Dear woody60-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. If you have noted our disclaimer you are well aware of the
fact that we are not physicians and cannot provide medical advice or
diagnosis in this forum. What we can do however is research your
description of the symptoms and provide for you as best we can some
published findings that seems to come close to what you have
described.
I have an elderly relative who has the same basic symptoms as the ones
you described and no topical anti-fungal or anti-bacterial creams,
sprays or ointments (like Tenactin or Thermazine, aka Silver
Sulfadiazine) had any noticeable impact on his malady. After some time
fighting this problem he confided in me and I took him to the doctor.
He was, believe it or not, diagnosed with a pustular form of psoriasis
that affects the feet of millions of people.
Psoriasis is a common, chronic, and recurrent inflammatory disease of
the skin that affects people of all ages (infants to geriatrics).
Predisposition for this condition is believed to be hereditary. It
starts slow in many people and can sometimes spread to a large areas
on short notice. It is characterized by reddish, dry scaling patches
sometimes accompanied by a grayish white or silvery white scales.
There are many kinds of psoriasis (on elbows, hands, scalp, back, etc)
but the kind of psoriasis that affects the feet is particularly
bothersome. It can be difficult to distinguish it from athlete's foot,
and also be confused with various fungal diseases that often affect
the toenails (no doubt you?ve seen those TV commercials about
dermatophyte infections ? this is NOT psoriasis and medicines to cure
dermatophyte, ringworm and athlete?s foot will do no good on a
psoriasis outbreak)). Sometimes when the skin is cracked or the
lesions are scrubbed off during washing or rubbed off during normal
activities, the feet will bleed a bit where these places are more
irritated. A variant of psoriasis is called pustular psoriasis,
characterized by small pustules or blisters filled with clear or
cloudy fluid. This can mimic acute athlete's foot. In other instances
a person may not have pustular psoriasis but just a bad case of
psoriasis (absent the blisters). This can be equally crusty,
bothersome, and difficult to eradicate.
These are indeed difficult to look at but I am going to show you some
images of cases of psoriasis ? some worse than others; some are
pustular and some are not:
MERCK
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/430/20031008051148/www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/plates/p117_2_3.jpg
GPNOTEBOOK
http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/puspsor.jpg
Psoriasis can be successfully treated with topical steroids such as
Triamcinolone (a topical corticosteroid that finally healed my
relative?s condition ? and he had a bad case for sure). Triamcinolone
is available by prescription only.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsDrugs/Triamcinolonecd.html
Really stubborn and persistent cases are sometimes also treated with
phototherapy. Studies who that certain kinds of psoriasis can be
brought under control by exposing it to different kinds of light. Some
dermatologists have machines that flash this therapeutic light on
affected areas and in many patients it does in fact work. On a smaller
scale they are actually making UV light devices for personal home use.
BEAT PSORIASIS
http://www.beatpsoriasis.com/psoriasis-treatments.htm
BEAT PSORIASIS
?UV phototherapy treatment lamps and sun lamps?
http://www.beatpsoriasis.com/pricelist.htm
As I said, we cannot diagnose you over the internet but it certainly
sound as if you have this same affliction. It?s worth looking into
just to know that there is a treatment.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINES USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
Feet
Rash
Cracked
Psoriasis
Pustular |
