pompholyx

Hi Dave,

I'm a sufferer too, although I do not have such a severe reaction, I've had this condition for almost 2 years now.

I just wanted to add my experience here, it can be of help to you and others.

I control the outbreaks with tea tree oil that I apply directly onto the skin affected, as I said before my pompholix is not as bad as you describe yours, but probably if you apply teatree as soon as the blisters appear you won't suffer the consequences, that is the pain, breaking of the skin, etc. (Please read about the qualities of teatree oil, so it will make sense to you why it helps)

When I do this, the blisters take one to two days to dry out and they do not leave anything else than the peeling of the skin.

I also have homeopathic treatment, that I'm sure it is helping pompholix to stay as a mild form of it or spreading and avoids it from turning to the nasty side.

I hope this is helpful.

Kind regards

Butterfly

thank you to you both for your advise, i wont hesitate to try both suggestions, I'd do anything to ease the pain my daughter gors thru wen havin these attacks.

[quote:246e6c08d5=\"joicana \"]thank you to you both for your advise, i wont hesitate to try both suggestions, I'd do anything to ease the pain my daughter gors thru wen havin these attacks.[/quote:246e6c08d5]

Thanks for you advise both. Pompholyx has returned for the second time for me. I am afraid to use the cortisone cream, it seems to make my skin so thin and sore last time. I am grateful for your suggestion and even have tea tree plant in my garden and will be trying it as soon as I finsih writing this. And Good luck to you both.

I am in the middle of an attack on my hands and feet. I think I had one or two small blisters on the underside of my foot about a year ago which did not bother me, I also had athletes foot whch I cured using tea tree oil. This time after a bout of flu I got into a bath that was too hot for me and later developed what I thought were chilblains on one foot, I could not resist the itching and rubbed my toes raw under my sock. Move on a few days and I have blisters on the palms of my hands, and then a few on the foot - the only relief comes when I put on lavender oil, tea tree oil is too harsh to use more than occasionally. I have bathed my hands in cooled down boiled water with plentyof salt in it, that helps. I have surgical spirit to dab on any burst blisters to help prevent infection, that really stings but then also brings relief. I am cleaning my hands with distilled witch hazel as that is mild and does not drying. I have been constantly moisturising to prevent cracking (have been suffering from a mild eczema on one hand for some time) and I really think it is connected to the athletes foot which is also relieved by the lavender oil (need the stronger tea tree to clear it) I have to keep my feet aired by wearing sandals - when my foot was very sore I used micropore tape and taped my foot to the top of a soft slipper so that my foot would not get dirty but could still get air around it. I have also used calamine cream to help to moisturise and E45. It is a balance between keeping the areas affected dry, moisturised, protected from infection and trying to stop scratching. Stress makes it worse, as soon as certain problems come to mind I find myself scratching. There was a lotion/cream that seemed to clear up my mild eczema last year and I am going to go today to search for it.

Hi dave i have the same problem, just on my feet though, unfortunately mine get that big its unbearable to walk, today i have had to go to the emergency doctors as a couple had got infected, they gave me Trimovate cream and advised me to soak my feet in diluted vinegar 4 times a day. hope you problem clears up.

Dear All, I have suffered with Eczema for over 20 years. In the last 3 years I have made more improvement than the 20 years of being with the doctor....One thing I can recommend for Pompholyx is Apple Cider Vinegar.

I put my name on the line when I say, that as soon as you see Pompholyx developing you need to take some measures:

1. Stop what you are doing, no shoes, socks. Wear flip flops to let the skin breathe.

2. Fill a small bucket with water, just enough to soak the foot up to the ankle, or wherever the Pompholyx ends, then add around 200mls of cider vinegar. leave your feet and/or hands (one after the other, or together depending on if you are comfortable sitting in that position) for 20 - 30 minutes. Depending on when you have caught the Pompholyx, I recommend doing this upto 3 times per day.

Once you notice the the boils starting to flatten then you can reduce this to once a day. I recommend having a full cider vinegar bath or for feet/hands once a week. Especially in the hot seasons.

Your doctor is right about the sweat situation, that also the Adrenal Gland needs to be looked at.....

Thanks Dilesh i will try that

Thanks all.Now I've read your stories I don't deel such a freak.I had my first small break-out about 3 years ago but it was diagnosed as stress excema.I was given steriod cream and to be fair it did clear up from just my hands in a few days and I thought no more about it.I had actually forgotten about it.

