Hey, I posted a few post up from this one. I am a guitar player, although the peeling and splitting has kept me from it. As I stated above, I have /had a couple of spots of red flaky areas on my face and a couple on my legs. They start as a red dot with a hard center that eventually just flakes off leaving a flaky place. On my hands I notice that it seems to affect places worse where the skin is thickest. So my right thumb and right index finger were the worst, my middle finger on the right where my pen rest when writing is also affected. But I also have peeling on the sides of my fingers by the finger nails. I do not believe it is a virus, if it was it should have gotten worse with a shot of predisone. Since the predisone actually weakens the body's ability to fight virus. Predisone cleared mine but only while I was on it, then it came back. I have reached the amount of predisone my doctor says I can take so I have not had any since Feb 2006. My hands were the worst they had ever been as of last Saturday. I had 13 bandages on my fingers. Now the good news.
Some one posted right after me last week that their daughter was taking capsules of fish oil and capsules of black currant seeds oil. Ok... I have never been much for the health food/vitamin / all natural healing kind of stuff. But with my fingers killing me just to do simple things I was ready to try any thing. So I bought the capsules of fish oil and capsules of black currant seeds oil and started taking them last Monday. Today, Saturday, not quite a week later I do not have a single split on my fingers. There is still a lot of the thick dead skin on my right hand, but it is much less than last week. I played guitar last night for a couple of hours, both my acoustic and the electric. No splits and the redness around the areas that were peeling is getting much less. After only one week. I am taking 1000 mg of each in the morning and at night. I wonder if the capsules of capsules of black currant seeds oil contain a natural form of predisone? Because my hands are acting just like they did with a predisone shot, only none of the bad side effects I had with predisone. I suppose I should check it with my doctor to make sure. I don't want clear hands and a dead liver. But my hands are healing. Thanks to whom ever posted it... it's a miracle for my hands and I thank God for you posting it.
Some one posted right after me last week that their daughter was taking capsules of fish oil and capsules of black currant seeds oil. Ok... I have never been much for the health food/vitamin / all natural healing kind of stuff. But with my fingers killing me just to do simple things I was ready to try any thing. So I bought the capsules of fish oil and capsules of black currant seeds oil and started taking them last Monday. Today, Saturday, not quite a week later I do not have a single split on my fingers. There is still a lot of the thick dead skin on my right hand, but it is much less than last week. I played guitar last night for a couple of hours, both my acoustic and the electric. No splits and the redness around the areas that were peeling is getting much less. After only one week. I am taking 1000 mg of each in the morning and at night. I wonder if the capsules of capsules of black currant seeds oil contain a natural form of predisone? Because my hands are acting just like they did with a predisone shot, only none of the bad side effects I had with predisone. I suppose I should check it with my doctor to make sure. I don't want clear hands and a dead liver. But my hands are healing. Thanks to whom ever posted it... it's a miracle for my hands and I thank God for you posting it.
When I was a waitress, I lost a fingernail due to fungus and wonder if fungus may be the cause of your problem? Good luck!
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I too have the dreaded cracking and peeling. I was wondering how often you apply the hydrogen peroxide? I am in the midst of one of my worst outbreaks. Painful and annoying.
