tiny fingers blister-like

I have had this for a few years now and yes, no one has been able to tell me what it is. Some people say it is caused by stress and I've sort of noticed that it does come with stress. However, I also noticed that it started on my feet a couple of days after I walked barefoot in a flooded basement (fungus and bacteria heaven). I immediately associated it with the stupid barefoot incident, but since then, it comes back on my hands. Very seldom does it attack my feel anymore. Someone else mentioned the same treatment in a post....Lamisil worked like a charm. My daughter's pediatrician noticed my fingers while I was holding my daughter's hand during her exam. She told me to try it because it looks like it "could" be a fungal problem. I did and it worked within a couple of day, dried it up and it went away. Hope this helps someone else, it helped me. good luck all.

One thing no one has mentioned, and my skin doc had a theory. He first thought it was dyshidrotic eczema and treated it as such for awhile. Then looking at patterns, etc. Seemed to be flaring up during stress which is common with dyshidrotic eczema.

Then he asked if I had any sexually transmitted diseases. My answer was the long lasting gift I received from my wife was contracting HPV (Human Paploma Virus). So after some testing on the clear liquid from inside the blisters it appeared the slippery substance also contained traces of HPV. As prescribed whenever I get a flare up, I reach for some anti-herpes cold sore type cremes and that seems to clear it right up and lasts a couple weeks.

Might be worth looking into with your doc.

In Jan this year I started trying to change my lifestyle - I cut down on snacks between meals, cut out a lot of the c**p I was eating before and tried to get to the gym on a regular basis, building my workout up from a small amount to a more worthwhile amount each day so as not to 'shock the system'.

Was fine to begin with, but once the intensity of the workouts were increased (probably mid Feb) I started getting very itchy upper arms, and a rash broke out on these - kind of like a Ketatosis Pilaris rash - very small, pink 'pimples', although they are so small I can't tell if they contained any fluid. These then spread down my lower arms (and a few on my trunk). They didn't itch particularly and eventually started to fade. I can still see the faded spots so they haven't gone completely yet.

Anyway, when they extended down my arms I also noticed some deep tiny blisters develop on my hand. One cluser was on my palm base, under my thumb and another cluster were smack-bang in the middle of the palm (just my left hand). No significant pain or itch, just a worryingly brownish/yellowing raised patch which you could see were multiple hard blisters by looking closely. Since they arrived I have been using topical steroids and anti-fungal cream on them daily but they don't seem to be disappearing, although the blistering-effect seems to be slowly reducing, leaving what looks like tiny brown-spots underneath. These are really miniscule spots by the way. I'd say there is about 10 or so on the base of my palm and probably 50 in the centre, although each patch is less than 1cm in size. If I run my finger over them to blanch the skin a little you can see the brown specks easily.

Have hunted the net to try and work out what they are but to no avail. One thought is that they are warts but there doesn't seem to be the hard calloused skin that would be evident with them, and pompholyx/dyshidrosis is another although these are not itchy, and whilst I can see brown specks in some of the google images of pompholyx, they are never mentioned in the write-up - articles just talk about 'clear' or 'skin coloured' bumps.

Anyway, since the outbreak, I have had a few bumps appear on the end of my fingers on the other (right) hand. I first feel these as a prickly-sensation if I put pressure on them - such as holding a steering wheel - however these, whilst looking similar to the others, seem to go down quite quickly (within a couple of days), although looking closely they too have left tiny brown specks. This makes me think its the same thing.

Do things like this on the palm take ages to heal compared to the fingers? Is my regime of putting steroid cream on actually preventing them from 'bursting' and scaling, and therefore hanging around longer?
Can Pompholyx/Dyshidrosis cause non-itchy symptoms? Can they cause tiny little brown specks? Could the sweat/heat-triggered rash from using the gym have caused these things on the hands?

So many questions!!! The frustrating thing is that this chain of events (whether connected or not), started when I tried to get fit [I'm a 36yr old male who isn't exactly in shape], and now I'm so worried that going back to the gym is going to make them worse I am holding off going.

Anyway, thought I should contribute to this thread!

