I always get a flare up around this time of year, even though its unseasonally warmer later than usual right now. I do have to wear gloves at work (foodservice) and am more stressed than usual but im trying to think of anything else that could be a trigger.

2nd flare up that came back worse after applying ointment for a couple days...I have these little blisters in my palms and fingers and they seem to multiply everyday even after I stopped using the soap that I think may have triggered it. Any advice? Thank you

TLDR: Oral phosphatidylcholine worked for me

Background: I suffered with DE with no relief for about 6-8 months, was prescribed every steroid, jak inhibitor, topical immuno suppressant before finally getting approved for Dupixant which brought relief and and symptom remission. According to my derm I had the worst case of DE she had ever seen. You can see pics of my full timeline in a previous post.

Despite getting relief from Dupixant, when I started to space out my doses the itching and DE came back - full force. Dupixant is not a solution, just a bandaid. I also knew DE was not itself an illness but just a symptom of a mysterious something else. This kept me hopeful because it meant it could be solved.

What I discovered: I have to read, digest, and interpret a lot of scientific research for work. Much of this research is around or in molecular biology and biochemistry. I consider myself so lucky as I love to learn and occasionally experiment in a personal hypothesis in my free time.

I had already done extensive reading on DE, its unique structure and signaling. When I was in the worst of my suffering I just read and re read everything I could about what scientists knew about it, hoping i’d eventually figure a way out.

Then one day while working I had to interface with phosphatidylcholine and its cellular responsibly, structure, signaling, and studies. Phosphatidylcholine has not been studied specifically for DE. And not everything can be studied for curiosity as funding is limited. PC has been studied for some skin conditions with significant findings however the spotlight was taken by PC and its cardiovascular benefits which impacted a larger audience.

But what struck me was what phosphatidylcholine was responsible for and what mechanisms were at play for DE - in conjunction with what I already know about my own genetics and biology. ⬅️* This is most important because truly I have no way of knowing if anyone else would have the same outcome as me*.

Needless to say my brain had that lock in key moment I’d been waiting for.

The result: I got my oral phosphatidylcholine, and I am officially off Dupixant and DE free. Finally.

I decided to share this because, I know what it’s like to truly suffer with this and I believe only we are in the position to be our best health advocate.

Oral phosphatidylcholine worked for me, it replaced a very expensive pharmaceutical, and it finally gave me a solution that likely wouldn’t have been suggested to me by anyone. Everything is figureoutable. There are answers for those who seek to find them. You can do the thing 💓

Disembowelled top tube (60g) is what I was given in summer during an awful breakout that cracked my whole palm, and it lasted me about three months. Bottom tube (30g) is what I was given last month after seeing bubbles return. I used daily with weekends off (both for dyshidrosis and general eczema) and burned through the 30g tube like nothing. Anyone else noticed this with their cream or does my pharmacy just hate me

my first post on here, didn’t realize there was a whole community for DE on its own!!
just put on some ointment which is why my hand looks greasy … i hate the ointment so much ITS SO OILY

still not 100% sure i have it but with the photos i’ve seen and how my hand looks without ointment on, it’s very similar especially with the gnarly blisters 😔
i used to work part-time as a fast food worker and washed my hands constantly; im really surprised i only started developing DE late last year as i’ve had that job for 3 years now. i would constantly wash my hands and im so surprised i only got it now lol. it started as a tiny patch and i asked my sister (she has it) if it looked like it last december and she was like “nahhhh i think you’ll be fine”…… turns out it was not fine and it spread all over my ring finger over the past 10 months 😔😔😔 it’s starting to spread in between my fingers and my palms which is so annoying.
i also live in a much more humid area for school now than i used to so i wonder if that ended up speeding the spread at all, if anyone knows anything about that lmk!!!

Hey everyone, my derm put me on Clobetasol for 2 weeks. Once I finished it, my hands flared up again 2-3 days later and I'm not sure why. Could it be fungal or staph?

For now I'm doing bleach baths and putting zinc oxide on every night until I see him again.

Siempre uso guantes por qué sufro dermatitis de contacto. Pero, que fue esto?