oohh, i'm glad i found this site. i was going to read through but i just had to post first because i couldn't resist.. i have the same thing, i think.. my skin on the palm side of my skin is wrinkly, and the fingertips cracked.. but only on my right hand.. it started off on the thumb but then spread to the other fingers. it once covered the lower palm, a large scally patch after i applied a lot of pressure to it (where i work i have to fold double layered boxes with my hands, a dairy factory) the day after i did a shift of work, but didn't last very long. the oddest thing, i went for a 8 week trip to Poland and ALL my symptoms dissapeared! i was whacked out.. I also had other symptoms, dry eyes, and a face covered in something like pimples but not.. from this i think it may be either the weather (it was winter there, usually 10 degrees celcius) or maybe some kind of an allergy.. i've tried a number of things with mixed results and am suspect of allergies.. some say its a fungal infection, but if so, why hasn't it spread to my other hand after all these years? it could be harsh detergents.. i think it started when i started working at a pizzeria and had to wash my hands pretty much before every pizza i made, but even after avoiding detergents and wearing gloves always, it only partially helped, so i think it just irritates it. some dermatologists said it was dermititis, i bet they say that for every skin condition they don't know how to cure.. so i've been trying to figure out what it is myself.. sorry for the rant.. right now i am suspecting its seafood allergy so have stopped eating shrimp, salmon, and tuna, and just recently have stopped taking cod liver oil just incase its that. i have tried a number of fad diets including juiced vegetables, raw egg whites and other stuff. anyways, i'll post up my results if i figure anything out
Try this: Take one orange and juice it, remove pulp and stir in one teaspoon of cod liver oil. Blend well and drink on an empty stomach (morning works best). I do this an take my vitamins plus put some tanactin type stuff on and hydrocortisone creme. Don't know why, but this works.
Hi Everyone!
It's going on two years since this very same problem started with me. I'm not a guitar player - nor do I associate with anyone who plays an instrument. I've been to FOUR dermatologists and my primary physician and this last dermatologist stated that she believes this is a form of contact dermatitis. I've eliminated EVERYTHING new that I've used in the past two years - and NOTHING has changed. My fingers crack and bleed constantly. And what's strange is - only in just the past four or five months has the problem spread to my palms - it's always been just my fingertips and sides of some fingers that were a problem.
What happens with mine is that my fingertips and palms will callus up - my palms sometimes even taking on a yellowish tint to the skin. What's strange is that the skin on my fingertips - when it hardens - seems to have 'space' in between the actual 'fresh' skin below and the hardening skin on top - it's not like a huge callus that forms on the tips - then again - sometimes it is!! It's MADENING - whatever this is!!! I just want it to stop - my fingers are in constact, severe pain. As stated by someone in a previous post - I notice that the same fingers or places in my palms 'break out' at the same time. My two worst fingers are my thumb and middle fingers. I would agree that it may be viral however, although 90% of the time both hands break out in the same places - there are times - such as now - where for instance one 'pinky' finger is cracked and peeling whereas the other one isn't.
I have tried E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G prescriptive and non-prescriptive - and nothing permanently works. Some things may work for a day or so but then the symptoms come back full force again.
Here are some fact about me - maybe we can all find some common links:
- I am overweight
- I have high blood sugar from time to time (however, I'm NOT diabetic)
- I do feel fatigued quite often
- when working on outdoor OR indoor projects - I ALWAYS wear gloves (even to bed every night) and nothing makes a difference
- my heels seem to crack DEEPLY - no peeling though
- NO OTHER skin on my body has this problem - NONE - except my heels - and they only crack and harden severely - they don't peel
- I've even tried soaking my hands until they are pruny (as I've been told that this is when skin is most suseptable to retaining any moisturizers or nutrients applied to the skin) and nothing works.
I don't know what will become of this... but I sure hope that our dermatologists find the solution or common thread here soon - because alhtough it might not be something 'life threatening' - it sure makes having a productive, NORMAL life somewhat miserable! :-(
Thanks for the info and posts from fellow sufferers. P-L-E-A-S-E keep posting new updates when you find something that works... as will I.
~ Tera
It's going on two years since this very same problem started with me. I'm not a guitar player - nor do I associate with anyone who plays an instrument. I've been to FOUR dermatologists and my primary physician and this last dermatologist stated that she believes this is a form of contact dermatitis. I've eliminated EVERYTHING new that I've used in the past two years - and NOTHING has changed. My fingers crack and bleed constantly. And what's strange is - only in just the past four or five months has the problem spread to my palms - it's always been just my fingertips and sides of some fingers that were a problem.