Symptoms - tiny pinhead sized bumps that itch like crazy, off and on. When poped or broken a clear fluid will leak out for several minutes, they remain an open sore for several hours and then scab over. They appear along the sides of my fingers, and on top of my fingers. As they heal my skin becomes scaly and there is a white patch of dead skin.

I have been dealing with this for 10 years. I guess I should start at the beginning.

I know the exact day that these appeared, because it was the most stressful day of my life. I was so stressed out that I threw up.... I had heard of women getting yeast infections but never men, I just didn't know any better I was only 20, I had just had sex with my girlfriend and my crotch started to itch like it was on fire, so I scratched like any impulsive man would. My skin was all broken and I could see little red irritated dots that leaked clear puss. I itched for days and I was too embarrassed to go the doctor, when I finally did it looked like my manhood was going to rot off.... It was scary. During that time I scratched constantly... I started to notice these little dots on my fingers.... the ones that most of you have been describing, pin head sized itch like crazy sometimes and when burst clear fluid comes out. I don't think the two were related, I think that the hand bumps were brought on by the stress of my yeast infection experience.... but that was 10 years ago, and the yeast infection is long gone, only took a few days to get that taken care of... the bumps have been around for ever....

people comment on them all the time, because i am self concious i tell people its ant bites, because I dont want to tell them my hand rots continuously. I have gotten several creams from several derms..... nothing seems to work.... some make them go away faster, but its expensive, and it doesn't get rid of it, it just makes it easier to deal with. Every doctor I have met with about this has thought that it is a type of fungal infection.

As more time went by me and my girlfriend noticed that SHE was getting a lot more yeast infections. Which really sucked, it was almost like as soon as she would get over one she would get a new one. So we started talking to a doctor together about this new problem, at the time we didn't even think that these two things were related... I was chewing on my hand during a meeting with the doctor.. which is a habit i picked up on because of this c**p, and she asked me what I was doing. I told her about my hand condition and she had some insight for us. She started talking about how yeast infection work for women. There are a lot of dif. types but the most common one is caused by sexual contact with men. She explained to us that yeast infection are caused by a chemical that is secreted by the male sex organ when it sweats. So if you dont shower a lot as a guy you are more likely to give your girlfriend a yeast infection. She said that males aren't likely to get yeast infections because we have a chemical in our penis that fights them off at the same time. Kinda like we produce the disease and the cure at the same time. And we protect women by showering frequently.

This got me to thinking.... If I can give my girlfriend a yeast infection... could I give myself one, im sure my hands dont make this miracle fungus fighting chemical like my penis!!! Its embarassing to talk about, but you people dont know who I am, Anonymity is cool!!!! I have this problem... I masterbate. A LOT. Like at least once a day sometimes twice, normally before I go to bed. I think that these bumps are related to my bad habit... they seem to get inflamed when I touch my girlfriend sexually, and they seem to appear the day after I masturbate. I don't have the will power to stop though.... I have tried so hard and I just cant slow it down... If your a girl and you got it I think you get it from sexual contact with a guy that has it. If your a guy and you get it, i think its from touching yourself.

I find that if I wear tight clothing I get a yeast infection where the clothing rubs tight, When its hot and I sweat a lot I get real itchy in my crotch area too. I think I have seen that I am more likely to get a fungal infection now that I have had one that rocked my world.

I want you people to try and prove me wrong. My thesis is that because of a MAJOR yeast infection I once had, when I touch myself i spread this rash to my hands. I think now that I have had a yeast infection my immune system is weak to fungus and while my penis can kinda protect itself from a yeast infection but not completely remove it from the equation, when I touch myself it gets in my hands and starts this rash thing up. Greasy food, Humidity, Stress, and Heat seem to make it worse but I dont think they are the cause.

okay okay, i know what your all thinking.... just stop masturbating.... I CANT!!!! its so freaking hard an I have low self control, very impulsive person...

I guess after revealing all of this personal information to all of you my question is... Does anyone else understand where I am coming from? Have any of you ever had a nasty yeast infection? Do you think that this is related to my penis? Do we share the same scenario???

Hi Ashkevron

Since when has masturbating been a 'bad habit'?!

