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General health

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Original poster

Anyone out there who suffers from POMPHOLYX? (blistery eczema of the hands and sometimes the feet)

74 replies

JamesAndTheGiantBanana · 02/09/2008 13:13

I'm suffering terribly with it right now, my hands for once aren't too bad but the soles of my feet and the toes are absolutely covered in painful weeping blisters, making it hard to walk. Doc has prescribed some cream but it's doing nothing to help.

Anyone else on MN who suffers from pompholyx? It'd be nice to know I'm not alone!

OP posts:

Bramshott · 03/09/2008 10:21

Oh is that what it's called!! I've had it badly this summer for some reason - worst on my right hand which is the one which is wet the most often. I have been using antiseptic cream and really trying to use my other hand, as well as wearing cotton gloves when it's really bad. The trouble is that as soon as it gets a bit better, I go back to wringing out the dishcloth again and it gets bad again. Drying very carefully between your fingers every time you wash your hands is also good.

IAteDavinaForDinner · 03/09/2008 10:22

I have this on my feet and it's so itchy that it sometimes wakes me at night ... have been on the verge of tears with it before now and betnovate makes sod all difference.

The blisters are so itchy, I find myself moonwalking around on the carpet to relieve it but of course that makes everything worse (and makes DP ).

Witch hazel on the unbroken bits sometimes helps. Sudocrem is great for the broken, peeling areas but if I use it too much it gets even drier.

Original poster

JamesAndTheGiantBanana · 03/09/2008 10:30

Wow, didn't know so many people were suffering, I'd never heard of it before!

OP posts:

booge · 03/09/2008 10:30

I get this on my feet too but betnovate seems to sort it out. The first time I had it I thought it was fungal and suffered for weeks using anti-fungal creams.

cremolafoam · 03/09/2008 11:48

hugearsss
the itching you decribe makes me think it may not be POMPHOLYX but lke me you may be suffering from PRURIGO NODULARIS
description here link{http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40024514\nodular prurigo}
it is different from the blistery thing on hands and feet.
I sympathise as i have both.

cremolafoam · 03/09/2008 11:48

sorry here

hughjarssss · 03/09/2008 14:42

I does sound like it could be cremolafoam.

Why doesn't my doctor diagnose this? He just calls it excema

rebelmum1 · 03/09/2008 14:57

dairy makes mine worse, I also have a chinese doc so rarely get it these days Chinese Medicine from a reputable practitioner is an option.

vonsudenfed · 03/09/2008 15:08

I've had this on and off for years too - mine gets worse when I get stressed.

The things that helped me most were:

combined steroid and anti-fungal cream (although it's not fungal, the broken blisters can get infected and then it's even harder to shift.

only eating organic dairy - but that's what worked for me, I have another friend who gave up caffeine and it cleared, so it may be a wholly different allergy for each person.

and - most of all - going to a homeopath. It's the kind of chronic condition that they do really really well at clearing up. [Dons tin hat and waits for barrage...]

redclover79 · 03/09/2008 15:56

I have this! I've been using a cream with manuka honey (Relief cream) which helps the skin heal up really well but doesn't get rid of the itching which drives me nuts! I

charleymouse · 03/09/2008 16:15

Thank goodness someone has told me what I have. Thank you. It started on one toe and seems to have spread inbetween all the toes of my right foot. The blisters itch like mad and then pop (I am a scratcher though I am also a squeezer). The skin then goes sort of peely (sp) and just comes off. The pharmacist had no idea what it was and suggested the GP. I felt it was a bit trivial but as it has continued for weeks now am getting fed up with it, think will get to GP to get some treatment.

Once again thak you.

Flamesparrow · 03/09/2008 16:26

Dr just tells me it is eczema and gives me the normal cream, but it is pompywhatever judging by description and pics.

It is on 4 fingers on one hand, one on the other. My (once lovely) nails are wrecked

I am best when I rub in lots of eczema cream (whatever they have decided to prescribe at the time), and wear cotton gloves to bed.

I had a thread yesterday about chopping my hands off!!!

rebelmum1 · 03/09/2008 16:45

calendula helps with the itching

redclover79 · 03/09/2008 17:36

rebelmum - I had some calendula cream for ds1 somewhere, will try that too!

misspudding · 04/09/2008 13:23

I have had this for a few years on my hands and feet, but now just on my feet. It's so painful I can't wear the shoes I want at the moment. The doctor gave me a steroidal cream which is ok, but it does flare up when the weather is warm. I bought potassium permanganate tabs over the counter. The pharmacist did ask if I had been prescribed it before;it is quite expensive (£14-15, a year ago), so I would advise to get a prescription.

redclover79 · 05/09/2008 10:20

Someone recommended taking flax oil as well, although I've not tried it yet

rebelmum1 · 05/09/2008 12:03

I take flax oil, very good all rounder, exercise helps too, gets things moving.

kiwibella · 05/09/2008 14:21

I get similar symptoms but believed it was related to housework - cleaning products - and didn't know there was a name!!! I use elocon which I got on prescription. I have to put it on at night though because it is quite greasy but it works a treat.

Flier · 16/09/2008 21:46

I've just been diagnosed with this, and have been prescribed an antibiotic, steroid cream and deprobase.

Does anyone know if i should put the deprobase on before the steroid cream or after? don't want to put it on thw rong way round and not getthe nest effectiveness for the steroid.

toomanyballs · 16/09/2008 22:31

Thankyou for diagnosing my DHs manky feet!!

Does anyone know if it effects the nails as his are thick and yellow, they have been tested and its not fungal.

[yukk]

Flier · 17/09/2008 07:41

if yiou look at the links you'll sdee it does affect nails. sorry typing with glovexs on

AwkwardAnnie · 20/03/2013 10:04

Just had a really bad outbreak and diagnosed myself with this after googling blistering eczema. I've had it for years but never as bad as this. We ran out of ecover washing up liquid this weekend, I haven't washed up but have touched the dishcloth which started the flare up. I've put loads of moisturiser on for 2 night, and hydrocortisone on last night, then wore cotton gloves, but my hands wears sweating in the night and they're much worse now. Horrible yellow blisters and more smaller blisters are coming up. I can't use my left hand at all. My right hand just has them on my forefinger and a bit on my little finger.

Taken painkillers and going to the walk-in centre soon with a list of the various names it goes by, and information about the potassium permangate tablets.

Jojobump1986 · 20/03/2013 10:16

Oh, is that what it's called?! Ever since I was little I've been telling people I had eczema, but not the normal dry eczema! I always knew it must have a proper name! I usually get it between my fingers so can't wear rings all the time but a few years ago I had it on my fingertips. It had just got to the burst/dried up/crinkly stage when I was trying to go from Canada to the US. The bloke at the border had trouble getting my fingerprints & looked at me like I was mad when I said it was because of eczema! He clearly thought I'd tried to file my prints off or something!

AwkwardAnnie · 20/03/2013 21:04

Yep, apparently we're relatively rare, only 1:5000. It goes by a lot of names, I took the list for my GP (they're fab and saw me sooner than the walk-in centre) but as soon as he saw it he called it pustular eczema and was very sympathetic. I've got some super strength steroid cream to use for a week, then a milder one to use the following week. I need to wean myself off it or it will flare up again.

BeattieBow · 20/03/2013 21:10

I have got something like this on my feet since I had dd last May. it seems to have gone now, and was definitely worse in the summer.

it can be really really painful and annoying when the blisters itch. i'm not very good at letting them go on their own and feel compelled to pop them.

i haven't tried anything on them yet, but will this summer if it happens again.

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