Hand eczema/pompholyx . Help! Trying to wean off steroid but keep reflaring!

[Girlwithproblems1]

Hi was wondering if anyone can give any advice . I’ve had this on my ring finger for a while and didn’t think anything of it . Suddenly just blew up and within 2/3 weeks my full finger was covered, the old patch inside my wrist came back red and big and I was getting an itchy sensation on my scalp and my body when it got bad !

I waited 3/4 weeks then Dr prescribed eumovate and said it was pompholyx eczema I used this for 14 days which didn’t clear it but it came down a lot. I was advised to take a break. So I did for about 2 weeks then I used it again for 4 weeks. Again it didn’t clear it but bought it down abit .

Dr then advised another 2 week break and re use a stronger steroid (but my pharmacy didn’t have it in stock). So instead I used eumovate again for 14 days . Again same thing, cleared up a lot but not fully and patches of the rash had
spread to other fingers and on my hand more even through the steroid use.

the steroid calmed it down but every time I went off it slowly got worse.

Since then I have been weaning off, it has been 1 month and I’m currently doing 4 days off and 1 day eumovate steroid once . But I am struggling !!!

The patches of the rash on my hand are getting bigger and the one that’s moved to a new finger is in particular itchy. I have the usual burning sensation, red, itchy and then on the flip side dry if not covered in emollients etc .

I wear no hand Jewellry etc. I am sometimes careful with what I eat now (as I thought maybe tomato triggered it). I think this originated from over washing hands with hand wash and having my hands wet all the time (I have 2 toddlers) and food with spices touching my finger/that area of the rash.

However for months I have not touched food with this hand, wear cotton gloves underneath my disposable for doing the washing up. Make sure cleaning producers aren’t on my hand . I use soap bar now. And I bought double base hand wash to try. I use a couple natural ointments and mainly hydromol ointmemt
especially as I wean off I feel like I need all the help I can get !!

Chucked away some of my furry fluffy jumpers (as not sure what was irritating my hand/ arm when I was worse ) . I wear cotton underneath as a layer now. I know heat and stress makes it worse or if I feel hot . Have a referral to dermatology for patch testing .

Can somone please tell me is my eczema not healing or is it my body just reacting to me taking away steroid ?

Evryone I speak to is advising I stay off the steroid if I can . And that it is my skin reacting to not using it .

tonight is my steroid night . I’ve put it on my patches but I literally want to scratch the hell out of my fingers right now !

My worry is the way it’s going . Am I just weaning off to then just go back on a steroid ?? So confused !!!!!!!!!!! And finding it hard especially between the chores with the kids 😞

Are they sure that's pompholyx? I only ask because it looks very different and in a different place to mine, which is lots and lots of tiny blistery fluid-filled bubbles down the sides of my fingers especially, and also any of the fingerprinty surfaces e.g. finger pads, but not on the backs of fingers/hands, or on wrists.

A lot of the advice is similar for any type of hand eczema, though — something like, emollients, steroids, and identify and avoid triggers, all of which you're already trying… for pompholyx, if the blisters are weeping you can apparently try potassium permanganate soaks, but I've never gone down that route, and your skin looks really dry so I'd guess it would only make it worse.

The other thing is that weirdly you need quite strong steroids to do much on hands, and for pompholyx they usually recommend a potent or ultra-potent topical steroid — Eumovate is only moderately potent, IIRC, so it's not that surprising if it's not properly clearing it.

If it is pompholyx, one of the things that's notorious for causing it is nickel, and that's in all kinds of places. I once had a nasty outbreak that I pinned down to a nickel-plated fidget toy I'd been playing with a lot.

You have my sympathy; hands are so sensitive, and we need to move and use them and expose them to things constantly. It's miserable.

I have this but fingers crossed not for years. Doc kept giving me hydrocortisone cream but in the end once gave me betnovate; cleared up fast after that. You have my sympathies it's bloody awful hope you get it sorted soon.

