New, and scared

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scared_squid
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:35 pm
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by scared_squid on Mon Feb 12, 2018 4:30 pm

New, and scared

Hi,
I'm new to all this, and I'm scared.

I've never had any skin issues before, but towards the end of last summer I had an unfortunate moment with wet weather and cheap trainers which left me with soggy, macerated feet for two days. When I finally got everything to dry out, I ended up with a crop of tiny, maddeningly itchy blisters, which then progressed to rock-hard thick skin (the best way I can describe this is that it was like wearing armoured socks), which then cracked and started peeling off in chunks. It then went through another couple of cycles of "blisters, then thick skin, then peeling", and then my hands started doing the same thing, at which point I saw a dermatologist.

The dermatologist said it was eczema, and prescribed an emollient (cetraben) and a strong steroid ointment (dermovate), which cleared things up completely within a week, other than my feet being extremely sensitive where they had previously been pretty much raw. Shortly after, at the end of October, another crop of microscopic itchy blisters popped up, and I had one final round of the whole horrible cycle. I saw the dermatologist for a follow-up appointment in the first week of November (ie pretty much in the middle of the final lot of nastiness), and he said I needed a biopsy.

I used the same set of creams that worked the first time, and my skin cleared up again. Other than, depressingly, my feet remaining thin-skinned, over-sensitive, and inclined to blister if I try to do any significant time in walking boots. (Which is making me fed up. I miss doing proper hills.) Apart from that, the only subsequent skin problem has been something that looked like athletes foot on overdrive, and cleared up quickly when whacked with lots of antifungal cream.

I now have a date for "skin surgery" towards the end of February. I rang the dermatology department for clarification and they have confirmed that:
- Yes, it is the previously mentioned biopsy.
- Yes, it still needs doing, even if my skin is currently behaving itself.
- No, they don't know which body part they are going to poke holes in. (Other than, "your skin". Which really narrows it down.)

So:

(a) I'm a bit confused as to how doing a biopsy now is going to identify the cause of an issue that occurred nearly four months ago.

and

(b) I'm scared. I really, really, don't do needles. (As in, had to go and be discreetly sick when our kitten had her jabs.) I don't know how to cope with this.

Any advice appreciated. Please.

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Marcie Mom
Posts: 857
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:30 pm
Location: Singapore
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by Marcie Mom on Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:09 am

Re: New, and scared

Sorry to hear of the problem and a skin biopsy may not be a bad idea especially if you've tried a few treatments and still can't get a diagnosis.. if you are not comfortable with this doctor, maybe go to another one? Or proceed with the biopsy and make sure that you have the medical records so that if you choose to change doctor, you'd at least have a more complete patient medical history. Feet area may be trickier, as it has sweat, comes into contact with socks/ shoes, skin profile also different from rest of body. Maybe that's why it's harder to figure out the diagnosis? No experience with skin biopsy but think it's ok for adults.. maybe find out more about what they would be testing it for, so at least you're sure that doing once is enough?
Take care!
Mei
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Mei - Founder of http://www.EczemaBlues.com and Mom to Marcie
Visit Mei on her talkhealth blog all about eczema http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/blog/author/mei_m/

scared_squid
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:35 pm
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by scared_squid on Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:47 pm

Re: New, and scared

[quote="Marcie Mom"]<snip for clarity>
>>if you are not comfortable with this doctor, maybe go to another one?
Not sure how you go about changing dermatologists, any ideas? It's just whichever one happened to be on duty at the time.

>>Maybe find out more about what they would be testing it for

Any idea how I at least find out which body part they are planning to operate on? It isn't just my feet, by the time I got to see a dermatologist I also had it on my hands (which were completely raw), back, legs, bra area and all over my bum. I've tried phoning them to ask but no-one seemed able to tell me!

(Sorry if I'm being rude, but I'm scared about this. Not about the results, which will almost certainly be a big pile of "nothing of interest", but about (a) needle phobia and (b) not knowing what they're actually going to *do*.)

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Marcie Mom
Posts: 857
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:30 pm
Location: Singapore
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by Marcie Mom on Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:04 am

Re: New, and scared

Sorry to hear that noone is picking up your calls! I'm not sure how to change dermatologist or where they would be taking the skin from for biopsy.. I live in Singapore, and it's pretty easy to change dermatologist except you have to pay private unsubsidised fees if you want to choose dermatologist... take care!
Mei
Forum Moderator
talkhealth moderation team


Mei - Founder of http://www.EczemaBlues.com and Mom to Marcie
Visit Mei on her talkhealth blog all about eczema http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/blog/author/mei_m/

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