Then Oct 2012 it came back treble the size on both hands and feet and with all of the symptoms you have all described.With a new GP I was then immediately told about pompholyx. ( My GP had a skin condition notPom but he was very clued up about skin conditions being a sufferer)

This attack lasted 6 weeks.I had another in February that lasted 4 weeks and now I have started with another.I am trying anything and everything that's out ther and I will try the vinegar and oils route too.So thanks everyone.

Can I ask anyone, if before they started getting break outs were you active/sporty or had a life style change of some kind? Anyone had Chinese Medicine? Hugz to all.

Hi Pauline,

I am just recovering from an attack of Pompholyx and it is definitely aggravated by an active lifestyle, the heat that is being created at your extremities, i.e. hands and feet.

if you do exercise, do it less times a week and when you finish make sure you can go home or somewhere where you can keeo your feet uncovered.

I have found a great help from removing the pompholyx by applying a mixture of neem oil and olive oil. Neem is an anti fungal, I am convinved that Pompholhyx is a fungal infection as it is killed by applying the Neem.

This is in conjunction with cider vinegar baths before.

Neem is worth looking at. Neem Oil and Neem leaves....

I first got Pompholyx on a trip to Bali 20 years ago. It was hot and humid and a family friend was having a flare up on her hand, she said that it was a heat rash that she got occasionally. The small cluster of bumps I had on my finger disappeared after a few days in the sun and I didn't think any more about it. Of course back home I had further episodes where the bumps spread to other fingers and my feet. A bit more concerned, I went to see a GP who diagnosed it as Scabies, which of course was complete nonscence. I put up with the occasional flare ups for a few more years, then asked another GP to refer me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist correctly diagnosed it a Pompholyx Dermatitis, also known as Dyshidrotic Eczema or Vesicular Eczema, then sent me home with a steroid cream, a super mild skin clenser and moisturiser. Relief was only temporary, the condition would always come back. The cause of Pomphlyx is officially not known, but my personal opinion is that Pomphlyx is a viral condition. The way it spreads in clusters, how the condition goes dormant like Herpes Simplex. Those little growning fluid bumps make sense when you think of viral replication occuring in skin cells. What better method of spread and transmission than through hot sweaty skin secretions when you are having a flare up. My triggers for a flare up are: Hot weather, stress, not eating well, too much contact with soaps and detergents. Previous treatmets that have worked for me have been UV (a session in a solarium - which is now shown to cause skin cancer), Topical application of Tea Tree Oil, Soaking hands and feet in hot water (temperatures above 167 degrees Fahrenheit or 75 degrees Celsius are known to be lethal against viruses), and the best one of all, Lugols solution, 1 drop taken orally in water as an Iodine suppliment. Iodine is the best antibiotic, antiviral and antiseptic of all time. Consult your doctor before trying Lugols if your have a thyroid problem.                           

  I realize i'm a little late to the discussion, but I believe my experience could be invaluable to others. 

  From the age of 16 to 20 years I experienced severe Pompholx on my hands.  It would first appear as small circular shaped pus filled sacks  that would be bunched together.  I would literally have hundreds of little sacks in between my fingers and toward the outer part of my palm. From that point the pus sacks would slowly dry out over the course of a week.  The infected areas would eventually crack and peel. The entire process whould last in the neighborhood of three weeks. 

  Going to the dermatologist was of little to no help beacause there is no real cure,  I was also told they weren't sure of the cause. 

  During this time of my life I played competetatve baseball.  I was playing everyday, multiple times a day.  If you've ever watched a baseball game you'll notice the one piece(s) of equipment that are unavoidable are gloves. You wear them in the field and at bat. 

  I slowly discovered that wearing gloves in a temperature that would cause my hands to sweat was the reason I was experiencing Pompholx.  I began to not wear batting gloves, and when I would come off the field I would be sure to wipe down my hand w/ a towel.  I would also make it a point to remove my glove when there were pauses in the action.   

  From that point forward I was expereincing symptoms at a much lower frequency.  To this day I do not wear gloves in warmer temperatures, and try to avoid confining my hands in general.  I am happy to say I have not had a breakout in ten years(Knock on wood).  

  I would also add that stress can be a contributing factor.  The Pompholx breakouts started when I was in High School. Like most kids that age i was self conscious.  The appearance of my hands was a daily stress that I believe compounded the problem. Once I discovered the cause and felt i was on the road to "recovery", the stress dissipated. 

  Hope this helps.