“Having found read this thread I can affirm that I also have the same symptoms described though only on my left index finger tip. Thanks for the information as nothing I have tried so far, from antibacterial/antiseptic creams and ointments to hydrocortisone cream, has worked so far. I’m currently trying Canestan anti fungal (Clotrimazole 1%) cream on advice from this thread. Incidentally I am male, aged 59 from the UK and this only started 6 months ago when I thought it was an acid burn from a pepper pickling solution … I will let you know how I get on.”
Update: Tried the cream…after the dead skin turned brown and peeled off the new skin was tender but seemed to be recovering. I believe that this had nothing to do with the type of cream and more to do with being kept moisturised and under protective cover. Stopped last week and kept my fingers in fresh air and the symptoms have returned.
Point to note: All my fingers on my left hand now display the same symptoms and I discovered this was because of contact acid burns from chopping onions. It is possible that this is the sole cause of the discomfort all this time? Visiting the doctor next week to discuss this new information and take it from there. Again I’ll let you know how I get on.
Hi everyone, has anyone mentioned that stress could cause peeling fingertips? Many doctors have said this cannot be it but I also don't have any issues before this. It started once I took some antiobiotics for a chest infection and I was worried that I was not healing and was dragging on, then my fingertips started to peel. This was back on August 1 and has continued to peel alternatively amongst the fingers. For example, the two thumbs were ok for 2 weeks and now has started the cycle at all.
I have gone to many docs and even a derma and they have all said, nothing to worry about, just dry hands. They have said that no one really cares about the hands, BUT I DO, unfortunately. Call me crazy, but I like to have nice hands, even for a male lol
I moisturize day and night and many times in between but just can't get the peeling to stop.
Curious....
1) Has anyone had their peeling stopped?? My cousin actually had this and she said it took over 1 year for the peeling to go away.
2) What moisturizer do you recommend? 3) Do you actually care that peeling is in your fingertips or you are in the camp that it does not bother??
4) Any other tips and insights would be great but this peeling is driving me literally crazy haha
I started getting dry, cracking, painful, peeling fingertips a couple of Midwestern winters ago. My pointer fingers and thumbs had the condition the worst. My other fingertips had it too, but it got less severe the closer it got to my pinkies. I was also getting it along the outermost sides of my pointer fingers and in the spaces between my thumbs and pointers. I chalked it up to dry, winter air. Spring would come and the condition would stop. Except for this year— winter came and went... spring came and went... summer came and went— I still had the condition. I went to a doctor and a dermatologist. I tried most every lotion, balm and ointment— including a few prescriptions from the dermatologist. The dermatologist did patch testing for allergies— for 36 different things— metals, fragrances, etc. I had reactions to nickel (sulfate), cobalt dichloride, fragrance mix, wool alcohol, and epoxy resin. It appeared the culprit was nickel— which is in most anything metal. I stopped playing my guitars (strings, frets, tuners), taped off my metal iMac keyboard, made sure my iPhone was completely covered, wore gloves to the gym (dumbbells, barbells, machines), put a protective covering, whenever possible, between my fingers and metal (locks, keys, cutlery, cabinet hardware, etc.) and wore gloves (nitrile or cotton). Then my fingers and thumbs got worse than they ever did before. I dismissed nickel as the cause.
I then suspected it might be my cell phone cover because of how my hands and fingers touched it when I was using it. It kind of aligned with where I was getting the condition. As a test, I removed the rubber-like black cover and replaced it with one of my daughter’s old, hard plastic ones. I noticed improvement on my digits within 36 hours. It’s now been 7 days and there is dramatic improvement— almost back to normal. It had been my cell phone cover all along.
My condition (dry, cracking, painful, peeling fingertips) has come back after just a week of being almost back to normal. It appears it was not the iPhone cover I suspected. It was just a coincidence. Sigh. I will post any updates.
I have been dealing with this same issue for almost two years now. I have been to two different dermatologist and have been prescribed three different steroids ranging from foams to ointments as well as Utopic which is some sort of barrier cream. It is isolated primarily to my thumb, forefinger, and middle finger. The next step is to conduct a patch test to try and figure out what I am allergic to. I am on my phone a ton using text, email, and social media so I have wondered if it is my phone causing the issue as I have read that nickel could be the culprit. I bought Nickel Alert but the only part of my phone that registered to have nickel is on the charger port. Very frustrating and painful.