10 Years With Dyshidrosis

by Holly
(California)

While on vacation, I awoke one morning with clear fluid-filled bumps/blisters all over the palms of my hands. Ever since then, at age 16, I have been getting them. I could not think of anything that could have suddenly caused them, and I had no idea what they were until recently. The bumps are generally in clusters on the palms of my hands, sides of fingers, upper wrist, in between fingers, toes, and on the sides and soles of my feet. I have never gotten them anywhere else.

They seem to appear when I wake up, usually in the summer or in warm weather or if when I was sleeping I got hot. When I wake up with them, my hands are very hot. After getting one batch, I get even more in the following days. Sometimes, I get a very small amount of single ones that are not in clusters like the rest. Eventually the bumps/blisters open up and a clear fluid oozes out, then they become very itchy and dry up. When they dry up, they are also itchy until the dead skin goes away and new skin forms on top. When they open up, anything with perfumes, fragrances, or alcohol in it stings! Even liquid soaps and body washes. If I forget and use a gel hand sanitizer... Ouch!! I also get some bumps/blisters that open up but don't dry up, and new ones form on top of them. Just today I had one with a yellow pus-like fluid inside. I am assuming that spot got infected somehow. This has never happened before. The things that seem to make the condition worse, are hot weather and lotions and moisturizers. I don't agree with several sites that claim moisturizers help.

I read that water and wetness may make the condition worse. I went swimming several days in a row a couple days ago, but I did not go yesterday, and this morning I have a fresh batch of bumps/blisters. I feel that the water dries out my skin, and my hands tend to feel and look a lot better right after swimming and washing. I have been to the doctor for this condition. I have been told it's from wearing jewelry, when I did not wear jewelry. I also have been told it's from excessive washing of my hands. Another told me it is because my hands get hot and for some reason, are not able to sweat, so these blisters form. I have tried many prescribed creams, but none have worked for me. As far as I am aware, I do not have any allergies. I do not suffer from hay fever, seasonal allergies, or asthma. Metals do not seem to affect my condition, and I do not work with cement. I am, however, female. No one in my immediate family has this condition, but I do not know about further back. This has been my experience dealing with Dyshidrosis over the past 10 years.