Treating and preventing Pompholyx eczema

[monkeyhighpriestess]

Hi
I have suddenly started suffering from pompholyx eczema in the last six months and am now on my third bout, which has been much worse than the first two. For the last four weeks I have had blisters on the arch of my foot. It seemed to be getting better but it's a lot worse today (think it has a secondary bacterial infection as it looks a bit yellow).

I used to suffer from atopic eczema when I was a kid but have never had it bad as an adult, so I'm not sure how to look after this. I have trimovate cream from past infections so I'll use that for this bout, and benovate from the doctor for when it's not infected. But how can I prevent more bouts occurring? I can deal with it when it's on my hands, but on my foot it's a real nuisance as I walk everywhere (don't drive) and end up limping by the end of the day.

BTW, as far as I can remember, I haven't been using any different products in the last six months and it's only affecting my left foot at the moment.

Thanks

[Dr Mary Judge]

Pompholyx is blistering eczema on the thick skin of the hands and feet. It can occur in people who had (childhood) eczema before but can affect people who never had eczema. It's more common in folk who have wet hands (mechanics, cooks, nurses and especially hairdressers) due to irritation / chemical damage or due to allergy to a chemical in cream, detergent, dye, oils etc. It is disabling because your hands or feet don't work properly, it is sore, itchy and disfiguring. If the blisters / pustules are just on one side then you have to think about other skin conditions such as psoriasis / pustulosis. So you should see a dermatologist. Treatment is different for pompholyx (than for usual eczema) and again an expert is needed.

[monkeyhighpriestess]

Many thanks. I have been diagnosed by my GP. I don't get it on my right foot but I get blisters on both hands (particularly the sides of the fingers) as well as my left foot. I don't think the GP would consider a dermatologist unless it got a lot worse as it's manageable at the moment.

I read about pustulosis and it appears to be an auto-immune condition? So presumably the treatment would still be something like Betnovate? I don't really want to push for referral unless absolutely necessary.