talkeczema

Every summer for as long as I can remember, the skin on the palms of both hands has peeled badly. I always put it down to the heat & just dry skin, and never thought any more about it until a couple of years ago. Small spots appeared on my left hand, and I couldn't hold the gear stick in the car to drive properly. The spots spread, and eventually my hands peeled until red raw. The soles of both feet became unbearably itchy, and peeled (gross!). This has now spread to both hands. At its worst, I cannot hold anything at all in my left hand, and am struggling to wear my wedding ring - all I can do is cover the skin until it has healed enough not to split. This stops me scratching it as well. I tried the cortisone (?) creams from the Dr, but it didn't seem to make much difference, so I stopped using it. I did, however, read an article that says rose oil can help. I have been using Dr Haushka's rose body oil on my hands once or twice a day for the last 6 months, and on the whole, it has been better. I still get break outs - but they don't last quite as long and the skin on my hands heals better in between. It is also starting to flare up behind one knee - and this oil eases it. Worth a go.

I just wanted to let you know about my pompholyx eczema. It started almost 30 years ago when my first child was a baby. Back then, it was a tiny, intensely itchy rash on my wrist. The doctor thought it might be fungal as the rash was round (like ringworm) and gave me some anti-fungal cream - which worked like magic!Throughout the years since then, I have continued to get this rash, but it has changed. Nowadays, I only get it on my hand and I get horrible, enormous, weeping blisters. The blisters can be amazingly large! I have often had a fight to get doctors to give me anti-fungal cream - though the rash has never failed to respond to it.The really strange thing about this rash is that I only ever get it now following an accidental cut to my hand. If I cut my hand on a tin, the rash will follow. Always!About 3 years ago, I saw a skin specialist for the first time. He agreed with the succession of doctors who told me that the rash was not fungal, but was pompholyx eczema. They did however take some samples to test - and a fungus was found! I think what they then suggested was that the pompholyx eczema developed as a result of the fungus on my skin getting in through the cut; a kind of allergic reaction to the fungus, maybe!Having a logical mind, I then started to apply anti-fungal cream as soon as I cut myself and BEFORE the rash develops. And guess what, it stops the rash from starting!I have never read anywhere else about anyone who only gets this eczema when they accidentally cut themselves. I also understand that the rash is quite unusual at my age (I am nearly 56). Maybe I am quite unique!

My seven year old daughter has been diagnosed as suffering from pompholyx eczema. It attacked both hands and feet violently leaving her miserable and unable to sleep and then travelled up her legs and arms onto her torso and back although the vesicles were not as raised and did not blister. Her feet eventually blistered open leaving her with a secondary infection and in hospital on intravenous antibiotics and unable to walk. I have been reading about this condition and it seems that it is rare in the pre-pubescent and the severity of the attack was quite breath-taking. I kept seeing more and more blisters appearing every time I looked at her - even in my sleep. Classic triggers - stress in the household, new baby coming, parent’s relationship poor and close, humid windy weather. Dear little soul was so excited about the baby too. I wonder if anyone else has had any pompholyx outbreak in children and how they treated it.

I have been a sufferer of pompholyx eczema just on my feet, reading a few other stories I feel for the people who have it everywhere else as knows one can begin to understand the pain. I have had this for the past five years. In this time I have gotten married had a child, and many other changes have occurred in my lifestyle. At the beginning I was told that it was a fungal infection, so my doctors kept feeding me fungal creams. Little did I know later on as time passed and I had gone to see a dermatologist, the fungal creams were feeding my eczema and had made them worse. Whilst I was pregnant I had this and I could not walk, this got me so depressed and angry. I enjoyed my pregnancy but this just put a real damper on things. After giving birth I couldn't walk for 3 weeks as the infection blew up into these big ugly blisters. My eczema comes and goes I could go for a period of 6 months and not have it then when it does come back in comes back in full force. Dermatologists have boiled it down to stress, but somehow I just believe there is more to it. I looked this up because I thought I was the only person in this world that had this, and that I was the only person that cried myself to sleep every night cause of the pain and itchiness. If there is anyone out there that can help me with some remedies that will relieve the pain, even just the itchiness or to tell me your stories please email me. I don't want to try for a second child cause I'm scared I'm going to go through all this pain again with my feet. It’s the worst feeling.

I've had pompholyx for nearly 7 years now and although it’s still there, I think I have it under control! I first developed it on one foot and the doctor prescribed antibiotics, the following week I went traveling in Asia and it got much worse to both feet and hands, another doctor prescribed steroids. This went on and I tried many different tablets and steroid creams, nothing worked. But a chiropodist recommended to me to stop eating cheese & then it dawned on me that I lived on cheese sandwiches while traveling, along with pizza & pasta! I gave up cheese & it improved greatly. I gave up all dairy and it cleared almost completely. I now only have it on one foot and it only gets really aggravated if I eat cheese. Also I can recommend Scholl foot powder for athletes foot to treat pompholyx, although it’s not for this condition, it immediately soothes the itching. Heat does worsen the condition so try keeping feet/hand cool. If I keep my foot out from under covers at night, it is much better. Hope this helps some of you

I had pompholyx in my left fingers which has not been truly diagnosed in the past. I had similar episodes in both hands and feet but not really truly diagnosed and being treated and so was self-limiting over a few days. It was probably aggravated by physical, mental stress, soap, detergent, shampoo, spray, some drugs, spirits etc. etc. and during seasonal change particularly in the start of winter. This time it has been rightly diagnosed as pompholyx and I've been given a local and short course of steroid therapy. Also avoiding causative or aggravating factors has given me a very satisfactory result.