What’s Up With Her Hands?
Posted by: Alan in Contact Dermatitis, tags: Hands, What's, WithMy sister’s got some skin problem on her hands.
It’s mainly a rash that covers her fingers – generally around the knuckles – with these sort of water blisters, or something. They apparently get extremely itchy, which she can’t help but scratch – which eventually causes the skin to crack & she bleeds. Sometimes the blistes “weep”.
She works in a diner & finds herself washing her hands a lot, given she’s handling food. She carries out cleaning duties, so I’m guessing she comes into contact with bleach & other things. I’m not sure whether this is relevant, but it’s a chip-shop AND diner, so she’s constantly exposed to acetic acid (vinegar) and steam from the fryer. Her hands have become very dry.
She’s been to the doctor about it, as she finds it quite painful, as the skin can crack even if she hasn’t scratched it. The doctor suggested that she might have worn away the cuticle or something – exposing the more fragile skin to the elements and thus resulting in some form of dermatitis. She was prescribed a sort of emolient, which she’s been using quite religiously before bed every night & wearing gloves as she sleeps.
However, she’s been doing that for a long time now & it doesn’t seem to be clearing up. I think she has “breakouts”, though I’m not sure, as she only tends to complain about it when it’s really bad.
My mother was a nurse, back in her day & she said something like “If it’s wet – dry it out, if it’s dry – moisten it” as she was thinking that maybe the emolient was making things too moist.
Due to exams, she’s only been working one day a week – yet the irritation has stayed, so I’m not sure how strong the link is there.
I just felt like asking this, just out of sheer curiosity. She’s quite happy to go to the doctor about it, if need be, though since the emolient might not be working for her, she doubts there’s anything else they can do for her.
P.S: Pretty sure she’s been using eumovate.













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