Help please! TRIGGER WARNING-PHOTO ATTACHED

[eczemahelp]

out of nowhere my skin turned to shit. I’ve never had skin problems before, but basically as soon as I became an adult it got awful. Severe eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis. I go to dermatology at the hospital for it and have been using steroids which is helping a lot.

my hands are particularly bad. I’ll post a photo of them below mid-flare in case anyone has had similar. I always wear gloves so they’re not exposed to cold or dryness, I moisturise with heavy duty moisturiser and emollient, I never use any soaps or products on my skin- but my hands ares still horrendous and I genuinely don’t know what to do! Just posting in case anyone had has similar to me and has any advice? I’ve tried e45, dip to see, doublebase, Vaseline, sudocreme, working hands, nivea, petroleum jelly, childs farm, barrier cream for chaffed skin, body shop, lush products- nothing helps it apart from strong steroids, and even they don’t take it away 100%. I’m at a loss with what to do and I’m fed up of my hands being agony! When it flares up I can barely move them* *let alone write, work, bend fingers. My hands are basically out of use!

(please nobody suggest dietary changes, eliminating food groups and all the usuals as if that will magically fix it- I’ve tried it all to no avail)

Ask your g.p or dermatologist for Fludroxycortide tape. It is expensive so they don't always prescribe it. But as its a tape, it protects your hands while also treating. It really helps when my psoriasis or excema flares up. Also ask about light treatment, puva or puvb. It will be at hospital but it really settled my bad flares having it. Good luck, I know how painful hand flares can be.

There are various emulsifiers in the sensitive/eczema creams that I react to so can't use most of the usual magic creams, so perhaps you are having something similar happen?

I've had some success with salt water bathing - I put 1 cup table salt in a warm (not hot) bath, use no other washes, moisturisers or additives, and soak for 15 mins. Not longer as it dries out the skin.

Then for a moisturiser a very plain gentle oil put on sparingly when skin is still damp, eg almond or jojoba or whatever other oil you aren't allergic to.

Stress is a major contributor to my flare ups. So if you're stressed you might find that destressing activities can help a bit - this sounds a bit woo maybe but I'm pretty convinced that daily guided relaxation/meditation helps me, and walking.

My skin was similar to yours, giving up alcohol, caffeine and dairy helped. Also, using the absolute minimum of creams - applying it as lightly as you can manage, not easy as your hands stiffen.
The steroids thin the skin, so it will split more easily. Cotton gloves overnight rather than the plastic ones that one doctor suggested, which gave me the equivalent of trenchfoot on my hands. If you are able to sleep on your back and don't move around much in bed, lay your moisturised hands on a towel.
If you are using a number of different products, try putting different creams on each hand and see which one works best for you - as others have pointed out, where you are in your cycle, stress and other variables can all change the symptoms, we all dry out a bit in the cold weather.
I still get flare-ups from time to time, but it causes less anxiety the mildest Dove soap and non-bio laundry products help and I generally get by with Child's Farm. If you use hand sanitiser, try to find 75% (hospital grade) as it doesn't leave a residue.
Good luck, it will get better.

Oh dear, that does look sore. Have you tried 'Skin food' by Weleda? It's the only thing that sorts my hands out when they get bad. 100% recommend. Also try using natural soap bars instead of hand wash as it often makes it worse.

Sorry I meant Charcoal and Oat cream from Zoe Bee Beauty. The green cream is for scars.

Have you tried Balmonds Skin Salvation? I got mine in Holland and Barrett but you can order online. It’s like magic, google the reviews

Oh, and to avoid bloody hand dryers in loos, carry some sheets of kitchen roll so that you're not at their mercy!

Allergy testing showed that I am also allergic to specific chemicals in most laundry detergents. So, even while I wasn't actively putting anything on my skin, I was still exposing it to irritants.

Do you live in a hard water area? I do, and the difference is stunning when I go somewhere with soft water. We've installed a water softener - not as good as naturally soft water, but much better than hard water.

Phototherapy?

Pure Dead Sea salts? When I was at the Dead Sea I had a reaction to something (probably the hotel bedding) and my skin healed faster than ever before or since. I barely used the steroid cream.

Rubber washing up gloves? I always use them, but before I discovered my triggers I found that some makes caused my hands to flare, but others were fine. I don't think that I was allergic to the gloves, but that some things cause problems when your skin is always irritated.

I react to salicylates in products if I use them on my face or hands. They are in lots of things like shampoo, shower gel, moisturisers, sun cream. Could be worth avoiding them for a bit. I hope you find something that helps.

Hi OP.

I had Eczema/dermatitis just like that on my hands like that for 3 years - really severe. I had the lot, went to see all sorts of doctors and it made no difference at all. Creams of all types just made it worse. The steroid cream and pills thinned my skin eventually. It was a very hard living with it. I had to wear gloves at work. Diet changes made no difference.
An old friend (who was a doctor) noticed it and said, half seriously, that I should go abroad and spend a week in the sun and go in the sea as much as possible (never a pool - no chlorine).

