Pompholyx eczema

[newnamenellie]

Hi there.

I’ve had eczema and sensitive skin my whole life and have Betnovate ointment on repeat prescription to use when I have flare ups. This normally nips things in the bud, however I’ve got a patch of pompholyx eczema on the palm of my hand under my thumb joint and despite trying the usual treatment, it won’t shift and is actually spreading I think. This is an area where I’ve had it before and the Betnovate has cleared it previously. Does anyone have any advice please?

I used to get this all over my palms… here’s what worked for me (you may have tried all of this already)
1: wash hands thoroughly with unfragranced baby soap in warm (not hot) water. Pat the water off so hands are nicely smooth but not dry. Then add moisturiser-diprobase works well for me. Then leave hands alone, no scratching, picking, rubbing etc. take both of these with you everywhere so you always have the right soap and moisturiser.
2: do not be tempted to use anything medicated that ‘clears’ the skin from yeast infections or other infections. I was convinced it needed ‘treating’ and went down a whole rabbit hole of soaking it in potassium permanganate or using athletes foot stuff.. and all it did was irritate it.
3: if you hand wash anything DO NOT use fairy liquid! It strips all the natural oils out your hands and can bring on a flare up on it own. Only use ‘surcare’ this is amazing.

Also… if it’s feeling dry and cracked.. you must wash in warm water first then pat gently dry before moisturiser. Moisturising directly onto dry skin just irritates it and make it more itchy must soak in warm water first then moisturise. (Again you prob know this but it took me a while to figure it out and it made a huge difference to keeping the skin barrier intact)

Transformative for me was this:
Before bed slather hands with Vaseline or diprobase
put on clear plastic disposable gloves
Tie them on so you can’t pull them off in the night ( I used bandages)

This changed my hands completely after years of terrible eczema

Thank you @SparklingMetre snd @onlyconnect

@SparklingMetre i know what you mean, there’s so much conflicting advice out there and what works for one may not work for another. I have indeed tried most things over the years and have always relied on the steroid cream as a quick fix but it seems this time is different.

@onlyconnect I agree that moisturising is key!

I have the little itchy blisters which dry up and then more seem to appear. The area itself is dry and sore in part, but also red and itchy where the new blisters form. I’m currently taking an antihistamine to help with the itch, washing hands in Epaderm cream and then applying Epaderm ointment and a small amount of Betnovate twice a day.

An antihistamine tablet is the only thing that helped with mine

I have been struggling with my eczema for years my current (most sucessful) technique is a more liquid moisturiser ( mimimal fragrance ) followed by a solid coco butter based ( I’ve got an organic geranium one atm) which ‘ seals’ the moisture in .

I think I have this on my feet and it has moved to the side of my foot! I was trying to work out what it actually is but I think it's similar. Does anyone know the best way to get rid of it, or is it more a case of moisturizing and reducing any irritation?