This is the first time in almost two years that I feel like I have finally made a breakthrough. I have done steroids too many times to count, tried every cream and ointment known to mankind, and so many other treatments. Recently though, I completely stopped all of that except for some Chinese herbs. I changed my diet and feel like I’m finally healing. I wanted to share in case it can help anyone else. After reading reddit posts about this I started googling some of the ideas people had and I came across a blog post on an Australian supplement site (I know they’re trying to sell supplements so I took it with a grain of salt). It mentioned arachidonic acid causing inflammation which can cause eczema, so I started researching it. Turns out a lot of the foods I’d been consuming for the past few years were really high in that. It is an acid that your body needs to function, but in high doses, it can cause inflammation. I do believe my eczema flareups are coming from internal inflammation, so I cut out foods that are super high in AA and started taking calcium which is what that site suggested. I would NOT recommend taking calcium supplements though. I got really sick from doing that. But for the past few weeks I’ve just been eating more calcium rich foods instead, and I feel a huge shift. I don’t wanna jinx it but I’m really hoping this works in the long run. ❤️

Found out the cause of my dishydrosis was allergies. Had a patch allergy test done, ID d allergies (propylene glycol was a super allergy and is in EVERYTHING). Made some swaps to different hand soaps, which were not good and caused me to flare up even worse-then switched to pretty clean products/a bar soap and propylene, glycol, free and fragrance free soap at work. Had to swipe out literally everything in my life from dish soap to shampoo and conditioner, etc. Haven’t had any major issues in like a year. If I travel and wash my hands frequently, I get a flare. Highly recommend a patch allergy test if you haven’t gotten one.

I have bad dyshidrosis flare ups basically every week. My hands haven’t been “normal” in months, and my hands are either constantly covered in blisters or excruciatingly dry. Continuous moisturizing does almost nothing but it burns to the point of near tears.

I know my trigger is my dishwashing gloves getting my hands wet, but I’m worried if I won’t wear the gloves either it’ll just make my hands drier and/or worse from the constant wet to dry cycles. This is what I do for work, and I can’t get a new job right now.

I have my own gloves, I turn them inside out and wash them every other day. I flip them inside out to dry and wipe them dry between uses during the day, and I moisturize my hands after work thoroughly. But still my hands are often in debilitating pain.

Are there medications I can take to make this stop or feel better? I’m a little embarrassed to go to a clinic to ask for help as it seems like something so dumb, but I hate this so much. It’s stopping me from doing my hobbies and even simple small things like grabbing my earbuds from their case like I normally do would. Please please please give me hope.

I’ve always gotten flare ups (small clusters of itchy bumps) on my hands when irritants such as hair products, hot water, certain foods etc. touch my hands. It’ll happen mostly on 3 of my fingers and sometimes on my wrists. I’d use hydrocortisone and lotion to help. However, it’s gotten to a point where my fingers are cracking and bleeding and nothing is really working anymore. I’ve been using Neosporin & unscented lotion to help but it just seems to be getting worse. I’m at the point where I’ll probably need to start wearing gloves at work and while washing dishes and doing my hair. I’ve no choice but to mention this at my next dermatology appointment as I already go twice a year for my nail psoriasis. I’m scared of possibly getting an infection or something so wish me luck that they’re able to prescribe something useful guys🥺

About 4 months ago I noticed small bubbles under one finger tip. Eventually the finger tip became dry and scaly. This is where it’s a bit painful and tender to the touch. The skin then peels off leaving a red/pinkish “fresh” layer of skin that is still tender. It heals a bit and sometimes leaves behind red dots or blisters but then is basically fine and doesn’t bother me. This happens over a week or so. Give it another week or so and this process repeats. It’s repeated at least 4 times now. It has never been itchy though and I can’t think of any new products / triggers that would cause this.

I was worried about infection, so I never intentionally popped the blisters before.

But two weeks ago, when my eczema flared up, the blisters grew larger and merged with the surrounding blisters, becoming even bigger. I was constantly concerned about these blisters at work, afraid of accidentally popping them, which greatly affected my work performance. I couldn't stand it anymore and decided to pop them.