I was so desperate that's what I did, and it healed after a week and it never came back. Salt water and sun. I used to be a member of a group and other people found it helped them. I hope you are in a position to do some swimming in the sea somewhere (or just wallow in it) - Then get out of the water with the salt drying on your skin then let the sunlight at it for a bit. Sunlight and salt water and fresh air can be magical.

Mix your steroid cream with Vaseline and apply a decent layer underneath cheap plastic gloves, then cotton gloves over the top to keep them on/prevent rustling. Do this overnight for one or two nights. The plastic makes your hands sweat a little but occluding the cream massively helps your skin absorb it. It makes a big difference to kickstart the healing process when my hands flare like yours. Wear cotton gloves with any cream whenever you can during the day too.

I would also go back to the GP and ask for Protopic instead of steroids. It works differently and can be very effective.

Fellow sufferer here. Emollient (cetreben) on so frequently it never gets a chance to dry out and cutting out citrus and dairy (and being REALLY strict about it, not even using soaps, gels etc with either in) really made a difference.

Good luck, that looks really sore, you have my sympathies

Have you tried Aloe Vera - buy a plant from the garden stores. Break and apply the liquid from the leaves (store unused leaf in the fridge) works wonders.

You can buy ready made creams etc from holland and barret - soaps shampoo suncream - it really does work.

Sadly the MLM have ruined Aloe Vera!

@eczemahelp That looks so so sore.
My friend had terrible eczema on her hands- She actually wept once as it was so sore and itchy.
I went to an all night pharmacy for steroid cream.
Friends was /is stress related.
I get it mildly- occasionally. itchy as heck.
I hope yours gets better eventually.

Is this a fungal infection? Have you been tested to see if you have athletes foot or similar in your hands? Fungal infections can trigger eczema like reactions that blisters and bursts. I know. I’ve had it 😬 and my foot and on my hands and they looked just like your hands.

I went to the GP and was prescribed terbinafine cream but you can purchase this over the counter. it’s worth asking your dr to consider this. It will clear up in a week -10 days if it’s fungal.

steroids did help a bit by suppressing the itching so having some relief from steroid cream would fit with this possibility.

Yes you can be allergic to fungus which is why it won’t look like traditional fungal infections and only appear to get worse and spread.

Many fungal infections will glow under UV light so thats worth trying.

@Dilbertian @eczemahelp
Re allergic to laundry soap and fabric conditioner
Definitely affects a family member- The perfume in fabric conditioner.
The “baby” stuff seems to be ok.
The strong perfumes of some seem to be a trigger.

Try this: Lasinoh lanolin cream.
works wonders on cracked and bleeding skin. My son has terrible skin and this clears it up where emollients etc have all failed.
it’s very thick, just like a barrier cream, but soaks in within about 5-10m and is natural; we haven’t found it to cause any aggravation

www.boots.com/lansinoh-hpa-lanolin-nipple-cream-1-x-40ml-10153449

I have had eczema all my life (I'm 42 now). I've never managed to shift it completely. I am gluten intoleran,t accidental ingestion of gluten causes flare ups, but thats not the only thing.

I have had allergy testing and despite being tested with over 400 substances I am only allergic to nickel and PPD which is a chemical in dyes.

When my hands look like yours they are normally infected and unless I have a course (or several) of antibiotics nothing else I do will help. Once any infection is under control them most recently I have found elcon ointment (mometasone furoate) and hydromol ointment to be the best at keeping it stable. The Elcon is only available on prescription, but the hydromol can be bought from chemists or places like Superdrug. I have tried pro-topic before which a previous poster mentioned, but I didn't get on with that.

If you are very itchy then you could try taking anti-histamines to try and break the scratching cycle, but tbh looking at your photo you really need to be seen by a GP IMO.

My brother had eczema like that as a child, his knuckles, elbows & backs of his knees would split open. My mum was told to use emollient in his baths & then apply steroid creams & wet bandage all the areas, sometime he looked like a mummy with all the bandages. It was always worst in winter, during the summer when he could wear shorts & Tshirts it never flared up. He had his tonsils & adenoids out when he was 12 & within a year his asthma & eczema cleared up & never came back. Have you tried antihistamines to see if it is an allergy? Otherwise only wash clothes in non bio detergent & avoid all chemicals like cleaning products, use washing up gloves & ask to be referred to dermatology as you may need specialist creams to heal your skin

Did it start after a house move?

My DF always had severe eczema, and lived in the same house, child and adult, till he retired (farmer). They moved to a different house, 1/4 mile away as the crow flies, and his eczema cleared up completely.

Op this message is for you - Lanolin is in a lot of industrially produced creams - it is from slaughtered sheep - their sebaceous glands :( It contains pesticide residues. Please be careful about putting anything like that on it (although I'm sure you've probably already tried it) I have to agree with a PP who suggested buying an aloe vera plant - the gel is in the squishy leaves. Very soothing. Good luck OP

@eczemahelp When my eczema got like that I was put on antibiotics because the doctor said it was infected.

After a few days of taking the antibiotics it started to clear up.

You might need antibiotics to clear up the infection. Go back to the doctor or a gp and ask them.

B12 supplements. I get cracks that won’t go in the sides of my mouth nd tried everything. Then b12 supplement they went in days. Get them sometimes and it always help