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)

Annique Rescue Cream
Helped my DDs eczema when even steroid creams didn’t. My mil got it and I was pretty skeptical as we had tried plenty of non medical creams but this stuff was amazing. I have told several people about it irl and on here and it worked for them too (when I had feedback)

You probably know but for anyone who doesn't Aqueous cream should be used as a soap and rinsed off not as a moisturiser.

Have you been offered light therapy? If not, I’m fairly certain that will help you.

If it’s a long waiting list, I would go to a IVA/IVB safe subbed - wear black clothing to cover up, something over your face so nothing is exposed apart from your hands, Sunblock as well on your face/neck.

Light therapy is the only thing that worked for my horrendous eczema and I went a sunbed (NOT FOR TANNING!) and it helped. It also helped that I could go on my own time after work. Xxx

It looks so sore, my daughter gets this too. She's tried everything and had allergy testing etc. She's now got it under control by using omega 3 5,000 mg a day she took at first. Now takes 3,000. She also quit steroids. It made it worse for a while, then it started to clear up. I think sometimes the steroids make it worse.

Another recommendation for Aveeno - and also for plain old oats. Mix them up with water in 2 bowls and put your hands in them. It's SO soothing.

i agree don’t use anything except the steroid cream until you have had the allergy tests. My hands were like this and I found that I was allergic to many of the things that even the hospital advised to use, you may even need a stronger steroid for a while, even washing my hands in just water caused a flair because the skin is so fragile. While it looks really sore it’s how it makes you feel too, irritable and stressed, which affects it even more. Ask for a dermatology referral if you haven’t got one already. Also you may need a steroid cream with an antibiotic included, Fucibet I think is what I had at one stage.

The only thing that works for me when my hands get like this is cetraben. Mines due to OCD though rather than anything underlying. GP can prescribe it you.

A colleague had something which looked very similar. She was given a whole host of creams to try, steroids to take, gloves to wear etc but the thing which cleared it up was regular UV treatment at the hospital. She told me it was like a sunbed she popped her hands under, she would put her shades on, plug in a podcast and just sit there. It went on for quite a few weeks but seemed to work. Good luck, hope you get sorted soon.

That looks painful op. I know you've mentioned loads of cream that you tried but I just wanted to ask if you have tried the Moo Goo range? My husband gets flare ups of psoriasis on his scalp and face and the Moo goo shampoo and moisturisers really help to clear that up. I'm in Ireland and they are stocked in most chemists here but they can be ordered online if they are not sold local to you.

I don’t use it all now but it was prescribed to me as a moisturiser by the GP. Hopefully they’re not still doing that!!

That was to @MrsPelligrinoPetrichor 😳

Brulidine Cream

That looks so painful, poor you. On prescription I got a fantastic cream called epimax, you can also use it as a soap substitute. There is a barrier ointment called hydromol which will help stop the cracks getting infected. I would try and put that on overnight to help soothe them. And a good steroid cream. Also a daily antihistamine will help with itching. Hope it gets better.

Thunderbird skin

The only thing I can use on my hands without them doing similar is Dr Organics hand cream, specifically the Argon oil one, pretty much anything else causes it to flare up again. Hope you find some answers

Haven't had time to RTFT, so pardon me if this has been asked before, but do you wear rubber/vinyl gloves? Your hands look like my best friend's after wearing gloves for work. He's not allergic to the latex/rubber/vinyl, but to the powder they put in them. He only has powder free gloves now (and turns marigolds inside out).

bit of a wierd one, but a friend of mine had similer , and used udder cream. yes the stuff vets use for udders.. worked a treat!

Mine is the same. It’s the cold weather, childs farm moisturiser helps (religiously applied). I tried the nurses hand wash, that didn’t help. It’s so expensive to keep trying things.

My son used to get excema flare ups like that, turned out the excema was getting infected. Maybe ask your doctor for some fusidic acid cream to see if that clears it up? And if so be very careful with emollients etc as you can cross contaminate the cream and then reinfect future excema outbreaks

Ps my doctor didn't notice the infected excema and just told me to use emollient, it was a relative who is a health visitor who suggested asking for fusidic acid and it worked

pp have already mentioned I expect sorry not got time to rtwt but washing powder and/or fabric conditioner does it to me. It took me a long time to work it out

My hands and skin aren't as red/ angry looking as yours. But I've found reducing what goes on my skin to be very useful. I wash with dermol or aqueous cream and only apply prescribed ointment when it's bad. Then an all over cream for dry (balneum) twice a week.

Hi a family member had something similar and it turned out to be an autoimmune condition, so her body was rejecting her skin. She ended up having to taking the medication you have when you have a transplant to prevent your body from rejecting it. Works well for them though!

Another thing to consider - I've been allergic to my cotton pjs before. Yes, really. Apparently depending on where cotton is processed etc it can contain allergy causing chemicals and trust me when I say no amount of washing or years in the cupboard will fix the problem. Perhaps you could try silk gloves in case it's the cotton that's causing your problems. I know it sounds extravagant but anything is worth a try.

Do you live in a hard water area? Unexpectedly my eczema got noticeably better once we had a water softener put in. Thought I'd mention it just in case that helps.