Swollen fingers, painful rash at the side

[Ananya]

Hello,
My daughter, 15, developed a very bad allergy on her right hand, we think this is due to a hand sanitiser that she used for a week before the symptoms appeared. Only the fingers were affected. They are swollen, red marks on the sides and painful. I took her to the GP who advised her to take 1 antihistmaine tablet and a Eleuphrat topical cream (twice daily). She used the cream for three days and has been taking the tablet for 3 days.

The itching has stopped but the redness and swelling (has subsided very slightly) has not gone away.

I am just wondering how long will it take to heal - she has missed school for a whole week now. Do I need to see the doctor again?

PS: Not sure how I can upload a photo here?

Thank you :-)

[vencasand]

keep taking the antihistamine tablets. i would continue to use the cream. it can take a while for allergic reactions to disappear. the cream is an excellent steroid cream and you should see results in a few days. if it doesn't get better i would see if the doctor would prescribe an internal steroid like prednisone or methyprednisolone.

[Ananya]

Hi,
Could you please tell me how to upload a photo on this thread? Thank you!

I have continued with the Eluphrat cream. There are no new blisters/rash, but the existing rash is still hurting. Also, why are the fingers swollen and stiff? :-(

[y34963]

Ananya, I think you should take her to your doctor. You first posted on July 23 and today is August 1 so it has been over a week with not much improvement.

Are you sure it is an allergy? It may not be if you have not taken her to a doctor to get a diagnosis. We are not doctors so please take her to make sure she is going to be ok.

[uttoransen]

there is no point delaying, meet a good doctor in your town, a skin-care/dermatologist if possible. Itchy fingers does not sounds like a big issue however stiff fingers is not all that normal specially if it does not heals in a week.

ohh and about adding pictures, i suggest you to upload the pictures somewhere else like any photo upload site, search on Google and you will find plenty, then do a img src to call the picture to display on the thread, put the link of the picture in the quotes.


<img src = "">

[Ananya]

Hi,
Thank you everyone. After 4 visits to the GP, we finally insisted on a referral to see a specialist. Saw a dermatologist yesterday, although by this time she had completely recoverd. He diagnosed it as chillblains!
Regards

[vencasand]

thanks for letting us know what she had. she should keep her hands and feet warm so it doesn't happen again. we love good outcomes!!!!

[Dr. Mike]

You did as should have done, but you could have gone to a derm a little earlier. GP's are just what they are, General Practice. They know a little about a lot, but not a lot about one thing.

The skin is like a sponge, as I've written before, so anything it touches, for a period of time will be absorbed. There are some things that the skin cannot tolerate, like poisons from plants, "poison ivy" and it's immediate. You daughter rubbed the substance she touched into her skin, therefore, it was a little more than just a touch.

Hope she's ok.....use a little hand cream every now and then is soothe the hands. A Natural Product, no chemicals. Seems she's allergic to chemicals.....

[Ananya]

Unfortunately in Melbourne/Australia you can't see a derm without a referral from a GP :( Otherwise I would have gone straight to a GP! She is not allergic to chemicals as they were ultimately diagnosed as Chilblains.

So now we know to make sure she wears two pairs of extra warms gloves :)

[raynie_18]

i suffered this kind of redness and painful fingers for 3 months, and til then, i do not know waht to do, my household chores and office works are really affected, i can't sleep because it's very irritable. the pain started on the side of my left thumb, and then, the middle finger, the ponter finger and the ring finger, all from my left hand, i still do not know why what kind of ailment this is. i research and research but then, there are lots of different ideas and i do not know Which is Which.,

please drop by and leave a reply, it would be my pleasure :) Thanks!!!