Sharing my experience with Dyshidrotic Eczema, also known as Pompholyx, as well as, the side effects I’ve experienced, a look into my healing protocol, & the only product that has brought me relief.
My first update on my experience with Dyshidrotic Eczema went live late March 2021 (you can read it here) & has quickly become one of my top 10 performing posts ever. This unfortunately tells me three things. Many people are struggling with Dyshidrotic Eczema. Many people are looking for answers & relief. And based on the comments, many people are relieved to know they are not the only ones experiencing the intense frustration, pain, itching, & discomfort that tags along with this type of hand eczema.
It has now been one year & three months since my first outbreak. Which looked like a very small red pimple on the inside of my ring finger. Since then, it has grown from a pretty small red bump to all over my ring finger, down my palm, across the front of my left hand. As well as, up & around each of my fingers, destroying my nail beds & even rotting some of my nails (shown below). That first outbreak was in October of 2020. And at the time of writing this, it’s January of 2022.
For anyone who hasn’t read my last eczema post, that post shares full details about my eczema journey throughout the first 6 months, complete with photos. Click HERE to read!
This post will continue to detail part 2 of journey with Dyshidrotic Eczema, the current stage of my eczema, a product that has brought me relief, & a look into my current healing protocol.
My Experience with Dyshidrotic Eczema
What is Dyshidrotic Eczema?
Dyshidrotic Eczema is a chronic skin condition that involves clusters of blisters, called vesicles, on the hands, feet, or both, that intensely itch & burn. This condition may also be referred to as foot-and-hand eczema, Dyshidrosis, Pompholyx, Vesicular Eczema, Palmoplantar Eczema, or Cheiropompholyx.
This post covers more about what Dyshidrotic Eczema is, who’s most likely to get it, what causes it, & more!
What Symptoms Have I Experienced?
1. Small Blisters
Over the past year, one of the most persistent symptoms I’ve experienced has been very small blisters on my left hand. Some have been so small that you have to look closely to see them & others have been much more visible. These blisters caused intense itching & burning, as well as, pain in the effected area. At times these blisters also made it quite difficult to use my hand, wash my hair, hold things, etc. Within the first 4 months of having these blisters, I also got an infection within the blisters. Because I was itching so much & just tearing open the skin essentially. The infection resulted in puss filled blisters on my ring finger & palm. Photos of this infection can be seen in this post.
2. Intense Dry Skin
As my eczema grew, not only was it painfully itchy & sore, but it left behind scaly, dry, peeling skin. The scaliness of my left hand & fingers is honestly incredible.
3. Nail Damage
An unexpected symptom that I didn’t experience until about 9 months into my eczema journey was nail damage. Specifically with hand eczema, once the blisters or skin inflammation gets close to the nail, it can really have an effect on the entire nail bed. Which is what happened to me on almost every nail on my left hand. My nails don’t look anything like they used to. My cuticles are completely gone on my pointer finger. I now have pretty significant nail ridges. I have a lot of white discoloration. And the nail on my ring finger has lifted up so much from the skin, I’m surprise it hasn’t fallen off. So that’s been a real treat, as if the eczema wasn’t worse enough haha!
4. Overall Skin Change
The skin on my left hand has really changed a lot over the past year. Especially now that my eczema has started to heal. You’ll see in the photos below how my eczema covered each part of my hand & as that skin healed, there’s a huge difference between my skin on my left & right hand. Especially on the inside of my hand, my skin now looks wrinkly kinda like I got out of a long bath. I’m sure it will eventually even out as the cells are replenished but for now, it definitely looks different.
5. Heightened Stress
As much as I’d like to say that my mental state is not influenced by my year long battle with eczema, that just isn’t my reality. It has been incredibly stressful. I think about my eczema constantly. And now that it has improved tremendously, I’m constantly worrying about if it will come back. When I do have an outbreak, even if it’s small, it can be overwhelming. Any time I experience outside stress or have an allergic flare, I also experience an eczema flare. As a part of my healing protocol, I have had my cortisol levels tested & am currently looking for outside support to better manage stress.