Not sure I buy the link between yeast on your penis and the pompholyx. But I could imagine that stressing about touching yourself continually could raise stress levels enough to maintain the chronic problem.

Just my view though

I have just noticed this today, I seem to also have them on my lower buttox and outer thighs in a small area, as well as my index fingers.
My freind thinks it may be bed bugs?....... but my girlfreind doesnt get them....

yup i have the same symptoms - and have had the same blister-like soar appear on my finger off and on for about 3 years. i've heard that it is symptomatic of herpes. though i've never tested positive for herpes - sometimes it can lie dormant in your system.

I was just reading all of your posts, and I have also had this problem as well..but mine did not start till I was about 20-21 years old. Which was about the time I was living on my own for the first time. I remember trying to do research on the web back then regarding these bumps. Because if you try to pop them, the area gets rough and can be irritating. I do not recall what the name was called for this problem. But it is stress related.
The article that I read stated that right around the finger are a bunch of nerve endings, and I guess you could practically call them finger hives.
Only thing to do is wait it out. I use some ice cubes and antifungal cream, and this helps clear them up faster and keeps them from getting rough or tender/painful.

i've had a sympton for years that begins as tiny little red dots, as time goes on they form into little clusters of bubbles around the fingertips, as the gets worse and worse these bubbles get on the palms and begin to spread all over the hands but never go further then the hands. At this point the bubbles get bigger and begin to pop, a clear liquid comes out. I went to the dermatologist years ago and he prescribed Hydrocortisone Valerate 0.2% to me. Its an ointment/lotion you put on your skin 2-3 times a day, and after about two weeks the symptoms completely go away. The bubbles do become itchy over time-sidenote. I hope this helps someone out. I believe you can buy it over the counter.

It's hand exema, or hand dermatitis. I have it on both my thumbs and it's been painful and embarrassing. Check out this website and see if it looks like it: dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/hand-dermatitis.html

I have had these tiny blisters on my fingers and hands off and on for 3 years. I have been told by doctors its stress. Cortozone cream helps the burning and itching then dries out the skin.

An observation that I made was if I eat romain lettuce the blisters com back. If I stop eating romaine lettuce for 2 weeks the blistes stop.

I have not eaten romaine lettuce for a year... no symptoms.
Last week I forgot about the romaine letuce and had a salad. Thre days later it was back...

Try to cut out romaine lettuce for 4 weeks and see if they disappear.
Some one told me that romaine lettuce now is high in Nickle.

Im 21, had this appear on sides of my fingers near the joints on and off for years, as well as the sides of the toes.

Well reading all of this has led me to two conclusions.

1. Its pompholyx! ... isnt the internet great?
http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/pompholyx.html
although thankfully Ive never had it anywhere near that bad !

2. Mine is sweat related. I've clammy hands and I over heat alot! Its not much of a problem usually, I spend a lot of time outdoors and in the sea but Ive got a bunch of the buggers at the moment (Sitting finals next week = lots of time indoors and high stress... make what you want of that). I'm very confident they will disappear with a few days in the sun ( they always have before)

3. Its not so serious, dont freak out :-)

Thanks for the input everyone.

You hit it right on the money. Although some of these pictures seem a bit extreme, most are right on. Finally a site that show what "I" have. I too have sweaty hands and feet and I suspect this is no help either. The ones I get on my toes can get much bigger than the ones on my fingers



I did find as others have said that Lamasil does a pretty good job of getting rid of this stuff (temporarily at least) bu t only on my toes. It is weird....

I get these blisters regularly and have noticed the direct connection between when I get them and using household bleach products.
I also get them from the strong chemicals that the cleaners use.
I always thought it was fungal but I have spent ridiculous amounts of money on anti-fungals and they still come back - BUT only after using bleach!!!

Solution: keep your hands away from strong chemicals.
Wipe your desk with mild detergeant.
Avoid touching surfaces cleaned with strong chemicals.
Rinse your hands after using bleach and washing powder/liquid.

You prob just have sensitive skin like me and get "Contact Dermititis".

I'm 99.99% certain of this!

Sarah

I too have these small blisters-they started after I had used a band-aid on the spot.
Any connections?