Hello point0eight,
What a bother that you can?t see your doctor more promptly! You did
not specify when this problem occurs - you said ??they welt up like if
I had been doing dishes for several hours.?, but you didn?t say you
had been doing the dishes. If the welting, which is more than likely
hives, occurs when washing the dishes, you just may have contact
dermatitis, or an allergy, as aht-ga mentioned in the clarification.
Under suspicion could be the dishwashing detergent, a dishwashing
sponge, or even the water itself. Have you recently switched
dishwashing detergents? Perhaps the newer antibacterial detergents
prompted an allergic reaction in your skin. Some sponges also contain
antimicrobials like Microban or Triclosan. Finally, have you possibly
changed anything with your water; added a water softener system,
removed a water softener, removed a water filter, changed from well
water to chlorinated city water? Is there any chance you wear latex or
nitrile gloves while at work? Many people are allergic to latex and/or
chemicals used in the manufacturing process of personal protection
gloves. Does this problem occur when bathing or shampooing your hair?
Have you changed shampoos or soaps? Fair skinned people are more prone
to this type of problem than folks with more pigment in their skin.
Without seeing your hands, or knowing your medical history, it would
be impossible to say for sure what is causing your problem. Potential
causes of your problem presented here are just that - potential
causes, and are not intended to serve as an actual diagnosis. What you
describe
Our skin is protected by naturally occurring lipds (fats) and
sebum(oil) in the skin, and skin is slightly acidic in nature.
Dishwashing detergent is usually alkaline, raising the pH of the skin,
stripping the skin of its protective lipid/sebum barrier. Dishwashing
detergents that are touted as ?greasebusters? do the same to the
protective lipids of our skin as well! Skin protein is denatured and
the skin can peel and/or flake. Once the skin is sensitized in this
way, contact with other items like perfumed lotions, tomatoes, citrus,
and scrubbing sponges further irritate the skin. This site has a
picture of hands that have contact dermatitis (Also called Housewife
Dermatitis)
http://www.drmhijazy.com/english/chapters/chapter23.htm#fig
Hand Dermatitis/Contact Dermatitis/Eczema : Caused by exposure to
chemicals and irritants, such as detergents. Other things that can
cause hand dermatitis are:
· Nickel, chrome plated jewelery
· Latex (and the chemicals used to process latex items)
· Talc (powder often used in latex gloves)
· Laundry detergent
· fabric softener
· soaps
· Lanolin
Fragrances found in:
· dish soaps
· detergents
· fabric softeners
· bath soap/shampoo
· cosmetics
· lotions
· toilet paper
Topical medications:
o Benzocaine (anesthetic)
o Diphenhydromine (anti-itch)
o Iodine (antiseptic)
o PABA (sunscreen)
o Neomycin (antibiotic)
Foods
o wheat
o dairy products (especially milk)
o nuts
o eggs
Quick Care
http://quickcare.org/skin/rashes.html
http://quickcare.org/skin/culprits.html
US Gov., Pueblo, Colorado
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/atopic-dermatitis/exacerbating.html
According to the American Association of Dermatology, the description
of contact dermatitis includes : Redness, blisters, cracks, scales,
welts, dryness, rash
http://www.aadassociation.org/Guidelines/contderm.html
A very rare form of allergy, water urticaria, occurs 1-15 minutes
after water exposure. This form and is thought to be caused by
chlorine. You can perform a simple home test: Apply tap water to one
hand and some bottled distilled water to the other. You can use the
area of you arm, just above the inside of your wrist as the area to
test. See which arm reacts. If the tap water skin becomes red, or
develops hives, and the distilled water arm does not, then you may
have found the culprit, or one of the culprits.
If you DO have water urticaria, an ointment with capsaicin (found in
chili peppers) , often Zoztrex, is used. Anithistamines are of no
use, since histamine is not the cause of this form of hives.
http://dermatology.about.com/cs/hives/a/waterurt.htm
http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/1996/08_96/sveum.htm
Artificial color, especially tratrazine (FD&C Yellow No. 5) in
detergents can cause allergic hives:
http://www.cleanshopper.ca/archives/000282.php
http://allergies.about.com/cs/hives/a/aa060799.htm
Fragrance and other chemicals in cleaning products can trigger an
allergic reaction:
http://www.geocities.com/brendamcs/Perfume.html
and
http://www.truetest.com/templates/6.html
Treatments:
Benadryl or antihistamines may help, if your skin becomes unbearable.
