Itchy swollen fingers

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.

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.

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.

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 c**p 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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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.

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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.

A family member of mine has similar symptoms, and she describes small bumps that look purplish or burned on her fingers. She has no idea what it could be. However, I did some research, and the description of "tophi" seemed to fit the bill. This occurs in gout on and off for years. Get your uric acid levels checked and see if it is gout. My dad also has it, but without the bumps, and it burns intensely, turns red, swells, and is intolerable.

It could be gout, which can occur in any joint. Have the doctor check your uric acid levels to rule it out. It can occur on and off for years.

I don't know what to think. But others have this also, so am not alone. I have tried a number of things: Cortisone cream, anti-itch gel, Noxzema, Vitamin E. This latest seige is the longest ever, and I can't figure out what is causing it. Other posts have helped me think maybe at 60 it's arthritic, or liver connected - who knows if the doctors don't know. If you try Noxzema, it will give some relief, but I use the knock-off Kroger brand because it has clove oil in it (Noxzema brand name does not) & clove oil is a pain killer. I previously thought the itching fingers were directly connected to ear infections which started in 2005. An ear infection would be treated with antiobiotics and the affected fingers would heal up almost immediately. So I am still guessing that the finger problem is caused by an underlying infection of some kind. Psoriasis (some doctors believe) is caused by underlying infections. For instance, a friend's husband had terrible psoriasis, and a year or so later was diagnosed with cancer. So I believe that "underlying infection" theory. I have also had shingles 20 years ago, which was the only other time I had an itching situation this bad that almost drives me to distraction.

This I do know - liver healing can be accomplished by various nutrients - milk thistle, lecithin granules mixed in with food like peanut butter, and essiac (a herbal remedy used against cancer). Essiac has been around for years, and was used on Ted Kennedy's son's cancer years ago, although they don't tell the public that. I haven't used any of these remedies for some time, so maybe time to go back to basics for liver health

I have a similar issue but without the itching. It happens mostly in the winter time. My hands will randomly swell and get what looks like burn blisters on them. They're so stiff that it hurts to bend my fingers back. I'm thinking that it has to do with them getting too cold but it just started happening last year. The first time they swell so bad I could move my fingers at all. It hurts and happens often enough to really get annoying. I don't know what to do.

I have been going crazy with a similar issue (swollen fingers and toes from about Sep. through March). This has gone on for two years. Symptoms are at their worst when I wake up. With repeated swelling day in and day out, plus associated itchiness, this condition can get extremely uncomfortable. The problem seems to peak in the December - January time period, at which point my fingers are very sensitive. I am reluctant to seek help, especially after reading many of these posts. I'm not sure that I could capture a doctor's curiosity to engage him/her to pursue this to a correct diagnosis. Help!

Had two fingers swell up quite quickly at the beginning of Feb. Gave it a week but no improvement, so went to see the doc. By then my left index finger, and the finger next to it had swollen with discoloration around the joints, and small sore areas along the inner and/or outer surfaces of the digits - a bit like small blisters or heat bubbles. Itchiness would come and go on a daily basis, and often more agressively at the end of the day. Got progessivley worse. Plenty of scratched heads at the surgery, but no accurate diagnosis. They couldn't even decide if it was an allergy or an infection.
After two months, 3 different doctors with three different diagnosis, and a small pharmacy of drugs doing not-much-in-particular, I turned to the internet and found these pages. (By now my fingers had become huge, painful, massively discoloured and nothing the docs had done made any difference.) I read from the beginning and looked for commonalities to my condition. Came up with a theory. I pushed all the doctors remedies to one side, stopped using handsoaps with chemicals in (I was using PalmOlive with almond extract in + Cussons anti-bacterial) and picked up a good old-fashioned bar of soap (Dove - it's very soft dontcherknow and smells nice too). Also stopped using shampoo for a few days (was using Head & Sholuders anti-dandruff) - since I have very little hair it seems a bit pointless anyway.
My fingers started to improve almost immediately. Within 36 hours the itchiness had gone and the fingers were deflating so fast that the formely-stretched skin actually began to dry and crack a bit, but only a touch and no big deal.
Being a bit compulsive, I tend to wash my hands a lot, especially after a cigarette. Reducing this a bit (the washing, not the smoking), using mild soap bar and keeping my hands warm and dry when I go outside has helped hugely, and in no time I'm back to normal. My suggestion is this: Avoid repeated exposure to harsh chemicals on your hands (inc dispenser soaps and maybe some mediacted shampoo), don't repeatedly wet and dry your hands, and keep them warm. Maybe a bad diet, a bit of stress or other factors may excacerbate the problem and make you more susceptible to the onset of this, but take a step back, use some common sense, look at your lifestyle and daily habits and help your fingers look after themselves.
Please note: as a caveat to this, swollen fingers may well be indicitive of a more serious health problem, so if in doubt seek medical advice.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to post on this topic; you all helped me identify some areas worth investigating and get better! Hope my experience helps someone. Drop me a line if I can help buddybottle@hotmail.com