DD diagnosed with pompholyx eczema

[Pimmpom]

Does anybody know if this type of eczema attacks other parts of the body other than hands and feet. Poor dd (16) has been suffering for a couple of weeks. It started off on her foot, then her hands but it spreading up her arms and her knees. She is frightened to look in the morning to see where else the blisters are appearing

Just wondered if it was common to appear on other parts of the body?

have a look at this site,

www.talkeczema.com/webdocs/yourlives/pompholyx_eczema.php

hopefully it may be of use. I have never had a client with this before so my knowledge is limited but my understanding is that it may be unusual for it to be on other parts of the body unless she has a major sweat gland problem or excessively sweats all over (???)

some other medical conditions may facilitate this sort of thing, people with thyroid problems have trouble controlling their temperatuyre so do sweat profusely sometimes, also puberty and menopause can cause hormone imbablances that can lead to excessive sweating, has she any other problems you can identify?

I have this, fortunately only on my hands and occasionally on my feet. It's horrible, I first got it after I had ds1 but only got it dx last year as my GP had the same condition. There was another thread on it a few months ago, a lot of MNers seem to ahve it.
I've found things that set it off are constantly washing my hands/washing up (it's really bad at the mo as dd is 7 months old so I spend a lot of time washing bottles etc!), and handling acidy things ie when peeling veg, chopping fruit. I wear rubber gloves for washing up now and have been using a cream called relief from the health shop which is mainly manuka honey and has worked well to heal up the raw bits. I've not found anything to stop the itching though!
Someone also recommended taking flax oil as a supplement (you can get capsules).
Hope your dd feels better soon.

Thanks. She is not a sweaty person at all. She's just got in from school and is showing more to me Spreading up her arms and some on chest. The itching is driving her mad. Went to gp yesterday and she seemed pretty sure it was pompholyx - just thought it was unusual that it is appearing elsewhere. Not sure whether to ring gp again.

I would, as from a bit of research today, it is something that is particular to hands, feet and folds of skin. redclover has a point but I would go for fish oil if you can as it is the omega3 content you are after and flax is an indirect source (it provides ALA, alpha lineolic acid which needs to be converted to omega 3 by enzymes in your gut, many people lack this enzyme and only around 1-25% of ALA is converted if you do have it so not an overall good sourse when needed in theraputic doses that would be useful in skin problems)
who diagnosed it? was it a dermo or the GP?
I would go back and ask for a referral if it was the GP or ask for a 2nd opinion if it was a dermo.
something doesn't fit in with the diagnosis here from my research today, get back and tell your doc you want it sorted!!

I had it too when DS was 10 months again caused by hands always being wet but also appeared on feet and knees -chest and arms sounds unusual-potassium permanganate v dilute in cold water was the only thing that relieved itching-I agree though if it is spreading they may have got the diagnosis wrong ask yr GP for a dernm referral-is going private to get a quick appt an option?

Thanks everyone. Went back to GP this morning. She called in another one and he thinks it might be an allergic reaction to a bite. Has prescribed dermovate and loratadine for itching. Sent off for blood tests and wants to see her tomorrow morning.

When we went on Monday, we were referred to dermo but that is 30th December. The GP today was hoping it would be subsiding by tomorrow. I will be surprised and delighted if it is. She has just hobbled back with me from the blood test and is sitting with ice packs on her feet - it is agony!

Has spread even more since i posted yesterday. Now all up her arms and knees.

Hope we get somewhere tomorrow. Thanks again.

yes, I hope you do, quite a difference between pompholyx eczema and a bite of some kind

mmmm exactly. The two different GP's I saw on Monday and today both specialise in dermatology. The one on monday said it wasn't an allergy and the one today thought it was. Can't really understand why the GP thinks it will be looking better by tomorrow. She had been using betnovate and piriton since Monday and this hadn't made one iota of difference.

maybe its more hope on the GP's part rather than fact based

if its an allergy to a bite sting, I dount betnovate would make much difference anyway, different types of inflammation. and piriton is an anti histamine which may work if its a bite but this would be classed as a systemic reaction and piriton would be hard pressed to deal with that!

if you're up and about tonight, it may be of use to get a notebook out and write down anything that comes to mind.
for instance, when this started, what she was doing in the 24 hrs before it started, what she ate, any change in washing powders, soaps, shower gels etc that happened within 24-48 hrs before it flared up, anything like that, nothing is too small. when you have written everything down you can remember, sometimes, something jumps out at you. even if nothing does, it may be worth its weight if you take this along to the GP with you as if they are interested, they may spot something?????

Was sent to the hospital yesterday for an emergency appt with dermatology. Has been diagnosed with Erythema multiforme. It is an allergic reaction to a cold sore she had at half term. Bearing in mind, I did mention she had had a cold sore to 2 GP's at the surgery .

Anyway, am just so relieved she is getting the right treatment. Has to take a course of steroids. Certainly no worse this morning so hopefully it will start to improve now.

Thanks for the advice and my sympathies for anyone who has pompholyx because if it is anything like this, it is bloody painful!