I have it too. I first had it 17 years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter and in Beauty school. My dermatologist told me to quit or it would never heal. It was awful. My palms were both covered in blisters and peeling. I quit working as a cosmetologist a year later and eventually they healed up and stayed pretty good until three years ago. I got into a car wreck and they have been inflamed ever since. Its a real pain.
But here is a strange discovery: two weeks ago I broke a molar and was taking Ibuprofen three times a day. All my blisters cleared up, but now I have a rash on the back of my hands.
I wish I had some answers for you.
I wear gloves whenever I cook or clean just to keep from making it worse.

ALOE!

It won't cure it but it sure makes it feel better. 'Skin Gel' by aloe life is the best & most pure product I have come across if you can find that one.

As for cures I am on the dyshidrosis yahoo group and the only cures I have heard of were obtained through dietary changes such as gluten free diets and eliminating as many toxins in the environment & diet as possible. Also yoga has helped some as they say it is majorly influences by stress. Also, doctors will be of no help to you unless you get an infection or wish to be treated with steroids; with this stuff you are pretty much on your own...

Best of luck!

And another thing, if you are open to it I have found rubbing urine on my hands multiple times a day when I have it really mild on the hands helps clear it up beautifully.

But the fact that you are experiencing anything like this is definitely a sign from the body that something is up internally, so ignore it at your own peril because it will keep coming back, and it will get worse. Some of the people I have talked to have had it for 40+ years, not sure to what extent, but I have only had it for a couple and it has severely impacted my life. I have been unable to work or even walk much for the past 3 months or so while having it just as bad on my hands... not fun as you can imagine.

One thing that might be good in the long term ( it is definitely not a short term cure, at least in my case) would be Kombucha. There are a number of reasons for this one of them being the fact that Kombucha acts as a sort of chelating agent which assists in the removal of heavy-metal toxins. Also it is a good probiotic & overall long-term tonic. Pretty much completely safe...

Alot of people on the DE Yahoo Group swear by hi-strength H202 (9-27%) but I have not had much luck with the 3% solution and that burns like f***ing hell! ACV is also goo because your skin is naturally acidic so it doesnt allow bad bacteria to grow on your skin. This burns also if you have any open wounds (best not to pick at it AT ALL, though I know how truly hard this is) as will the UT.

SO, yeah, just some other things I thought of that I am trying and that others use. One more thing I have just started taking 5 grams or more of Chlorella per day as this is also supposed to be great for you all around as well as a complete-protein and heavy metal detoxifier.

Peace

Heh...until I found this posting I didn't know the itchy rash I get on my hands had a name other than "eczema" Good to know!

I have not found a cure for this, after suffering for 12+ years with it. It seems to be brought on by many things, from stress, to doing the dishes, to hormone fluctuations around "that time of the month". I have, however, found a few ways to cope with it, and make the symptoms at least BEARABLE.

- use only all-natural bar soap to wash hands and body, preferably cold-processed, and even better, bought from a "company" where you can actually talk to the person who made it. These soaps are typically full of fats, which are soooo good for your skin, and there is little to no chance of there being any SLS in them, which is a trigger for some sufferers. Even if SLS doesn't trigger your outbreaks, it can definitely make it worse with the drying effect it has on your skin. Etsy.com ( http://www.etsy.com
) has literally HUNDREDS of sellers who are making and selling handmade soaps for reasonable prices, and they list their ingredients right on the item pages. Failing that, see if your local store carries "Dr Bronner's Magic Soap", which is just a commercially made and widely-available all natural soap. SLS is damaging to both your skin AND to the environment; check out this MSDS sheet on a bath product additive primarily composed of SLS: http://www.bathbomb.biz/acatalog/MSDS/SLS_Noodles.pdf
They tell you it's a skin irritant, and to try to contain wastewater produced when using it, yet it's in almost every single bath and body product out there. Natural soaps are the way to go.

- Avoid petroleum products when possible. This means reading labels of your shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, lotions, toothpaste, lip balms, and anything else you apply to any part of your body. You'd be amazed at the places manufacturers hide that nasty stuff. I thought my rash was spreading out over my body, but it turned out that the bodywash I was using (and had recently switched to) contained petrolatum, and was causing similar eczematic reactions in places other than my hands. Switching back to a product without petrolatum has since cured that issue and now the outbreaks are once again contained to my hands, which I never thought I'd be glad for until I started breaking out elsewhere as well.