If you have high blood pressure, or take other medications, ask you
pharmacist for an antihistamine that is safe for folks with high blood
pressure and that is compatible with other meds.
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/16/111.cfm
I?d recommend using gloves, if they don?t aggravate the problem, when
washing dishes (at least until your doctor can get at the root of this
problem). If you don?t wear gloves, use cool water. Hot water
increases histamine production, which will in turn, increase itch and
discomfort. Some people are allergic to gloves for dishwashing. This
site addresses household dishwashing glove allergy. Scroll down to
Household Items (in yellow)
http://www.umm.edu/careguides/allergy/allergy_latex.html
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, you should treat
dermatitis in this way:
·Avoid the allergen that causes the reaction, and chemicals that
cross-react with it. Your dermatologist can help you identify items to
avoid.
·Substitute products that do not cause reactions. Your dermatologist
can suggest sources for these products.
http://www.aad.org/pamphlets/allergic.html
The AAD also recommends these treatments, among others:
-Cool compresses with saline solution, water, milk, aluminum
subacetate, or other agents
-Topical corticosteroid cream, ointment, lotion, gel, or spray
-Antihistamines
-Nonalkaline cleansers instead of soap
-Gloves, and barriers
http://www.aadassociation.org/Guidelines/contderm.html
Consider a soy based dishwashing detergent. This site sells many
cleaning products for the allergic or sensitive people.
http://www.onlineallergyrelief.com/cleanProds/cleanprods.html
Sun and Earth
http://sf2000.registeredsite.com/~user971224/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Allergy+Grocer&Product_Code=1213&Category_Code=Personal+Care
SoulWellMall
http://www.soulwellmall.com/oxyproducts.html
e-MDs recommends:
·Avoid dishwashing in hot water.
·Avoid rubbing skin dry; pat drying causes less irritation.
·Avoid very hot water; try lukewarm or tepid water for bathing and washing hands.
·Avoid applying creams or lotions other than those recommended or prescribed.
·The key to preventing future episodes is avoiding contact with irritants.
·Wear gloves for handling known and potential irritants, such as
household cleansers, polishes, detergents, and other chemicals.
http://www.e-mds.com/healthinfo_view/i_00000006W1/
Over the Counter Medications:
Vanicream has a whole line of successful products, and I can
personally recommend them.
http://www.natlallergy.com/cgi-bin/MySQLdb?MYSQL_VIEW=/cart/search/view_one_spread.txt&spreadid=1259
Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) cream can help alleviate itching.
http://www.medicinenet.com/Itch/article.htm
DermaSmooth (Contains cortisone and peanut oil)
Hill Derm
http://www.hillderm.com/tech_info/tech_info_derma_smoothe_eo.htm
Cetaphil Cleanser, another line of products for which I can vouch!
http://www.cetaphil.com/
Aveeno Products
http://www.drugstore.com/templates/brand/default.asp?brand=7836&trx=SRCH-0-BRAND-LINK&trxp2=7836
http://www.dermstore.com/byany_Eczema_bid15cid17-27.htm
I would avoid most regular hand lotions, such as Jergens. These types
of lotions may contain the very irritants that are causing your
problem. Stick to non-allergenic or hypo-allergenic lotions, lotions
for sensitive and allergic skin like the above.
Prescription Medications:
Protopic:
Protopic lotion is a new prescription steroid-free immunomodulator for eczema
http://www.protopic.com/index1_1.html
http://www.protopic.com/learn/index.php?page=learn&subPage=whatIs
Pimecrolimus
You can read a factsheet about Pimecrolimus here:
http://www.eczema.org/
Aristocort
MedSafe
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/Profs/Datasheet/a/aristocortcrmoint.htm
Pharmacy Health
http://www.pharmacyhealth.net/d/aristocort-a-2427.htm
Temovate
eMedicine
http://www.pharmacyhealth.net/d/aristocort-a-2427.htm
RxBest
http://www.rxbest.com/temovate.htm
About hives:
WRKC
http://www.wkrc.com/guides/health/topic.aspx?content_id=A140F1CB-8605-415C-8ABF-B81A7CD94868
International Eczema-Psoriasis Foundation
http://www.internationaleczema-psoriasisfoundation.org/contactderm.htm
About Allergies
http://allergies.about.com/cs/hives/a/aa060799.htm
Pictures of hives
All Refer Health
http://health.allrefer.com/pictures-images/hives.html
http://health.allrefer.com/pictures-images/hives-urticaria-close-up.html
http://health.allrefer.com/pictures-images/hives-urticaria-close-up-1.html
Hope this gives you something to go on! If any part of my answer is
unclear, please request an Answer Clarification before rating. This
will allow me to assist you further, if possible. I wish you the best
with this distressing problem.