Here's some close-ups at a couple of different stages of my fingertip dishydrotic eczema/pompholyx (I think they used to only call it pompholyx if your blisters joined up with one another to form mega-blisters, but recently I've heard it all called pompholyx so 🤷🏻). Marked them sensitive because they're kinda gross 🤣

And yes, I sometimes pop the blisters with a clean needle. I know I shouldn't. But the RELIEF 😱

When I had it, a stressful situation I was living in triggered it. I removed two rings I wore. It went and came back regularly for a few years. Eventually it went. But it is very annoying when you have it.

I have had excema on my hands since my seperation went to court for the first date last year. It was something I had as a child, flared up now and again in adult hood but always disappeared with a couple of days of hydrocortisone. This time nothing shifted it. Blisters, burning hot itch etc. Only time it subsided properly was when I got my hearing date. Its definitely stress related for me. I hope you get it sorted, it's just horrible

Pompholyx is usually on the palms and soles of feet. And there are blisters.

images.app.goo.gl/nLSYQjW5Mr6oZwqX7

That's a bad case but you get the drift.

Mine also affects my fingernails.

I didn't find the steroid cream that effective. It didn't cleaner it completely and it just kept coming back as soon as I stopped.

I found a mix of Tropic Tamanu balm mixed with vitamin e oil much more effective at keeping it under control.

But the main thing I found that helped it was allergy testing (for another condition). When I changed up all my products my pompholyx almost cleared up entirely.

I still get the odd mild flare but use the balm/oil mix and it clears up pretty quickly.

I'd recommend a heavy duty moisturiser. The Body Shop does a hemp one which works well for me, but I imagine anything marketed as heavy duty (and ideally perfume free) will have an effect. Applying it religiously for a couple of weeks was the only thing that budged a patch of eczema that lasted 3 years. I didn't even need to use steroid creams, which was good as it gave my skin a break!

If you know what's causing it and can avoid it then you may be lucky and not need to keep using the moisturiser. You can then keep it on hand for future flareups.

Topical steroid withdrawal is very real. Please have a good read about it.

Hey @BlurpBlorp when u used betnovate how long did u use it for then did u just stop or wean off ?
mine didn’t even clear up with the eumovate ! I’m just thinking should I go to next steroid and try again or continue weaning off . I’m so confused about this @

Hey @TipulophobiaIsReal
when I first went it was fairly small blisters . They pop up red . There I get more . When I started using the steroid I think they just dried out or something ? And then I could see the dried bits on my finger .
now I don’t think they’re blisters. They pop up red then either join up as the flare up gets worse .

my gp didn’t want to give me the stronger steroid at first. They also didn’t know what to do as I’m breast feeding my 1 year old and kept asking management . I think that’s why when I said I used it for nearly 4 weeks they were like u need a break.
I think at one point they said they were going to give me that imunosupressant cream I’ve forgotten what it’s called now.

tbh I’m really not keen on immunosuppressant stuff and steroids.

but I’m like should I have given the stronger steroid a chance, by leaving it like this am I making it worse .

dont laugh but I have recently even tried homeopathy! The lady was great, really looked at me holistically . I took a few tablets in dec . A few in jan and recently another set last week . The problem with this is I have no idea if it’s working lol. I’m just praying it’s easing my symptoms abit .

im due another session. But I just don’t know whether I should go for 1 more atleast or put that money elsewhere like a private blood test for allergies or something .

@whatsoccuringnow god I hate the burning hot itch !!! That’s what I find difficult ! I’m glad it’s is better now .

Not laughing here! I’m really struggling form Tropical steroid withdrawal. It’s awful but I will never use steroids again. I don’t believe they are the answer. They work yes, but you can’t use them forever.
Some dermatologists recognise it. Some just want to give more steroids. Good luck with it. I’ve found no moisture therapy the best for my skin.

What are you using to wash your hair?

Mine has cleared up massively since I stopped using mainstream products.

It’s also triggered by stress and by sweat- can you avoid washing up? The hot sweaty hand feeling triggers mine.

DS has found his has responded to being treated as athlete’s foot.

I think it’s a bit multifaceted, you do everything to quash it, then slowly let things trickle back in.