-I recently started using use a salve for my hands called "no more rough patches", made by Pepo Park. There are only 8 ingredients, and all of them are pronounceable, and none of them came from an oil refinery. They are: shea butter, sweet almond oil, cocoa butter, grapeseed oil, beeswax, vitmain E oil, essential oils of lavender and tea tree. This is a WONDERFUL product, and I can't speak highly enough about it after a couple weeks of using it. It's pretty inexpensive, especially considering the relief it's given me, but especially when you compare it to fancy lotions and creams available at tour local drugstore or from your physician. At $10 for a 3.5 oz tin it's a STEAL. It hasn't stopped me from getting the itchy blisters, but then again, nothing EVER has. What it HAS done is eliminated the painful infection and inflammation that always followed the blister breakage, which had been the worst part of this annoying condition. My hands feel softer and smoother, almost like normal again, and the scaly, cracking skin is a thing of the past. Since using this product I have found that the itching and blistering still occur, as they always have, but after the blisters break, they just kind of... heal. It's weird after all these years of applying product after product to no avail, and also quite wonderful. The ingredients are well-known for their healing and moisturizing properties; combined you have an all-in-one moisturizer, anti-microbial, and breathable barrier cream. Anyway, like I said, I can't say enough about this stuff, it's just plain great. You can find their products at their website, http://www.pepopark.com,
and at the low price they sell this stuff for (there's also a smaller tin for $5) you ought to at least give it a shot. Bonus: it works great as a petroleum-free Neosporin alternative on cuts and scrapes as well!

- Another thing to try to avoid is latex. Apparently I have a very mild latex allergy, and wearing rubber gloves to do the dishes by hand always made my hands get WORSE; it took me awhile to figure out it wasn't the heat of the water doing it to me, it was the rubber gloves themselves. An allergy patch test never revealed a latex allergy, yet doing dishes ALWAYS resulted in a new breakout on my hands, usually within an hour of cleaning up. Buy vinyl or nitrile glove if you need to do something which requires immersing your hands for an extended period; since making the switch to wearing vinyl "rubber" gloves, or even nothing at all, the occurrence of new breakouts has dropped dramatically.

Hope some of this helps you, and possibly others; good luck with it!!

I, too, recently discovered that I have dishydrotic dermatitis, or pompholyx.

My hands and feet, in a flare-up, are covered with the beginning postules that break and become scabs. My skin cracks and bleeds and the itch is enough to drive someone crazy - that someone being me.

There's all kinds of advice out there and I've tried pretty much all of it - the "chemical" approach - steroidal creams, cortisone, anti-biotics... the herbal approach - chaparral extraction, evening primrose, Plantolin... all have minor effects on the outbreaks, but nothing that clears. Here's what I know and do...

I've had this all my life. I remember these little "bubbles" on my hands as a child. My father had it. It seems to be something hereditary that loiters, waiting for an opportunity to strike. My first bad flare-up occurred after a session of anti-biotics (the first in over 20 years) taken for bronchial pneumonia. Obviously, my body was under stress and unable to keep this shadow disease at bay any longer. It got loose.

If an outbreak threatens, at the sight of even the smallest little "bubble", I break open capsules of brand name Exact Garlic Oil (1500 mcg), and rub the contents of one on each foot, and one for both hands, put socks on and cotton gloves. This I do before I go to bed. My husband gets hungry because I smell like salami - we giggle. It works.

I've tried real garlic but it's a little harsh on healthy skin, which only makes it worse. The capsules are perfect.

During the day, I use Lac-Hydrin (from the makers of Moisturel), a 12% lactate lotion. It stings where the cracks are for a bit, but when the sting is gone, so is the itch. If a really bad crack develops, I use plain ol' iodine. Again, it stings, but nothing has healed the cracks as fast.

With this compound treatment, I have been wound-free for several months so far, and still counting. Mine WAS as bad as the photos, but all clear now.

And I know they say not to use hot water, but the itch is sometimes all-consuming. Hot water takes the itch away and anything is better than scratching. Use it only as a last resort, tho.

And good luck!

Hello, you may be interested in the testimonial that Allerg’Atopie published on her Facebook page. She has been suffering from severe pompholyx (also called dyshidrotic eczema or dyshidrosis) and reports wonderful results with products from SKINTIFIQUE. This is a new derm company launched by a Harvard Professor and a group of experts from Boston and Paris. The products include a Lotion designed primarily to provide moisturizing and protection against Nickel, Chromium and other metals (dyshidrosis is often a result of allergy to metals), and a Gel cream that provides intense moisturizing and soothing relief to sensitive, allergic or damaged skin. They do not contain any steroids and other drugs known to harm skin over the long run. Hope this can help some readers in this forum