Sincerely,
crabcakes-ga
Search Terms
Contact dermatitis hands
Urticaria hands
Dishwashing urticaria
Personal Experience and knowledge |
Request for Answer Clarification by
point0eight-ga
on
09 Feb 2004 21:58 PST
OK first off, thank you for your extensive research! Now let me
explain the problem more clear as it seems you were misunderstood a
little:
First off, I do not do dishwashing at all. The only time this happens
is when my hands come in contact with water. Everytime I take a
shower, just from being in there for 5 minutes, my hands swell up
somewhat like a person had been doing dishes for hours. The skin
swells up, and stings real bad, to the point where if I take my
fingernail and slightly scrape my hand, the skins scratches right off.
I do not think this would be because of any shampoo, or spounge
becuase I have sat in a tub of water without using any soaps or
shampoos, just with my hands in the water and within 3 minutes, they
start hurting so much I have to get out.
Also, I recently moved from an apartment to a house and the same thing
has been happening here as it was at the apartment. Now I have NOT
tried soaking my hands in drinking water or distilled water, I am
going to try that tonight and let you know what happens.
As for lotions, ever since this started about 1 year ago, I have tried
several lotions and nothing seemed to really help. I will try a
hypo-allergic lotion though.
Now that you know my condition better, maybe you can give me a better
idea of what is going on. Thanks!
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
point0eight-ga
on
09 Feb 2004 22:01 PST
Also, I just thought, a good way to describe the feeling is almost
like my hands are sponges, like they absorb all the water, swell up
and hurt, and I can scrape the wet skin off in huge amounts.
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 03:44 PST
Thank you for your clarification, point0eight, it will be helpful in
focusing my search. Now that you have further explained your
condition, perhaps I can find more pertinent information for you.
If you test your hands, be sure you use distilled water, not just
plain bottled water--it needs to be chlorine free! I am most curious
as to the results! Are you on any diuretics (water pills) or blood
pressure medication?
I will get back with you, but it may be late today, as I have another
commitment during the day, and am off to it now!
Regards,
crabcakes-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
point0eight-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 09:25 PST
I am on no medications. As far as the water goes, I will try the
distilled water, as I tried drinking water and it did the same thing.
Also, something that may be doing this is ever since we have been
using anti-bacterial hand soap, maybe that has something to do with
it? All the soap in our house is anti-bacterial. I am going to go buy
hypo-allergenic lotion, shampoo, and soap and see if this makes a
difference. I will be looking for your next advise.
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 18:51 PST
I'm still here, point0eight...I have not abandoned you!
crabcakes-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 19:20 PST
point0eight,
Do you have any sloughing off of skin around your mouth? have you had
any flu-like symptoms recently?
Are you, by any chance, taking steroids or cortisone? How about
regular use of Advil, Naprosyn, Vioxx, or Celebrex?
Thank you for your patience. This is a stumper!
In the meantime, you may find this site interesting:
Someone else has a similar baffling problem, of the lips. The
responding doctor did not know the source of the problem.
http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/dermatology/messages/31789a.html
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 20:05 PST
Hello again, point0eight,
I have found more disorders that cause skin peeling, but none of them
totally match your symptom descriptions.
Other causes of peeling skin:
Keratolysis exfoliativa
Free Yellow
http://keratolysisexfoliativa.freeyellow.com/
Quest Diagnostics
http://www.questdiagnostics.com/kbase/nord/nord575.htm
Peeling Skin Syndrome
BC Health Guide
http://www.bchealthguide.org/kbase/nord/nord575.htm
Erythema multiforme
http://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic173.htm
Vitamin A overdose:
Whole Health MD
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/drugs_view/1,1524,638,00.html
MD Advice
http://www.mdadvice.com/library/drug/drug434.html
Erythroderma
Derm Net NZ
http://www.dermnetnz.org/dna.psoriasis/erythroderma.html
Exfoliative Dermatitis
Merck Manual
http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/section10/chapter111/111g.jsp
Methodist Health
http://www.methodisthealth.com/dermatology/general.htm
San Diego Channel writes about a woman with a skin condition, known as
?toxic epidermal necrolysis?, or TEN, an allergic reaction to the
antibiotic Bactrim. Seems her skin began to slough off, bringing her
close to death, before making a miraculous recovery! Now, this is not
what you have, as this is a life-threatening condition, but
interesting none the less.
