Itchy swollen fingers

cadler · Newbie Joined: 28 Nov 2007 Posts: 1

My son has had a problem for the past few years on and off. All of the fingers of both hands become extremely red at the distal joints and swollen. He has been to our family physician and to a rheumatologist. There has been no definitive diagnosis made. They do believe it is some form of vasospasm. They pretty much ruled out arthritis. He is now 19 years old and suffers with this on and off. This seems to happen more so in the winter time. Heat seems to help him. My son is very thin and tall and is cold alot of the time. The fingers itch and are very stiff. What have you found useful for this? Do you think this is an allergy? I don't know what type of physician to consult with next. Any comments or feedback is appreciated.

Guest · Guest

I also have these problems; cold feet, itchy bumps on my fingers. it's called Raynaud's Syndrome. It can also happen in the summer. the bumps mostly when your hands are cold then get warm too fast.

Guest · Guest

chilblains. extreme reaction to cold weather or emotional stress. poor circulation, poor nutrition. keep your hands and feet warm (gloves, insoles). when coming in from outside, don't expose your hands or feet to a direct heat source (heater, heat bottle); let it warm naturally. when going out, warm your hands in warm water for a couple of minutes, then dry and put gloves on. do exercise to improve circulation. don't smoke.

Guest · Guest

I had this problem aabout a year ago and I went to the Dr . He had no clue what was wrong but I got raised lumps on my fingers that were intensely itchy and painful too. He sent me for a blood panel and found that I had strep in my hands. It turns out that a bee had stung me that had been infected with strep and given it to me. The Dr. put me on antibiotics and I was cured! But...now I have the symptoms again and don't know what to think.

Guest · Guest

I work in an an Industrial Valve Supply Business. The last two days I have noticed my hands swelling and becoming red in the palms and very itchy. My guess it is from some type of preservative / rust inhibitor that is put on these valves from the foundry. I can't get any relief from lotions or creams. When I scratch this crap on my hands, it only gets worse. Even bending my fingers back to stretch them because I type all day at work, does not help and is painful. Seems to be now the only way to prevent this again is to wear gloves..... Im wondering if there should be some type of memo inserted into these products when they are shipped that states a warning to chemical exposure and the possible side effects of handling these valves without gloves. I might need to consult with my lawyer on this.

rcpoling · Newbie Joined: 08 Dec 2007 Posts: 2

After reading all of the posts, it seems that quite a few of us have exactly the same thing happening. There are a few outliers that don't really fit and seem to be something different. I'm not convinced that what I have is an allergic reaction to shampoo/conditioner or any other product. Seems to be something else that is lying dormant under the skin that is triggered from time to time.

Mine started in August/September and I thought it was poison ivy. The first round started out with little blistery bumps on my fingers. My right ring finger got the worst of it. While I was able to get all the rest to go away with over the counter meds, I couldn't get my ring finger to get better. In fact it seemed to be something altogether different with that finger. It would seem to be getting better but then start itching from the inside out. When I scratch it triggers the swelling. I know I shouldn't scratch bc the swelling is miserable but then the itching is so bad, I can't get relief otherwise. My doctor looked at me like I had some hideous disease and wouldn't even touch my hand. Nice, huh?! I mentioned that I thought it might be poison ivy. He didn't offer any other suggestions and prescribed a round of steroids to kick it. They did nothing other than put an extra 10 pounds on me. Finally the swelling/itching went away on its own. I thought I was cured, but then every once in awhile I would get a tingle/slight itch in that finger. I tried not to touch it and eventually it would go away. Last night though, the itching started up full force. Stupid me started itching and the swelling has begun. I'm tempted to go back to my doctor, but from reading all of your posts, I don't see much point.

I'm curious about a few of the things you all mentioned from strep in your hand to Lupus. Time to go do some more googling. I'll be curious to hear if any of you get any more information about this. p.s. Food Lion has an antihistomine (sp?) cream that actually offers some relief with the itching. It's their brand name. I tried about 5 different itching creams and it was the only one that worked at all.

Guest · Guest

My doctor finally diagnosed it as a rare form of lupus. Mine is triggered by the cold. My fingers do not warm up in the wintertime even though I live in Southern California. I only have it in the Winter. But yes, swollen itchy red fingers and soreness in the finger joints, sometimes it feels like my fingers are breaking at the joints. I didn't get this until I was 55 years old. The disturbing thing is my teenage daughter is now exhibiting the same symptoms.

mikethepetman · Newbie Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Posts: 1

I have the same symptoms described , mine have beeen around for 4 days . My right hand started to itch at the base of the palm and then slowly spead to the side of the hand and then to the fingers . All would itch like crazy,turn, red and then swell in a period of 12-15 hours .Just when it started to get better it started on my left hand the same way and my right hand showed no symptons . This morning I awoke to find just my wedding finger swollen and itchy but my lower lip on my left side of my faace swollen and my right palm itchy again. I went to the urgent care doctor the first night and he thought things like this are sometimes unexplained bouts of allerigies.He gave me predisone(steroid) and told me to get blood workup for thyroid issues and that I may have the beginning symptoms of carpel tunnel syndrone . The only thing that seems to stop the itching is Preperation H with hyrodortisone . I have no idea what's going on but we will see.

Guest · Guest

I have the same thing - and other posters said, I think it is chillblains. Here's a link to the symptoms and causes:

*****

They say that low circulation in cold weather (in my case seems to be not keeping the heat on high enough, my hands were always cold) paired with putting the extremities into high-heat situations when they're cold (taking a hot shower or putting your feet on the heater) is a likely trigger. They have a picture on the wiki of someone's feet with it:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilblain

Wear gloves/socks, stay warm, and don't go take a burning shower when they're cold is the suggestions, going to give it a try.

**edited by moderator**

Guest · Guest

i have similar symptoms. swollen fingers, itchy fingers, cracks all over my hands.
mine started when i started a new job. when i have extended time off work, the symptoms go away. i believe it is mold in the heating ducts at work which is causing this. they are going to be doing an air quality test at work.
if you research mold, some types can cause this.
This is just my opinion.

Itchy swollen fingers

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