What happens with mine is that my fingertips and palms will callus up - my palms sometimes even taking on a yellowish tint to the skin. What's strange is that the skin on my fingertips - when it hardens - seems to have 'space' in between the actual 'fresh' skin below and the hardening skin on top - it's not like a huge callus that forms on the tips - then again - sometimes it is!! It's MADENING - whatever this is!!! I just want it to stop - my fingers are in constact, severe pain. As stated by someone in a previous post - I notice that the same fingers or places in my palms 'break out' at the same time. My two worst fingers are my thumb and middle fingers. I would agree that it may be viral however, although 90% of the time both hands break out in the same places - there are times - such as now - where for instance one 'pinky' finger is cracked and peeling whereas the other one isn't.
I have tried E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G prescriptive and non-prescriptive - and nothing permanently works. Some things may work for a day or so but then the symptoms come back full force again.
Here are some fact about me - maybe we can all find some common links:
- I am overweight
- I have high blood sugar from time to time (however, I'm NOT diabetic)
- I do feel fatigued quite often
- when working on outdoor OR indoor projects - I ALWAYS wear gloves (even to bed every night) and nothing makes a difference
- my heels seem to crack DEEPLY - no peeling though
- NO OTHER skin on my body has this problem - NONE - except my heels - and they only crack and harden severely - they don't peel
- I've even tried soaking my hands until they are pruny (as I've been told that this is when skin is most suseptable to retaining any moisturizers or nutrients applied to the skin) and nothing works.
I don't know what will become of this... but I sure hope that our dermatologists find the solution or common thread here soon - because alhtough it might not be something 'life threatening' - it sure makes having a productive, NORMAL life somewhat miserable! :-(
Thanks for the info and posts from fellow sufferers. P-L-E-A-S-E keep posting new updates when you find something that works... as will I.
~ Tera
Hi everyone,
I am a 15 year old guy and about 3 weeks ago i noticed the skin on the end of my right thumb was beggining to peel. I thought nothing of it, however the peeling has spread about half way down the thumb, and has also begun to occurring on all fingers with the exception of the "pinky" fingers. The thumb remains the most affected. When the skin peels, it reveals somewhat tender skin underneath, however unlike other posts have described, i have not experienced lots of pain, nor have my fingers bled, and no numbness.
I have been thinking of everything i have touched, and had come up with no likely cause, until i heard about a reaction to nickel being the possible culprit. About 4 and a half weeks ago i had some nickel anti seize on my hands after working on the car, but im not sure if there would have been a delay of a week and a half between touching nickel and peeling occuring. Any idea of the reaction time to nickel?
Any advice appreciated
I am a 15 year old guy and about 3 weeks ago i noticed the skin on the end of my right thumb was beggining to peel. I thought nothing of it, however the peeling has spread about half way down the thumb, and has also begun to occurring on all fingers with the exception of the "pinky" fingers. The thumb remains the most affected. When the skin peels, it reveals somewhat tender skin underneath, however unlike other posts have described, i have not experienced lots of pain, nor have my fingers bled, and no numbness.
I have been thinking of everything i have touched, and had come up with no likely cause, until i heard about a reaction to nickel being the possible culprit. About 4 and a half weeks ago i had some nickel anti seize on my hands after working on the car, but im not sure if there would have been a delay of a week and a half between touching nickel and peeling occuring. Any idea of the reaction time to nickel?
Any advice appreciated
I have had this problem for about one month out of each of the past 5 or 6 years - I am now 24, and it recently occured again. It starts as wet/crinkled looking skin at the tip of my left thumb, and then begins peeling a bit, and then slowly peels down to the base of my thumb, leaving my skin raw and pink. I had tried using A&D ointment, neosporin, etc. in the past to no avail. Yesterday I went to see a doctor and inquired about it. He looked at my thumb, and said since it is always the same thumb, and becomes worse when exposed to cold weather or lots of water (I recently had a baby and have been washing my hands a lot) it is a form of dermatitis. He prescribed Triamcinolone ointment, and within 24 hours the problem is about 70% gone! He said it had to be the ointment version of the medicine, in order to keep the skin moist. He instructed me to put on the ointment within 2 or 3 minutes every time my thumb gets wet, and to keep band-aids covering the skin while using the medicine. I am SO glad, and grateful, I went to see this doctor.