6. Localized Flares
One thing I have remained very grateful for is that my Dyshidrotic Ezcema has stayed on my left hand only. Any flare that I’ve had has been localized to my left hand, palm, & fingers. Dyshidrotic can affect both hands & feet. The thought of having it elsewhere honestly horrifies me. So I’m thankful mine has just stayed on my left hand.
Current Dyshidrotic Eczema Healing Protocol
Late May of 2021, I found a naturopath doctor on Google, who specializes in chronic skin conditions, among other things. She’s located in Milford, New Hampshire, which is about 35 minutes from where I live. I had to wait almost two months before I could book an appointment with her, but she was worth the wait.
Since mid-July, which is when my first appointment with her was, I have been on a supplement, dietary, & lifestyle protocol to help address the underlying issues linking to my hand eczema. The first thing we did after my first appointment was a food sensitivity blood test & a stool test to check for candida, parasites, etc. I was most excited about the food test because it’s been quite a while since I’ve done one. I know I have Celiac & definitely a dairy allergy. But other than that, I really couldn’t pin point what else was triggering me food-wise.
Food Sensitivities
Turns out, I’m highly sensitive to almonds, peanuts, sesame, & eggs – just to name a few. Those four where & are still my top areas of concern since they showed up as causing the most inflammation. Honestly this was very shocking. I’ve been gluten free for well over 7 years & almond ingredients are found in SO many gluten free & dairy free products. I’ve probably consumed almond products almost every day for the past few years. Even my favorite go-to snack, my GoMacro bars were loaded with almond butters, peanuts, & almonds. Thankfully they do have nut free flavors that I now am able to enjoy!
Sesame was another one I was shocked by. Peanuts not so much, I feel like I’ve always been borderline sensitive to peanuts. I even completely cut them out of my diet a little while ago for almost a year because they can be a source of inflammation. I did this food test mid-August, received my results at my follow up appointment with my doctor late August. And since then I’ve made my dietary adjustments, eliminating those four foods from my diet completely. The hardest has hands down been the almond products. Because I just didn’t even realize how much I was consuming. Definitely not something I would have pinpointed on my own without doing the blood test.
The stool test however was something I was more worried about. But to my surprise, all that came back was a candida pathogen. Which was very manageable to treat with a candida supplement she put me on.
No Jewelry
Another huge & disappointing part of my eczema healing protocol has involved not being able to wear ANY jewelry whatsoever. This includes my engagement ring, wedding band, earrings, & my gold necklace that I have worn every single day since 6th grade. To give you some context, I’m now 27, so we’ve seen many days together. Not wearing my jewelry has been hard, especially not being able to wear my rings. It’s been so long since I’ve worn them, even before I went on this protocol, I haven’t been able to wear them regardless due to my finger already being comprised & in pain that it just became to difficult & uncomfortable. It’s almost been a year since I’ve last worn my rings consistently. I cannot wait for the day I’m able to wear them again. I swear I’m going to feel like I’m newly engaged all over again haha!
Metal
Metal in general can be very triggering for Dyshidrotic eczema. So not only am I not able to wear jewelry on my protocol, but I also have to be mindful of any metal touching my body, even small things like the button on jeans! I’ve even had to be mindful of this when cooking food. I’m cautious about what pots & pans I use. And if possible, I avoid using my stainless steel cooking items. My protocol even went as far as to suggest to avoid ALL contact with metal objects. But I quickly realized how difficult that would be & would end up causing me a lot more stress regarding the situation.
For example, this would include everything from silverware to door knobs. I’m open to a lot of things, but this was a bit much for me. And is the only area of my protocol that I have strayed from. Thankfully my eczema has improved tremendously due to other parts of my protocol. I will be sharing an entire post solely on my healing protocol soon. It’s too much to include within this post, so that will be coming.