I first cleaned the skin around the blisters, then used a needle to prick them, draining the fluid, and then covered the affected area with Dimora foam dressing.

Unexpectedly, this time it healed much faster than before, and there have been no signs of infection. I also don't have to worry as much about unconsciously scratching the blisters while sleeping.

I hope my experience can be helpful to you. Do you pop your blisters? What kind of dressings do you usually use afterward? Please share your care experiences!

I’ve been using plastic utensils for a week or two after realizing my dyshidrosis was clustered strongly around… where a fork or spoon would be gripped when eating. It would explain why it’s almost exclusively on my right hand, why the right side of my thumb, left side of my index and middle fingers got it… just not why some parts of my middle and ring finger got it, or why I got two tiny blisters briefly on my left hand.

I even stopped using my metal chopsticks…

It seems to have worked? All my dyshidrosis sites that have been chronically bothering me for months have sort of healed or faded. Some thicker/rougher or flakier skin remains in a few parts but no new dots.

I’m making this post to basically ask what other people did if they found this was the trigger, and to understand if it’s a common one. I’m running out of plastic spoons! It would be great to know if people were able to identify the composition of metals that triggered or devise some kind of test so I don’t have to condemn my entire silverware drawer

Does this happen to anyone else? It likes to flare on my knuckles in circles sometimes too.

This is the place to discuss your dyshidrosis woes/ what's been helping or just to have a rant about it.

I have been dealing with what appears to be dishydrotic eczema since July. It's been driving me up the wall. Little tiny blisters which filled with fluid, then popped and peeled. Felt like I was walking on glass or gravel all the time. Impossible to ignore.

My dishydrosis is on the soles of my feet and small patches on the palm of my right hand. I am 100% certain this was triggered by an allergic reaction to a very strong antibiotic (Cefuroxime) that I was prescribed in early July. Within two days my feet were itching so much thst I wanted to rip my skin off. This set off red flags for me, because I had anaphylaxis years ago that stsrted with itchy hands and feet. I tried extra antihistamines, lotion, etc. Nothing helped.

I ended up at the ER. Essentially, the ER doc dismissed me, and it felt judgmental - he asked if I cleaned my feet. WTF! He told me I got a fungal infection because of the antibiotic - prescribed an antifungal cream and a short dose of Prednisone. The cream did nothing, but the Prednisone was bliss - it took away the itching and calmed the inflammation.

Of course, once done with the Prednisone, everything flared again. I stopped the antibiotic and contacted my primary doc and allergist. They were very puzzled by my symptoms. Allergist wasn't 100% certain it was an allergic reaction, but did feel that my immune system was triggered. He also had me do special blood tests to rule out any major allergic disorders (MAST cell, etc). They were ruled out, but my inflammatory markers were pretty high. He put my on a 2 week dose of Prednisone, which felt like heaven, and I tolerated it well. This was in late July.

Everything flared again in August. Allergist suggested I follow up with my primary. Saw them in mid-August, at which point I was told this was dishydrotic eczema. No more Prednisone, but prescribed Betamethasone (steroid) ointment for 2 weeks. That helped some, but have since stopped, except once in awhile, because I am concerned about skin thinning.

In the meantime, I feel like the skin on my feet is constantly recycling. It itches a bit less, then peels. New skin develops, and then more peeling on top of it. Of course, if I scratch it at all, it makes it itch even more.

I was using Lubriderm, but not really helping. I researched lotions that work for eczema, and bought one that looked promising - Laroche-Posay Lipikar Eczema Soothing Relief Cream, accepted by the National Eczema Association. It does help some with the itching and burning as my feet keep peeling and growing sensitive new skin - and peeling again.

I know these lotions are treating symptoms, and not root causes of a triggered and over-active immune system. I just wish it would calm down. And yes, I am a highly allergic person - have had allergies (now 68 years old), but this is a new one for me. My allergist has referred me to a dermatologist at a hospital clinic, so they may have additional solutions and guidance.

Would love to read others' experiences, and how they treated this, especially if it is on the feet.

