Seasonal hand dermatitis?

[Caffeine2011]

I don't really know what forum to put this in... but it seems that once a year when the seasons change from summer to fall I develop a type of contact dermatitis on my right index finger, portion of my middle finger and the top half of my ring finger.

On my left hand, it happens to the ring finger and tip of my middle finger. It does get really itchy and scaly, and when I peel the skin off there is liquid under the skin that crusts over. This always happens for the period of late September to December.

After Google-ing, I found a few pics that look exactly like my fingers. I thought dermatitis was something that stayed with you and not re-occurring but her are the links. My hand looks exactly as in the pics with it affecting larger patches of the fingers.

I haven't picked at it in about 5 days,(it's really hard not to, I even found myself scratching in my sleep) and the skin is no longer swollen. It is red and I have been constantly applying vaseline to my hand which seems to be working.

It has also been hard for me to clip my nail on my ring finger of my left hand, as the area that is affected is messing with my nail growth as well as hardening of the skin? Any feedback, opinions, experiences would be appreciated. My hand looks exactly as in the pics with it affecting larger patches of the fingers.

Contact dermatitis on the fingers
Contact dermatitis of fingers due to cement
Contact Dermatitis From Over Exposure To Grout

[Caffeine2011]

Damn. Rough crowd in this section. Anyone at all like to give me some insight as to why this is happening? Even if it is just a guess?

[Gullible]

See a doctor. Random opinions even from well meaning people are unlikely to help much. You may have an allergy or even a serious illness like lupus.

[Caffeine2011]

I do not think it is as serious as it's only a minor nuisance for 2 months a year on a couple of fingers. It's pretty much healed as I type this I just figured I'd get more feedback from a forum as good as PR... I think it may have to do with me working with powdered metals for paint pigments anyway. I have extremely sensitive skin and have to use cocoa butter bar soap to wash even without this problem. I'm thinking it's an allergy with something I frequently come into contact with during the months of Oct-Dec. Thanks for your insight.

[MojaveJoe]

I had the same problem when I moved down to Texas. But mine occurred usually during fall and they were very itchy too. A dermatologist told me it was atopic eczema and was very common in the area I live in. I would get 7-8 of them on various fingers. She told me there was nothing I could do about it - well, from a practical standpoint since they would just come back.
So...
I started on allergy shots to get rid of my headaches and after two years of shots I noticed that I hardly get these anymore. Just one spot around my wedding ring. You may want to get an allergy test and see what comes up. G'luck.

[Roswell1947]

I have seborrheic dermatitis. Chronic for years on my face.
I use Cortisone cream every day 1%.
It used to be RX only but is sold over the counter
everywhere walmart, walgreens, riteaid.
Called Hydrocortisone 1%
That is the active ingredient to look for.
I use it for three days 3 times a day and the rash is gone
completely. But if I stop for 3 days, then it starts again.
HTH.

[DevilishOne]

A couple of obvious questions: Are you left handed and have you been handling anything powdery dry or caustic? When I was a classroom teacher the use of chalk in combination with the dry heat of late fall early winter used to result in a similar yearly reaction.

[Caffeine2011]

@DevilishOne I actually am left handed ironically, and I happen to handle rough grains of aluminum powder for silver paint pigments, I think that may have been the problem. As of right now, it looks as if my hand will be back to normal in no more than a few days. Constantly applying vaseline has really helped.

[lolathesweet]

Do you have a garden, and at this particular time pull out plants or plant flower bulbs, work in the dirt. This causes a type of rash with me around my fingernails and on the fingers themselves. I believe mine in gold old mold. I never get it during the winter.

*This post was auto-merged. The following text was added 31 minutes after the last post:*

sorry for the misspelling on previous note. I meant to say "good old mold". But, I'll add some more info for you. I'm allergic to many things: cat hair, mold spoe, plantain, certain tree pollens, shellfish, actually some 40 or so items. Mold spore, for me, scores a +10, which is as high as you can get. Do you have asthma or allergies? An allegy to an environmental factor prevalent at a certain time of year is a real posibility and a simple "prick" test may confirm if this is true. Fungal causes couldn't be ruled out either.

[Caffeine2011]

@Roshell10mg Ironically, that's what I've been using the past few days. I found it in my medicine cabinet, and it's been working a lot faster than the Vaseline. It's been working extremely well with restoring the skin and my hand's almost healed as I type this. I think in about 4 days I won't even need to apply it anymore, assuming it doesn't comeback. (And as long as I don't scratch it :/) I believe it is some sort of dermatitis, though I've yet to see a dermatologist.