I confess I haven’t told you that a year ago, while weeding the garden without gloves, I pulled the worst weed out. It was covered in thousands of microscopic needle-like thorns, and many of them were impaled in the inner sides of my thumb and, worst of all, in the fleshy web area between my thumb and index finger. I have been pulling them out all this time. My doctor says that the area will not heal if there is foreign matter in there. I’ve been slathering Neosporin on it constantly. It is not infected.
Adding to this misery, I think I have developed eczema in the same area, and it seems to be spreading to the top of my hand. It itches like CRAZY, is red, dry, scaly, weepy, and gets worse if I scratch, which is really hard NOT to do. The only thing that helps a little is to cover it with Aquaphor ointment, which has the consistency of Vaseline. It’s a mess. It looks awful.
I’ve been stressed and depressed lately, and I can’t take it anymore! Please if you know anything about severe itchy skin, help me.
Oh, Marie, I hate to hear your hand is bothering you so much! I have a theory on what may be keeping it so itchy. The neosporin, believe it or not! My pharmacist told me she has lots of patients who are allergic to one of the 3 antibiotic ingredients. She said she notices diabetics are more prone to be sensitive to it. I know I am allergic to it, I get a bumpy, itchy rash when I use it that becomes dry and icky looking as it heals. Maybe you could try bacitracin instead, it is all I use anymore. It may not help but you sound so frustrated I wanted to share this with you…
Another product I use for super dry itchy skin is called Flexitol Heel Balm. It is for the feet but can be used anywhere, I use it on my hands because in the winter they crack and bleed from Rauynad’s syndrome. It soaks in better than Aquaphor and I think it works better.
Geez, I’m sorry to hear that Marie, especially with the thorns. That sounds Terrible. My Dr. prescribed Hydrocortisone cream(1% or 1.5%, I forget). Yes, a steroid. It cleared up in about a 1.5 weeks. Mine was caused by a drug.
Hello Marie. Im so sorry about the skin problem. I can perfectly understand. When I was confined to a hospital for a back accident a year ago, I noticed itchy scaling redding lesions at my back. Turned out to be psoriasis, its an auto immune disease. The dermatologist prescribed medications that helped me a lot and controlled the lesions after a month. The medication is also used for patients with Eczema. The soap prescribed was called Polytar bar. Its main and active ingredients are tar and coal. Its also available in liquid, I also used a steroidal anti-inflamatory antipruritic ointment Clobetasol propionate (its by Glaxo SmithKline pharma). It definitely helps with the itching, redness, dryness and inflamation. Hope this will help a bit.
I agree that you should a dermatologist. I’ve had some crazy skin problems (eczema included) the past year and I’ve been on every different type of topical steroid cream/lotion/ointment that’s available. The only way to cure the itchiness and redness is to use a topical steroid to reduce the inflammation. Don’t feel bad seeking medical help, at a certain point the over the counter stuff and moisturizing just wont cut it. My biggest mistake was waiting so long to see a doctor.
The steroids come in different strengths ranging from hydrocortisone (weakest) to clobetasol propionate (strongest). Some of the others mentioned (betamethasone, fluocinolone, desonide) are all just somewhere in between when it comes to strength. The doctor will judge how severe your rxn is and deem which potency of steroid you’ll need. And I know, ointments suck…they’re so impractical especially on the hands. Luckily all these are made in lotion, cream, foam, and spray form. Speaking from experience, I’ve tried all of them haha.
Ask the doctor about the best kind of moisturizer. Probably a cream is what you need. It’s expensive ($12-15 a bottle), but check out CeraVe at your local pharmacy. For people with dry, sensitive skin it’s amazing and comes dr. recommended.
update: it was not eczema, and it was infected. It was cellulitis, or close to it, which is a very serious thing that often requires hospitalization. I had to use a steroid cream (clotrimazole/betamethasone) for 2 weeks, which unfortunately coincided with my trip to San Francisco. It got better, but there is still a place in the very middle where the deepest splinters were that is not healing up. So a few days ago when I was at the doc, he gave me a scrip for Mupirocin, which is a generic for a strong antibiotic cream. If it doesn’t heal soon, he says I should go to a wound care center. We don’t have one of these nearby, and I don’t know anything about them.
Yes, you’re right Marie. Cellulitis is serious and even worse than Eczema, especially for a Diabetic… My Hubby was dxd. with Cellulitis due to his motorcycle accident last year. He had the choice of staying in the Hospital for an extra 6 weeks on antibiotics or to have the line put into his arm with the antibiotic pump attached. He was also on Oxycodone for the pain from his other injuries.
You’ve also had your injury for a long time. I do pray that you will be able to heal from your wound Very soon.
I had to use over the counter Cortaid (hydrocortisone cream) for those severe, itchy skin situations… Nothing, and I mean nothing else worked. Luckily they had a 2 for 1 deal on it, at the pharmacy.
Hey Marie - how is your hand doing? I do hope the cellulitis is gone and that you were able to get rid of the problem. I’m originally from Honolulu and its like stepping on spiny coral. They have to scrub and scrub the area where you step on it to ge rid of all the stuff otherwise it gets infected. NOw that I am diabetic - reading your entries teaches me things that I need to be aware of. Thank you for putting your entry in - even if it is distressing. Hope you are better - especially since you quilt
My Dr. prescribed Hydrocortisone cream(1% or 1.5%, I forget). Yes, a steroid. It cleared up in about a 1.5 weeks. Mine was caused by a drug.