What products have worked?
Again, I will be doing a separate post on products I have tried for my eczema, because there’s been quite a lot. But there has been ONE product that I can truly say gave me back my sanity. And I don’t say that sarcastically. This Thyme Out Spray was shared with me back in June from a dear friend. It completely saved my life & continues to save me whenever I have a flare. It is the only product that has even come close to helping. It’s a completely natural product, found on Amazon. And it’s designed to help relieve any itching skin condition like eczema, psoriasis, bug bites, poison ivy, etc.
For the first half of the year, I was barely sleeping due to how horrific my itching was at night. No words can describe. If you too struggle with Dyshidrotic, you understand. Most nights involved me leaning over the bathroom sink running my hand under cold water until I literally lost feeling & then I’d proceed to ice it. Just beyond awful. I remember literally jumping for joy the first night I slept through the night in June after first using the Thyme Out spray.
Although the spray isn’t meant to heal eczema, what it does provide is RELIEF. And for me, relief meant giving the skin on my hand a chance to heal. Because the severe daily itching really did a number on my hand. The skin was SO inflamed, it hurt so badly. It was so red, I almost always had broken skin.
If I was to recommend anything to someone with Dyshidrotic, it would be this spray.
I’ve gone through multiple bottles since June & it continues to be $18 well spent. It comes with a little spray bottle too which is great for on the go. And keeping next to your bedside table, etc. For months, that spray bottle went EVERYWHERE with me.
Over the past year, there hasn’t been a product that has even come close to providing me any sort of similar relief. I was super excited to try the Eczema Honey line of products because I had seen great things about it, but found them to be disappointing. Topical, lotion-like, goopy products have not worked well for me. It’s just not practical especially since my eczema is on my hand & around my fingers. If I have a goopy lotion on my hand, I’m literally not able to do anything because it just creates a mess.
I also have been adamant that I do not & did not want to rely on a topical product or treatment to help my eczema. And if I’m being honest, I don’t think topical products are able to really help unless you are also addressing the internal root cause. And unfortunately, that will look different for everyone.
Month by Month Progression
Below are photos of my month to month progress with Dyshidrotic Eczema. If you’d like to see photos prior to this point, please check out this post which recaps my first 6 months with this chronic skin condition. As I’ve gone through different stages of my eczema, I have realized how quickly it can change in appearance – in a good OR bad way.
So as you can see, the state of my hand & my Dyshidrotic Eczema as of January 2022 has improved tremendously. I still am experiencing small flares every few days. But they are pretty localized to just my left pointer finger. If I get a bump somewhere else, it seems to fade away pretty quickly.
As I mentioned above, this experience has caused me a great deal of stress. This post alone has been on my to-do list now for actual month. But I haven’t been able to bring myself to sit down & actually write it until now. After spending thousands of dollars, losing many nights of sleep, crying many tears, experiencing a ton of stress & severe discomfort & pain, I’m grateful to say that I am now able to see an end point to all of this.
I’m beyond grateful to have found a doctor who has listened to me.
I 100% attribute my progress to the protocol she put me on mid-Summer. Prior to that, I felt like I was swinging in the dark looking for answers. If you too have found yourself in a difficult situation regarding a chronic skin condition, I strongly encourage seeking outside help. Specifically from a naturopath who can help you address the root of whatever issue you’re experiencing. Finding the right doctor for you can be exhausting in itself, but don’t give up.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my first post on Dyshidrotic Eczema is that there are many people struggling with it. You’re not alone. I know within the first few months of having it, I truly believed I was the only person on the planet with this condition (a bit dramatic, I know lol) until I read about someone else’s experience with it online. Which ultimately lead to me sharing my own journey with Dyshidrotic Eczema.