Eumovate always helped mine, when it last flared I had to barely wash my hands, and basically ignore them, no hand cream etc.
Since I've had doxycycline off and on for perioral dermatitis I've never had a reoccurrence of any kind I'd exzema, I think for me they were very closely related.

I have sensitive skin and whilst I’ve used steroids and creams prescribed over the years, they have only helped in the short term. I also can go through periods having no issues at all. I think mine is related to being unwell. I am just recovering from covid.
Today I have a very mild flare up. I use Bees Wax from a company called Balmonds. It works for me better than the hydrocortisone steroid creams, it really takes away the itching and the angry redness.

No advice but I've got exactly the same on my hand.
I think mine is stress related and no sign of that easing soon unfortunately. I haven't found any steroid actually works so don't bother with them. Unfortunately it's just Management of it. It's hard work and exhausting though.

@WhatNoUsername hey thanks for reply.

did u get allergy testing done somewhere private ? Or by the nhs?

I have been referred for patch testing.

I asked for allergy as through this I have noticed itching around my lips and nose etc . They said they wouldn’t refer me .

im now thinking should I pay a few hundred to get a private one done where they check ur bloods for allergies against lots of different foods. Not just the normal allergens

@songaboutjam ingave heard of this cream ! Is it strong smelling ?
cream wise I’ve just used Hannah stiltoe natural creams (which my hand doesn’t like during hot itchy flare) or hydromol . Oh and aveeno dernexa as a body lotion

I had absolutely raging pompholyx for quite some years. Steroids were no help and I ended up with topical steroid withdrawal symptoms. I had the emollient for my hands etc. Load of rubbish. I kept my hands as cold as I could stand ie no gloves in winter. Moisturised with normal hand cream. It only cleared when I started using a Vit C face serum and I noticed my hands were clearing up as well, as I figured rubbing the excess in wouldn't hurt to try. I haven't had a big flare on my hands since our dog died, so that may have exacerbated it. My feet are ok at the moment too. I wish I had a pic to show - my hands split down all of the lines on my palms 😖

@Pearl97 hi what’s no moisture therapy ?

do u think I will come out of this if I just keep going ? Argh this is what I’m stuck with. Gp had nothing to say to me . They’re like give it a break and re use it when needed 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️.

I wana know that if I keep going I will eventually see results !! If I keep going and it gets worse cuz I didn’t use a strong enough steroid it’s like 🥴🥴

im already thinking about the summer and what il do in the heat .

@pickledandpuzzled
i was using treseme biotin then swapped to body shop ginger shampoo in December because of the itchiness I randomly got on my scalp .

since mid November I have been using cotton gloves then disposable for the washing up. And bless my partner he’s done half my washing up . I’ve reduced using my hands loads round the house .

yes sweat and heat makes mine worse too ! So I naturally have extrmelt
sweaty hands !!! Ever since I was little . So I have had some homeopathy treatment done recently and I don’t know if it’s working -
however I have noticed my hands are sweating less !

@Purpleavocado hey what’s doxycycline and perioral dermatitis ? Hm yeah dr hasn’t suggested anything else with me atm so abit stuck . I haven’t been back since I started weaning off as I wanted to see if I can control it myself .

@MightyGoldBear is urs just as big or even bigger ? Thanks for ur kind words . It is exhausting . Having to stay on top of it , trying not to cause friction on it from ur 4 year old and 1 year old . God 😫

@BobbinThreadbare123 sorry to hear it was so bad . Yeah I just can’t find that thing for me . The amount of stuff I’ve bought it’s unreal and expensive :(

Same size your pictures are like looking at my hand! Slightly different placement but same size.

Yes yes yes!!! I feel your pain I have 3 children youngest 1 and wants to hold my hand all the time or bath time and clean up after food time it's so difficult and just painful. I want to cry sometimes. My babies nails on my skin are like razor blades 😬

Not that anywhere on the body is fun I had it on my arms and armpits previously very itchy. But the hands are so bloody difficult to deal with.
It's definitely stress for me. I'm going through a lot of trauma and stress that I can't really solve so it's just Management.