Hand infected (Warning, gross photos)

[PIPpityDoodah]

I do have another thread on this but I've been on antibiotics since Thursday and it's just getting worse.

It's still hot and new puss filled blisters are appearing.

Shouldn't the antibiotics have kicked in by now?

It's so sore and embarrassing

I could be wrong but I think Levo has to be initiated by a specialist. If they try to put you off a referral then definitely get them to explain their reasoning to you.

It's spreading where all the little spots already are. The pompholyx like spots are all around it and each day those are still turning into pustules so I can only assume it's going to carry on into those areas too :(

The point of something like MySkinDoctor is that it would be a dermatologist looking at it, rather than a GP who may not have expertise in dermatology. The Boots and Superdrug consults are supposed to be by 'skin experts' but not necessarily dermatologists.

As I said before, the antibiotics won't stop the spreading of the blisters, that's what the steroid cream is for. Pompholyx does spread unfortunately. Mine will start as a small cluster on my finger or palm and end up all over my hand.

Has ANYTHING changed recently? A new toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner? Washing powder? What skincare do you use? Getting something like tretinoin, retinols, glycolic acid etc on your hands can set it off. If you're applying products like that you for example you need to either wash off immediately after applying to your face or use gloves to apply.

Sorry to say op when I get the Dyshidrotic eczema it’s they keep coming out for days, even when the first lot has healed I’ll be getting more on different parts of my hands, I’ll be thinking oh it’s finished then get another crop elsewhere.
I’d wait for the swab results.

It won’t be as bad though, and it will settle now you know what to do.

It isn’t going to spread into another raw weepy mess, but the little bumps and blisters then dry and scaly.

Excuse the ugly foot! This bit on my foot has been unchanged all summer. It’s like a warning, but it doesn’t mature into the full fledged drama. Just a little huff of annoyance rather than the full meltdown.

As long as you don’t itch them. If you do, all bets are off.

It's already spread to a raw weepy mess. This is all new from 2 days ago and is yellow pustules

And this is the part that had dried out yesterday and I thought was 'fixed'

New yellow spots come up

It's more pompholyx coming up, not a spread of infection.

It is going to take a good blasting with your steroid cream to get the message to settle down.

I don't have any further advice but I just wanted to pop on to say that I really feel for you OP this looks absolutely miserable, I hope that you get it sorted soon.

Is it supposed to be hot to the touch?

All the bits that have dried out are now normal but all the new bits are hot

And is the fluid contagious? Like if they pop and go on your skin in a different area will the rash appear there?

I'm fairly sure that being hot to touch is a sign of infection

I've seen patients sent to A&E for it

Agree with the above poster hot feeling is often infection, how do you feel? ( apart from your poor hand)

I have pompholyx, but nothing like as bad as yours OP. In fact mine is much better than it was 20 years ago. At the first sign of blisters I scratch them hard so the blisters are open and rub Dermovate on immediately. It just works somehow.

I really, really feel for you OP.

Absolutely 100% fine.
My hand is sore. The bits with yellow are noticeably alot warmer than the rest of mu skin but I am absolutely normal in myself.

It's not the rash that's infectious, it's that some of the blisters that have been burst have become infected via the broken skin, so puss-filled blisters form. Which is why it's really important NOT to pop the blisters yourself like people keep saying.

If it is pompholoyx, then it's not the infection that's causing the spread of the blisters. The infection is secondary to the blisters getting broken.

@PIPpityDoodah that's good that you feel ok in yourself. Have you ever had a reaction (?) like this before? How long till you get the lab results? X

The pomphilyx blisters don’t spread pomphilyx.

It’s an inflammatory thing which is why it feels warm. The skin is desperately trying to protect itself. Keep up the creams. Don’t itch. It will move around but settle. The blisters aren’t a raw weepy mess, they are just little blisters which can join up and get really deep.
New patches of blisters form, and resolve. They dry out and either go brown or just peel off. Perhaps depending how deep they are. It can be really superficial or really deep. It dries and the layers of skin gradually grow out.

Don’t worry about the new bits because they are just pompholyx . They will resolve if you keep up the cream.

I’m perhaps a bit blasé because this has been our normal for years. Not the first image, but the later ones.

I get really nasty allergic skin reactions. Swelling and tiny blisters over my arms and chest. Despite endless testing there has never been an explanation found. It spreads to my neck and face as well. They only thing that gets it under control is prednisone. It gets really hot too, but it’s not infected. You have my sympathy OP - these things are miserable.

I had a patch of psoriasis on my leg that lasted 2 years in 2020

I've just noticed there's one popped blistery spot on the knuckle of my OTHER HAND 😭

I just don't know what to suggest , maybe you are getting a bit run down, I get pompfiwhateveritscalled when I'm run down but nothing like yours. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will come along with a suggestion and the drs gets results back so they can pinpoint where to start with (maybe a different approach) treatment. Lots of antibiotics are not good for gut health which again can make you run down
Hope you get some relief or a solution soon x

Did the GP say what they thought it were, pompolyx is fairly common so if it is that they would probably know, though it does also look similar to the psoriasis mentioned upthread. If it's pompolyx it does go to your other hand and can just pop up with little bits of it. I used to get like an attack of it, also on my feet a couple of times when it would just keep coming up. It generally lasted a few weeks and gradually dried up and peeled, once though it got infected on my hands and I had to be signed off work. Obviously you need to know for certain what it is as treatment may be different.

My phone died last night and I plugged it on the charge and forgot my new one doesn't automatically switch itself on.

So my alarm for booking in with GP didn't go off 😐

The back of my hand looks quite 'normal' now bit underside isn't.

Should I stop using the steroid cream on the back now? I don't want to damage the skin, but carry on with it on my palm?

I would continue with the cream as it’s certainly helping until you’ve seen GP with update on the sample taken. It’s looking a lot better, like others, never seen anything like this myself.

I’d use less. Maybe dilute it with a moisturiser as it looks dry.