As I mentioned above, I will have some additional posts coming regarding specific products & a deeper look into my healing protocol. This post is already so long & there’s definitely a lot to share regarding both topics. If there is any other topic you’d like me to cover on the topic of having or healing Dyshidrotic Eczema, please leave a comment below!
If you are currently struggling with eczema of any kind, I hope you’ll find comfort in knowing you’re not alone.
Sending lots of healing to all!
Oh my gosh. I am so glad to have stumbled across your blog. I have been dealing with this type of eczema for over 6 months. It is localized only to my right ring finger and so far nothing has worked. I have been thinking that it has everything to do with diet and inflammation. Would you be able to share the naturopath that you used? Was it really expensive for the appointments and testing? I am desperate for relief at this point and want to get ahead of it.
Hi Alicia, thanks so much for stopping by. I’m so sorry to hear that you too have been dealing with Dyshidrotic. Where are you located? I see Dr. Deborah Bonfanti out of Milford, New Hampshire. If you’re not in New England, I’m sure any naturopath can help you address the root cause. I agree with what you said about it being a diet & inflammation response. A huge part of my healing protocol was adjusting my diet based on new sensitivities I didn’t even know I had! Another contributing factor for this type of eczema is stress. I’d definitely suggest getting your cortisol looked at & if it is high, getting it under control. Happy to help with anything else if possible. Wishing you nothing but the best! xo
Hi, Madi! Thank you for sharing your story. I have had my first outbreak today and already went down a million rabbit holes after a doctor we dispatched to our house told me it was just a skin rash, not scabies. I was so worried they’d missed the mark and that I’d only find myself in a worse off situation. But seeing you first picture in your original post I’m shocked to see that it is almost identical to mine. It looked like an identical picture of my finger, size and all!! The bumps that are blisters and the itching is spot on. This has brought me relief, but also even more interest.
Hi Kimberly – I’m so sorry that you too are dealing with this. You’re definitely not alone. I’m not sure if you’ve read my Part 1 but I also thought mine was scabies at first. I had no idea eczema could be this brutal. Sending you lots of healing & relief! xo
Hi , just read your story . I’ve had this for now around 6 months on both hands and I’m so glad you can relate to the painful nights of waking up with the need to itch your hands off . I sometimes flare up around the time I’m due on my period which is strange not sure if that is just a coincidence but I also have noticed my hands flair up when I’m stressed . I think mine appeared due to getting a chemical on my hands. For relief I sometimes bathe my hands in warm salt water ( boil the kettle and then let it cool ) this seems to give me some relief and helps if I’ve itched the area at night . I also put Vaseline on my hands to help the dryness as I’ve noticed they go very dry after a flare up and epiderm cream which my GP recommend which is okay but quite rich. So you can’t use it regularly throughout the day when doing day to day tasks. White cotton gloves are also a god send as if you moisturise your hands before u go to bed and then put the cotton gloves over it can help with the waking up in the middle of the night to itch as the gloves hold the moisture .I will also have them on throughout the day if I’m not doing anything .Please let me know if you have any more suggestions . I’m going to purchase the spray you suggested . I hope my hands get better soon look like yours 🙂
Hi Faith! Thank you so much for reading. I’m so sorry that you are struggling with this. It’s so so awful. The only thing that brought me healing relief was completing the Medical Medium 369 Advanced Liver Cleanse. I wrote about my cleansing experience here & then in this post too! I’d highly recommend! And I’m so glad you’re going to get the spray. That was so helpful for me. I’m wishing you the absolute best. xo
Thanks for replying so far the spray has really helped considering I haven’t had it long my hands already look so much better I’m praying they stay like this . So Thankyou !
You’re so welcome Faith! I’m so happy to hear that! xo
So glad you have found relief. I began my journey March 2020, I worked with a naturopath in August 2020 and was able to mostly heal but not maintain. I’m back to working with my naturopath again and ready for a changed lifestyle. Blood sensitivity tests showed not many items, only eggs. I did an elimination diet, that helped me to heal on my own.