Hello, I'm a 36 year old Mother of two and for a week now the skin on my fingers have been peeling off.
It first started with a slight numbness on the finger tips (realised that was due to the dead skin which was about to peel off), then one finger appeared to have a blister on the end (which did not have any fluid in it), then this arrear of skin started to peel off.
It has now happened to all of my fingers and thumbs (except my pinkies), and it is painless, the new exposed skin is a little tender at the beginning but toughens up pretty quickly, however it is very annoying and looks ugly. So far the best cream to use is Bepanthen, which contains urea, has anyone got any other idea's.
I've been avoiding water as my fingers seem to absorb it really quickly, after 2 minutes in water it is as if i've been soaking in water for an hour, which brings me to my next thing, could this be a result of some hand soaps. I started using a new liquid hand soap two days prior to this happening, i've stopped using it but noticed this had sodium (salt) in it, which sort of explains why my fingers absorb water so quickly, has anyone else noticed that they have this condition after using hand soap or cleaning products containing sodium (salt).
Since last post i tried this-
Ok - i know this sounds weird but the results are truly amazing - today i decided to soak my hands in warm salty water for a minute, i've done this twice today, then applied the cream mentioned above, and i have not needed to cut or peel hardly any skin off since then, normally it was coming off in sheets, so I'll post again in a couple of days and let you all know how it's going.
It first started with a slight numbness on the finger tips (realised that was due to the dead skin which was about to peel off), then one finger appeared to have a blister on the end (which did not have any fluid in it), then this arrear of skin started to peel off.
It has now happened to all of my fingers and thumbs (except my pinkies), and it is painless, the new exposed skin is a little tender at the beginning but toughens up pretty quickly, however it is very annoying and looks ugly. So far the best cream to use is Bepanthen, which contains urea, has anyone got any other idea's.
I've been avoiding water as my fingers seem to absorb it really quickly, after 2 minutes in water it is as if i've been soaking in water for an hour, which brings me to my next thing, could this be a result of some hand soaps. I started using a new liquid hand soap two days prior to this happening, i've stopped using it but noticed this had sodium (salt) in it, which sort of explains why my fingers absorb water so quickly, has anyone else noticed that they have this condition after using hand soap or cleaning products containing sodium (salt).
Since last post i tried this-
Ok - i know this sounds weird but the results are truly amazing - today i decided to soak my hands in warm salty water for a minute, i've done this twice today, then applied the cream mentioned above, and i have not needed to cut or peel hardly any skin off since then, normally it was coming off in sheets, so I'll post again in a couple of days and let you all know how it's going.
Ok please ignore the post above, although my fingers looked great this morning when i woke up, the skin started to soak up the water when i was in the shower and i had to peel / cut the dead soggy skin off when i got out of the shower. :( .
I'm going to start the fish oil, so thank-you for that idea! and i am still using "Bepanthen" -Antiseptic cream which is a gentle and effective for the temporary relief of nappy rash and the care of mothers' nipples during lactaction, it also protects the dkin from infection and is also effective for the treatment of cuts, abrasions, scalds, insect bites and stings, chapped hands, minor skin irratations and sunburn. It contains diazolidinyl urea and hydroxybenzoate esters as preservatives. thought i'd write down everything that was on the product for those of you that might be interested, company name is BAYER Australia Ltd.
This makes mine hands feel and look like normal :) until the get wet :cry: .
I'm going to start the fish oil, so thank-you for that idea! and i am still using "Bepanthen" -Antiseptic cream which is a gentle and effective for the temporary relief of nappy rash and the care of mothers' nipples during lactaction, it also protects the dkin from infection and is also effective for the treatment of cuts, abrasions, scalds, insect bites and stings, chapped hands, minor skin irratations and sunburn. It contains diazolidinyl urea and hydroxybenzoate esters as preservatives. thought i'd write down everything that was on the product for those of you that might be interested, company name is BAYER Australia Ltd.
