. Little blisters have popped up elsewhere on the same hand but nowhere else.

Today - Found a blister on the TOP of my foot.

I have seen derm NP's and no one has diagnosed me with DE. They keep calling it contact dermatitis. I just dont believe it. They have given me Clobetasol ointment (not the cream.. cream sucks), and my issues on my hand have improved immensely.

Here are my questions to you:

1. Those of you that have DE - do you have it on BOTH hands? The NP keeps telling me that it presents symmetrically - not only on one hand or only a couple fingers.

2.DO you get pains in your arm/leg where it is developing? Shooting pains? Tingling? Pain under the arm pit? In your leg? I certainly get pains in my armpit when it is flaring up and in my leg lately... which is why I think I have it on my foot now.

3. Where SPECIFICALLY do you have it. The NP keeps telling me it is usually on insides of fingers and on the palm. I have it on the tops of my fingers, on the sides and like I said before, most recently, on the TOP of my foot. The NP keeps telling me it would present this way.

The NP says DE presents:

1. Symmetrically.

2. Over many fingers if not all of them.

3. On the soles and palms of your feet and hands.

I look forward to asking you all questions and having you ask me questions as well.

Regards - Stead

Hi Stead 311,

I keep getting told by health care professionals that it's contact dermatitis or a fungal infection. Funny thing is, with all the topical antifungals and the oral antifungals I've taken it hasn't gone away. I've decided for myself based on my internet research that it's DE. My blisters are only on my hands. Both hands now, though it started out just on one hand. Still, one hand is much more affected than the other. I never have any other pain in my arms or armpits, shooting or tingling. The only pain I have is when my skin cracks. My hands are quite itchy most of the time. It's very aggravating. I have DE all over my hands. On my palms, all surfaces of my fingers are affected with blisters, my cuticles have dissapeared on all but two of my digits. How are your fingernails? My are bumpy and ugly. I hope this information helps you!

Nicky.

I have been told 3 times it is contact derm. I have had symptoms on BOTH hands but i mean.. a few bumps here and there on my left. My right is insane. It keeps attacking the same 2 fingers no matter what I do. They look like I put them in a woodchipper.

My fingernails on the affected hands are discolored and disfigured. They almost have holes in the in some places. Does fluid ever leak out where the cuticles used to be? Mine do and it crusts up sometimes.

I can not find any correlation between vesicles forming and something I am touching.

Do you / have you ever worn gloves? White cotton gloves to try and reduce irritation - i am starting that now and it is not really working. They just keep forming.

So I dont know what to say... 3 of my fingers are drastically affected but everything else is fairly normal.

Do you use any moisturizer? I want to - but IM afraid I am going to just irritate the vesicles I have. Thanks so much for your response. I feel like there needs to be some serious awareness about this disorder. It is crippling at times.

I have 2 more appointments with 2 of the best derm doctors in the North East. I have been waiting for 9 months. I will let you know if there are any treatments that worked for me. But for now - back to the good old steroids.

I have been told 3 times it is contact derm. I have had symptoms on BOTH hands but i mean.. a few bumps here and there on my left. My right is insane. It keeps attacking the same 2 fingers no matter what I do. They look like I put them in a woodchipper.

My fingernails on the affected hands are discolored and disfigured. They almost have holes in the in some places. Does fluid ever leak out where the cuticles used to be? Mine do and it crusts up sometimes.

I can not find any correlation between vesicles forming and something I am touching.

Do you / have you ever worn gloves? White cotton gloves to try and reduce irritation - i am starting that now and it is not really working. They just keep forming.

So I dont know what to say... 3 of my fingers are drastically affected but everything else is fairly normal.

Do you use any moisturizer? I want to - but IM afraid I am going to just irritate the vesicles I have. Thanks so much for your response. I feel like there needs to be some serious awareness about this disorder. It is crippling at times.

I have 2 more appointments with 2 of the best derm doctors in the North East. I have been waiting for 9 months. I will let you know if there are any treatments that worked for me. But for now - back to the good old steroids.

I thought the skin on the inside of my hands was just super dry or that cleaners and washing dishes had irritated my skin. It got worse. I kept lotioning my hands and applying Cortaid, etc. Nothing helped. My doctor kept giving me this cream for eczema but it didn't help. She referred me to a dermatologist who diagnosed me with "dyshidrotic eczema." Sounds awful. Looks awful. He gave me a steroid shot, some ointments and creams that first visit. Two weeks later, I was still suffering from the itching and scaling. How embarrassing. I had to go back to the dermatologist to get another steroid shot. It finally cleared up. Yeah! Then it came right back again. It is only on the inside of my hands, THANK GOD! I have the little blisters that look like they've burst on my palms and my skin is splitting in several creases. My dermatologist gave me a list of items to NOT USE, like baby oil, Neosporin, latex gloves, etc. I have the list in my car. Next time I log on I will post the list. I sure wish there was a cure for this. I've had eczema all my life but nothing like this. I've even passed the skin issues to my youngest son and that just about kills me. No longer can I blame his skin issues on his absent father. lol.

Mine started with about 7 or 8 little tiny bumps on the bottom of my left foot. The bumps presented in a circle. Really strange, I thought. I popped them and I don't want to say they spread because of popping them; they just started to increase in number and area of the bottom of my foot. Also, they were on the side of my big toe. I left those alone.

Started putting tea tree oil on them and keeping them bandaged. Wrong! The only way I could put a bandage on them was to also put a gauze pad between them and the bandage. They don't seem to do well when they're covered air-tight.

Then my left hand started getting little bumps all over the palm, them some on my right hand. Again, I just kept putting tea tree oil on it.

Well, the tea tree oil started really drying out my skin, and the bottom of my foot was really red and sore. Also, a big blister appeared on the side of my big toe, like the ones in the photo's for dyshydrosis. The skin on my foot was peeling like crazy and becoming raw. And now this had been going on for about 3 months. I had to find something else to sooth my foot and get this stuff to stop.

So I have aloe growing in my backyard and gave that a shot. Just split the leaf of the plant and applied it. Made the rawness feel better but didn't really help a whole lot. Then I remembered some ointment that I've had in my medicine cabinet for about 20 years. It is called E Ointment. It contains vitamin E, wheatgerm oil and aloe vera. It has the consistency of vaseline. I started using that and I am about 90% better. My hands are all clear now, no more little bumps/blisters and the peeling looks much better.

I don't know if the vitamin E ointment is doing it, but I think I am on the mend. The ointment is made by Basic Organics out of Columbus, Ohio.

Good luck to you.

Hope this helps someone.

Your description of the condition is very articulate and accurate. I am going through the same thing, which is why I have joined. It started on my left toe, which at the time I thought was fungus. It probably was because it responded well to an antifungal. Months later not only did it come back there, but also on the bottom of both feet. I applied antifungals but nothing worked. The blisters expanded into a series of water-filled bubbles that made it painful to walk. I went to the doctor and he said it didn't look like fungus, but might be fungus mixed with some type of allergy. He prescribed a clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate cream, and it works. However, as it clears the areas of application, it develops in other areas around the foot and now my hands. I try to not use the cream because I don't want to get addicted to it, but it always comes back. My fear is that I'll have this for the rest of my life, and that I will always have to use the cream. I don't mind following a routine, but I hear that those creams really dry you up and wrinkle your skin.