What was the candida supplement your naturopath had you on? I’ve tried cellulase with an energetic healer, but am still trying to find my healing spot,
Hi Kristy! Thanks so much for taking the time to read & comment. I’m so glad to hear that your elimination diet helped! My Naturopath had me on a supplement called Candidastat for about 6 months, paired with two probiotics. The Candida supplement was from the brand Vitanica. Wishing you continued healing! xo
Madi,
Have you done allergy testing? I did the patch test and found out I am allergic to cobalt which is an ingredient in synthetic B12. This allergic reaction specifically causes eczema on your hands. As soon as I eliminated synthetic B12 my blisters, itching, scaly skin, inflammation all cleared up completely. I didn’t see this mentioned in any comments so I thought I’d put in my 2 cents.
Good luck.
Hi Hope! Thank you so much for sharing! I have done food allergy testing, but not others – really appreciate your suggestion!
Hello Just wondering what was it that you specifically eliminated when finding out you were allergic to cobalt . For example what items have synthetic B12 in them . Hope to get a reply . Thankyou
Hi Faith, I responded to your other comment as well! The only eliminations I made were shared in this post, but I also shared a few more posts in my other comment that I think you might find helpful! xo
Im glad I found your posts with this type of eczema mentioned. Finances have kept me from getting professional help after a very lame visit with a dermatologist (who couldn’t identify it and also said I was applying the steroid cream wrong. Whew.) I’ve been dealing with flare-ups in many shapes for 17 years. Soy and stress seem to be triggers of mine. Finally getting the chance to start some healing and seeing my hormones and lymphatic system need some help! I’ll try the spray too! Praying we can all get more answers and that it can stay away! No fun!!
Hi Sarah – thank you for stopping by! I’m so sorry that you two have struggled with Dyshidrotic. With that said, I’m happy to hear that you’ve started to experience some healing – I hope it continues! Wishing you the best! xo
I’ve been dealing with this on two fingers for years now. Sadly I’ve established that my trigger is hand sanitizer…when the world has experienced a pandemic it’s been hard to avoid. I have had to rely on topical steriods to ease the itch. I use it sparingly and one application is enough to break the cycle until my next flare up. I feel like as long as I have to wash/sanitize my hands I will never be able to get rid of it.
I feel your pain Alison, so sorry that you too are dealing with this. Sending lots of healing your way! xo
Thank you for sharing your story! I look forward to reading your next post on this. Currently pregnant and struggling with this 🙁
Hi Jenny – thank you for taking the time to read about my experience! I wish you the absolute best during your pregnancy, as well as, your healing journey! You’re definitely not alone in this! xo
Thank you for sharing your experience. It is comforting to know you aren’t alone. I’ve had it mildly on both of my hands and feet for years. I was able to control it with eliminating my biggest trigger which was gluten and refined sugar. Thankfully it’s not all that itchy for me, just looks awful. Also it’s usually not all limbs at the same time, it’s usually the soles of my feet. But I just had a huge flare up on all limbs with no apparent change to my diet. One application of a topical steroid my doctor prescribed has stopped it in its tracks. (Thankfully!) But I’m left with trying to figure out what triggered it so I can tame the beast once again. I’ll be following your posts, as like you have said it’s different for all of us but you never know what might help someone else.
Thanks again for sharing!
Hi Erika, thank you for sharing your experience! I’m so sorry that you too have dealt with Dyshidrotic. I wish you the absolute best on your healing journey. Food was definitely a trigger for mine as well. I’ve been gluten free & dairy free for years, but an updated food blood test was very eye opening. Once I eliminated my new food sensitivities (peanuts, almonds, eggs, & sesame), I started to notice tremendous improvement.