This makes mine hands feel and look like normal :) until the get wet :cry: .
i'm 23 and have had the same symptoms for 7 years...along with the weather...i find that it happens a lot when i wash my hands...the only soap i can use without irritating it is the brand "Soft Soap"...the aloe kind...i went to Tijuana and bought a tube of medicated cream for little bumps i have on my forearms and found that it cleared up the problem on my hands and arms the time entire time i used it...but it came back when i stopped =(....i don't know if they sell it over the counter here but it is called "Gelmicina"..."Gelmicin" in english.
Hello,
I read this thread about 10 days ago. After reading every post, I decided to do 2 things.
1) I started taking fish oil and black currant oil every day
2) After about 4 days, with little results, I stopped taking my multi-vitamin. My mother is allergic to multi-vitamins and I started taking one about 1 month before the skin thing.
After about another 3 days, my skin looks almost normal. Here we are about 3 days more, and my fingers look pretty good. I would say that they are about 80%. This is good for me. They looked horrible before and I'll take 80%. It is much less noticable.
I have a couple of problems. I'm not sure if the multi-vitamin is the cause and I'm recovering or if the oil is working OR it is just going away on it's own. I'll post more later, but I'll say it again....80% is good.
I read this thread about 10 days ago. After reading every post, I decided to do 2 things.
1) I started taking fish oil and black currant oil every day
2) After about 4 days, with little results, I stopped taking my multi-vitamin. My mother is allergic to multi-vitamins and I started taking one about 1 month before the skin thing.
After about another 3 days, my skin looks almost normal. Here we are about 3 days more, and my fingers look pretty good. I would say that they are about 80%. This is good for me. They looked horrible before and I'll take 80%. It is much less noticable.
I have a couple of problems. I'm not sure if the multi-vitamin is the cause and I'm recovering or if the oil is working OR it is just going away on it's own. I'll post more later, but I'll say it again....80% is good.
Gidday Everyone, Thought I'd up-date you all on my progress, firstly as i mentioned previously I believed this peeling skin problem begin after I brought a new liquid hand soap, and still believe it to be the cause.
Listed second in the ingrediants (which means theres more of it compared to if it was listed near the end of the ingrediants) was the following ingrediant :- Sodium Laureth Sulfate - which is Used in car washes, garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers - and in 90% of products that foam.
Here are some websites i've found on this ingrediant, it is a skin irritant and also it can permanantly damage eyes, so be careful using bubble bath with your kids!!!!.
natural-health-information-centre.com/sodium-laureth-sulfate.html
hallgold.com/toxic-chemical-ingredients-directory.htm
So Anyway I have stopped using all products that have this ingrediant (that's cost me a bit replacing everything) and I've been having fish oil capsules, and i've also brought Hemp Hand Protector cream from the body shop - This cream is full of essential fatty acids which i think the soap stripped off my hands, well anyway my hands have improved 95% so far after doing all these things, so just thought i'd mention it to you all.
Good luck guys.
Listed second in the ingrediants (which means theres more of it compared to if it was listed near the end of the ingrediants) was the following ingrediant :- Sodium Laureth Sulfate - which is Used in car washes, garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers - and in 90% of products that foam.
Here are some websites i've found on this ingrediant, it is a skin irritant and also it can permanantly damage eyes, so be careful using bubble bath with your kids!!!!.
natural-health-information-centre.com/sodium-laureth-sulfate.html
hallgold.com/toxic-chemical-ingredients-directory.htm
So Anyway I have stopped using all products that have this ingrediant (that's cost me a bit replacing everything) and I've been having fish oil capsules, and i've also brought Hemp Hand Protector cream from the body shop - This cream is full of essential fatty acids which i think the soap stripped off my hands, well anyway my hands have improved 95% so far after doing all these things, so just thought i'd mention it to you all.
Good luck guys.
When I get this condition, (little mini blisters, starting in the center of the finger tip, and spreading radially) I start taking multi-vitamins after every meal. It usually clears up in 2-7 Days after I begin taking the multi-vitamins.