Toxic epidermal necrolysis
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/health/2751809/detail.html
http://www.umm.edu/dermatology-info/toxic.htm
http://www.emedicine.com/DERM/topic405.htm
If these don't quite fit the bill, I will continue on tomorrow!
Regards,
crabcakes
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
point0eight-ga
on
10 Feb 2004 23:15 PST
This is not really what I am looking for, but you are getting close.
My skin does not peel off like a sunburn or something, it seems to
absorb so much water that it swells up and becomes bumpy and stings. I
can scrape my wet skin off when it is like this, i cannot peel it off.
When I scrape it off, it is like a wet ball of skin under my
fingernail. I hope this info helps :)
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
11 Feb 2004 03:43 PST
Hi point0eight,
I didn't figure any of those sounded like what you had, except for the
question to the doctor!
Thank you for your patience, though. This IS a tough one. I have found
nothing that exactly matches your question yet. I am still looking
however!
I'll post this afternoon (USA)any additional findings!
Sincerely,
crabcakes
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
11 Feb 2004 18:48 PST
Hi again, point0eight,
Your condition really has me scratching my head, and I really would
like to know the actual root of your problem. I have begun to think it
may be a genetic disorder, a collagen disorder, or an autoimmune
disorder, that causes your skin layers to accumulate and thicken. The
thickened skin layer absorbs more water and makes it more prone to
?shedding?, or sloughing off. You are familiar with fingers getting
wrinkled as prunes when sitting in water. Sebum, the oily substance
that protects our skin, is washed off when skin is immersed in water
for more than a few minutes. Without sebum?s ?waterproofing?
properties, the skin, especially the skin on the hands, absorbs water,
causing wrinkles to form. Once removed from the water, the skin
produces more sebum, to start protecting the skin once more. Perhaps
you have less sebum than most folks in your hands. According to Werner
Voss, M.D. and Ilsabe Bunge, M.D. Ph.D., on the DermaTest web site:
?Sebum contributes lipids to the skin surface as well with only a
minor contribution to barrier function. In addition, filaggrins in the
keratohyaline granules is degraded to amino acids, which act as
humectants holding water in the epidermis. When transepidermal water
loss (TEWL) exceeds the rate of water transport form the dermis,
dehydration of the epidermis, especially the stratum corneum, occurs?
http://www.dermatest.de/PB/Publikationen/PBEN/SenSkin2/body_senskin2.html
Other possibilities:
From BC Health Guide
?Ichthyosis or Peeling Skin Syndrome is a group of rare genetic
disorders characterized by the periodic shedding of the outer layer of
the skin (stratum corneum). Patients with Ichthyosis have skin that is
thicker than normal. Redness (erythroderma) and itching (pruritus) may
also be present. Some patients with Ichthyosis have short stature?
http://www.bchealthguide.org/kbase/nord/nord1.htm
http://www.skinsite.com/info_ichthyosis.htm
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/10173.html
Erythrokeratolysis Heimalis Ichthyosis
http://www.icomm.ca/geneinfo/ehich.htm
http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic143.htm
Epidermolysis bullosa simplex
http://archderm.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/5/633
Peeling Skin Syndrome
http://www.icomm.ca/geneinfo/peelskin.htm
http://www.rarediseases.org/search/rdbdetail_abstract.html?disname=Peeling%20Skin%20Syndrome
Hands absorbing water:
http://www.discoverymagazine.com/digger/d01dd/d0110dd.html
I'd like to know the outcome of the "water test", and I'd really love
to know what the dermatologist says at your appointment.
Sincerely,
crabcakes-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
12 Feb 2004 17:36 PST
Thank you for the rating, point0eight. That was generous of you,
considering we never really came to a consensus! I did want to tell
you that I asked two doctors at work today if they had any clue as to
what is causing your problem. (They were not dermatologists, and they
had not heard of your problem,as you described it!) If you would,
please let me know what your dermatologist diagnoses, and how you are
being treated.
Sincerely,
crabcakes
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