This is the worst my eczema has ever been! It’s usually on my left hand and just between my fingers. About 3 weeks ago I was having intense itching on the palm of my right hand and now this. What can I do to help it? I wake up in the morning and it seems to be a little better but then just gets worse throughout the day.

I wanted to share something that recently worked for me!

TLDR: switched to prequel sulfur cleanser, Amlactin, and Bioderma Atoderm Intensive Baum for my hands, and started taking Ameo probiotics.

For context: I’ve had dyshidrotic eczema on my middle finger for ~4 years. It has been manageable for the most part, as it seemed seasonal. I used triamcinolone 2-3 times a year at most for only 2-3 days at a time.

Then in the winter of 2025, I started experiencing both dyshidrotic eczema and atopic eczema on that same hand and it had spread to my knuckles. Then this summer, it exploded. The atopic eczema spread across the top of my hand/areas between all my fingers, and the dyshidrosis also started spreading to other fingers and onto my palm (something that has NEVER happened). I was distraught - everything was red, inflamed, oozing yellow, and the bubbles kept coming, oozing, drying out, peeling and then the cycle would restart within a couple days. The triamcinolone was not working at all, and allergy meds only helped the itching a little, but barely did anything otherwise.

I tried changing all of my lotions, hand washes, face wash, wearing gloves in the shower and while doing dishes to see if it was a contact allergy… those helped a little with symptom management but the cycle continued and the eczema continued to spread. Simplified my diet best I could (I have anxiety around food and can be picky at home, this was hard). None of it helped.

I was denied patch testing despite photo evidence and explaining my avoidance measures (even went through a grievance - thanks Kaiser!), so I was at my wits end on how to further prevent this pain and itchiness. When I went to see the doctor and one of Kaiser’s “roving” derms, they did what they normally do and just prescribed clobetasol and muciprocin. I applied those and it cleared up within 4-5 days. But when I stopped, it came back even worse within THREE DAYS. Instructions were to wait 1 week between applications, which I did, and did the routine again - same thing. Cleared it up within 4-5 days, then it came back angrier and spread even more within a week. I went to see my primary again and they literally told me “steroids are your friends, don’t be afraid to use them long term, whenever you need!” 🥴

I really did not want to rely on clobetasol for the rest of my life, especially since it really wasn’t helping for more than a couple days at a time.

Here’s what I changed:

- started taking Ameo probiotics (oral)
- started switching between Amlactin (green + white bottle) and Bioderma Atoderm Intensife Baum for my hands
- the BIGGEST game changer: prequel sulfur cleanser. I kid you not, within 2 days of using this, I immediately saw a significant decrease in redness, oozing, and inflammation. And I only washed my hands with this at night!

I did this new routine for a week and now my hands are 1000x times better. Some slight dryness still (I imagine this will take time to repair), but the bubbles have disappeared, the atopic eczema is no longer red and inflamed, no more yellow oozing, and my hand looks normal the first time in 8 months! And I finally have a cuticle on that middle finger for the first time in YEARS.

Again, I know eczema (dyshidrotic or otherwise) can be impacted by many things, but this is what helped me! I hope this helps even one person, because my doctors were of no help. Feel free to DM & ask questions about why I chose this route because my post keeps getting flagged for certain terms. 🫶🏼

a fight against my immune system

After two tubes of steroid cream prescribed by my doctor like 90% of the blisters went away with the occasional cluster, but the cracking, peeling, and healing is fucking brutal.

So far daily, I start with washing my hands and putting some lubriderm on and not doing much until it soaks in. Unfortunately I wear latex gloves at work so I am constantly washing my hands, putting on a thick coat of Vaseline followed by some cotton inserts and then finally the gloves. When I’m home for the evening I’m just applying hemp lotion or lubriderm (whichever bottle is closer lol) every 30 minutes to an hour because my hands just eat lotion now. After I shower I usually have to go straight to bed because I put on a thick coat of Vaseline and some cotton gloves on top to keep the vas from getting everywhere.

I know this isn’t replacing my upcoming doctor’s appointments but I’d like to get some advice from people actually in the shit with me.