Thank you for these posts! Can’t wait to read all you’ve done to help heal it. I’ve been dealing with dyshidrotic for 5 years. It spread from my ring finger on the left to most of my fingers and palm, under my nails, just like yours. Now it’s spreading to my right hand. Not gonna lie, I’m freaking out. It’s been so long, I’ve tried so many things, and I feel like it’ll never get better. Strong topical steroids work but only for a few days until it’s back full force. Too afraid of steroid dependence to use it too much. It’s good to know I’m not alone in batting this though! Hope yours stays healed!
Hi Lauren, thank you for taking the time to read about my experience. I’m so sorry that this is something you are struggling with too, I know the feeling of just being completely freaked out about what is happening. I’m not sure if you’ve read my 369 Cleanse Recap, but that was transformative for my eczema. Sending so much healing your way!
Finding this is seriously so helpful. I have been struggling for almost 2 years off and on and I thought I was the only one dealing with it! It’s miserable and ITS YOUR HANDS so you’re always using them! Hope to try and get linked with a dermatologist tomorrow! I can’t keep living like this, thanks for the hope that things can improve!
Hi Elizabeth, I’m so sorry you too have struggled with this!! But there IS hope!! I was able to heal by doing the Medical Medium 369 Cleanse, you can read more about it here if you haven’t already. Wishing you the absolute best on your own healing journey! xo
I have been struggling with this for six months. It started on a few fingers, but now has spread to both hands, both arms, my neck, and recently my thighs. I have been using two different types of prescribed topical steroids, and have also been on a 10 day course of oral steroids. The oral steroids completely cleared it up, but within 48 hours of ending that treatment, it came back with a vengeance. I am scheduled with an allergist to go through allergy testing. This experience has been horrible, with the itching, burning and pain. This post has been extremely informative, I am so glad that I stumbled across it. I have been using an organic, herbal salve and an organic oat based soap. I am very interested in trying the cleanse, and reaching out to the naturopathic doctor. The pain and itching has consumed my life, especially with flare ups at night as so many people have stated. I have never experienced any type of skin issues over my entire life and I am 58 years old. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis over three years ago, so I am wondering if there is a connection? Thank you, thank you for starting this blog and sharing your experience. It has been so helpful!!
Hi Lisa, my heart goes out to you! I’m so sorry you are struggling with this. While I know nothing is a one size fits all solution, the 369 Medical Medium Cleanse changed my life & was the only thing that brought me healing. I also wrote more on how I healed in this post. Wishing you all the best, thanks for reading about my journey! xo
I’m sooo happy that you’ve found relief !! I’ve had the exact same type of eczema on my hands. I’d have it come and go since 2020, mine is triggered by soaps, lotions etc.. I had the worst flare up last year October for about 3 months, on both my hands and I literally could not do anything. It is such a pain, I tried cutting out gluten, dairy and refined sugars. It’s now Feb 2025 and my hands hardly itch, I get the occasional little bump but thank God no more flare ups. My fingers are finally it’s normal size because they used to swell up like sausages omg. I can finally wear my wedding ring again and it feels somewhat normal. I’d only ever had it on my hands but about a week ago it started showing up on my feet, bubbles are getting bigger and I just started applying steroid cream, the struggle is so real !
Thank you so much for reading about my experience, I’m so sorry that you too have struggled with eczema, it’s beyond brutal & definitely not a one size fits all! I’m so happy to hear your hands are doing better, it’s such a win to be able to wear your wedding ring again! I was so happy when I was able to wear mine too. Sending you continued healing!! xo
I’m so glad I found this! I’m going to convince my mum to let me buy some of that stuff because I’ve had this thing for over 4 years now and it just continues to spread and get worse. I’m located in New Zealand so I’m not sure if there are any doctors similar to the one that had helped you, but either way I’m happy to try this one thing and see if it helps. I’ve been to my normal doctor many times about this and everytime I’ve been given topical steroid creams that only seem to make it worse!!! Thank you so so much for taking your time to help people!!!
I’m so sorry that you too have struggled with this! Sending lots of healing your way! xo