I have something I want to share & hope it works for others. Although I have always been allergy prone and have very sensitive skin.... in February 2013 horrible stress & ailments began. It was a perfect storm ... dental surgery, severe grief/stress .... abrupt life changes, etc.. All I know is within one week of Feb. 7, 2013 so much went wrong no one could believe it. I broke out in hives basically on every square inch of my body... everywhere! And I mean everywhere... & inside my mouth down my throat... tongue, everything. It was life-threatening (my throat closing up rapidly from anything) & diagnosis went everywhere, too... from lichen planus to finally urticarial vasculitis - chronic urticaria with severe angioedema.... Everything in my life changed & pain was excruciating. So, since I could do nothing but resolve my condition... I no doubt tried everything from cold baths, bleach, vinegar, natural remedies, strict diet eliminating all wheat, flours, wine, cheese ... basically almost starving at times... but drinking distilled water .. & praying without ceasing. Over the years, I did get some of the outbreaks to diminish... & I avoided the obvious which would set off a new life-threatening episode .. my face swelling up so severe my eyes were completely swollen shut. The obvious triggers were - raising my blood pressure (any & all stress), talking (it raises blood pressure), parabens, all soaps & shampoos & creme rinses, bug sprays, lawn sprays, sunlight, air pollution, heat, etc... & any industrial fermentation products - which I found out is really in everything now & if you read about the practices of this in our foods - you will definitely be shocked at how much we put our bodies through .... auto-immune actually is a legitimate way the body reacts to horrible bacterial & virus onslaughts. So, along with everything else people may recommend ... yes - please try what would work for you individually & with your doctor... as many things can help with the pain & recovery including a vegetable & seed diet.

So, after several years to 2015 - I really had the angioedema & hives under pretty good control by the Grace of God .. Thank God! However, in 2015 I contracted some kind of virus from a restaurant food I believe... which set everything off again --- but once I was through the worst... my hands began this dreaded dyshidrosis! I looked up everything I could on this.. & again tried everything... My hands were so bad, swollen, useless, painful, ... & huge social disgrace trying to hide them.

I noticed that water or getting them wet at all increased the breakouts. Cotton gloves with plastic gloves over the cotton gloves was the only way I could wash my hair, etc.. During this time I kept reading how staph & strep bacteria were everywhere & always on our skin... some people being better carriers of it to slough it off on everything. I used alcohol &/or bleach wipes to keep the exposure less. I had read where cornstarch was an anti-bug natural remedy to put into the crevices of your house & floor boards ... as there were some ant problems in my house & I could obviously not use ANY bug spray or most cleaning products. Well.. Praise God! the cornstarch worked in keeping my home bug free.

During these past years, I had tried different powders .... medicated or anti-fungal, etc.... to relieve itching & breakouts.... but like Benadryl NOTHING really helped.... I bought a new Johnson's baby powder of "pure constarch" with aloe & vitamin E... & noticing it said it absorbs moisture... I determined that my hands were only better when they were overly dry... So, I put some in a plastic bag *so I wouldn't inhale any powder)- & "washed" my hands in this pure cornstarch. Wow! it really began relieving my hands! I kept this up... & like I would go out of my way to NEVER get my hands wet.. but just leave them totally covered all the time in cornstarch rubbed in constantly. Within about two months, my hands were really pretty good... by three months it was a regular routine & I was actually excited & amazed to have my hands back at all. It has now been over 7 months & no outbreaks! Thank you Jesus!

When I start to feel anything ... especially two fingers often start-up & sometimes my palms get the characteristic bumps... I immerse & rub in the cornstarch! It stops the new eruption / breakout cold!.. I have also found it stops most of my hives on my face, too - if they ever get in contact with whatever might trigger the angioedema /urticaria problem.

My theory on this is strictly an opinion, but I believe my body's immune system is re-acting to real threats of bacteria, virus, mold, etc.. from contact on my skin to my internal intestines. Since I have a very strict diet - I am not exposing myself to huge amounts of industrial fermentation - bacteria, etc.. inside... and as far as outside contact.... I believe when I touch something on my skin or hands which no doubt contains the typical staph / strep bacteria everywhere. the cornstarch somehow surrounds the bacteria & prevents the site from getting further deep into my skin..... whereas washing my hands in water & any soap... kind of opens the skin pores more allowing the bacteria to go deeper into the skin. I also ALWAYS wash my hair, hands etc... in the coldest water I can stand as otherwise the heated up skin/ scalp will have a re-action.

As this remedy has worked for me (& my daughter, too - who has some skin problems) - I have been meaning to post it for others to find - since I gained a lot of insight during all these years from the support groups etc.. for severe skin & auto-immune disorders.

Best to all of you & much love! ... & may God bless all!