Colin has been battling with eczema for a while now. Last year his fingers were so dry and cracked he was often crying because of the pain. So, we cut a lot of his dairy intake to see if his fingers would get better and they did! However, I didn’t know if was due to the dairy or the season, so over the summer he started having more dairy again (Ice cream, whipped cream, Birthday cake etc). This time, he started to get eczema around his mouth and on his face and again his fingers became cracked and he was again in pain. Just look at them!
So again, we decided to cut down on dairy. This time we are doing it as a family though, cutting out as much as we can and maybe only keeping it for treats. In the 2 weeks that we have cut “most” dairy out of Colin’s diet his rash has started to fade and his fingers are now getting better. We are now finishing up the stuff in the house and I will not be buying anymore for a while. It will probably show quite a bit in our monthly spending also… Dairy is expensive!
Oh, poor little guy! I hope it is the dairy and restricting it works.
Hi,
This is the first picture of what they call eczema that looks exactly like what I have on my finger and thumb. I have been on many sites and found nothing that looked exactly like mine til now. I have been to 2 doctors and going to another tomorrow. They prescribed steroid creams that did little. I cycle through the skin cracking as your picture shows to the skin dying. Have you found any thing since this article that has cured it? I am in pain with it and had it now for over a year. If the doctor doesn’t help this time, I will try cutting off the dairy for awhile. Thanks for posting this on your blog. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Terry
Cutting most Dairy was the thing that worked… we cut out cow milk completely and limit cow cheese… we use goat milk and cheese is we want the dairy…
The fingers have now healed though it did take a few weeks to see the difference…
If he has too much dairy by accident the eczema flares up again…
Hello,
I am glad to have found this blog. The photo is very similar, albeit a little more severe, to my own fingertips. Im 20years of age and I have had it bad for nearly two year now. Ive been the doctors several times, only to be given steroid creams that have no effect. It comes and goes as it pleases and is so fustrating. Im training as a physiotherapist aswell and having the hardened and cracked skin on the fingertips is genuinly jeprodising it.
Im considering giving the non-dairy diet a go, nothing else seems to be working.
Id be interested to find out how Terry got on with it aswell.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Anthony
I have been searching on behalf of my fiancee. He is a diabetic, and his fingers crack, but only the thumb, and the pointer finger. His doctor has recommended a cream called crack cream. He has put this on, which stings, and gives him quite a bit of pain, and he has to wear rubber gloves at night with this cream on. He has a few good days, but most days, the cracks in the fingers will bleed. We are trying right now a cream called Neem cream, and only started 2 days ago. But also read the above, and I am also considering cutting back on the cheese he eats, and was also wondering if the bread would be a problem too, in regards to the dairy part of this problem. Please advise.
When my sons fingers crack they bleed also… It is so awful to see…
Cutting back on dairy won’t hurt, that is for sure. If you want to try, cut dairy out for at least 2-3 weeks (cheese, milk, yogourt, ice cream etc) and see if there is an improvement. If there isn’t any changes then it is probably not the dairy… (of course cutting back on dairy can also have health benefits 🙂 )
Yes, bread can have dairy also but it should be easy to find dairy free bread or if not, you can make your own.
hi, im 19 years old and for a long time i had this problems but the doctors didnt know what it was, now i have it clearly thank you. The picture looks its exactlyy what i have, and only appears during the summer, and it hurts a lot because my fingers form the foot and hands cracks and bleed sometimes, once i had an infection and i had been for a cupple of days without walking. also over the year in my skin from the arms and back its very dry in some parts and itches too one doctor told me that it was eczemas, and then i star looking pictures of that and i found this, in conclusion its more of the same. sorry of my english im from argentina, i would like to explain what doesit means “cut down on dairy”, its like dont drink cow milk anymore, and replace it to goat milk?. thats the problem?
.
i have something very similar to this as well – it started about 4-5 months ago; severe dry cracking skin, i can fell my fingers pulsing and causing it to crack and bleed – doesn’t feel very good. i was using this brush on liquid skin stuff for a while, but it was so painful putting it on – the good thing about it was that it would coat the crack and reduce the pain if it made contact with anything else. i had been attributing the dry skin to my frequent hand washing and contact with water in general, but this is the first i’ve heard about dairy being a potential cause. i don’t really eat much dairy at all – i don’t drink milk (soy milk only), rarely eat ice cream, and don’t eat enouth cheese to cause something as consistently bad as what i have. I’m currently wearing four bandaids on two of my fingers, and thankfully have my first dermatology appt at Stanford next week. Hoping they can diagnose and cure me…
hi.. i red a little more about eczema and the things that it causes can be a lot of things, like the food in this case milk but can be another one, a quimic reaction for example cholirne in the water, the stress or some pshyquuical problem, for example in babies when they are careless and very lonely it`s very normal see this eczemas in their skin, and this its just one tipe of eczema very odd, because in general its like littles red spots like rushing and itches, i have that too but is minimal.
and mine started when i was washing a t shirt by hand.. ao i supossed that its for quimical reaction..
Dear matt,
Please write what the doctors at stanford tell you, your situation is near identical to my own. I too have to schedule a dermatology apt soon, and would like to have something to ask the doctors about.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Heather (and everyone else),
I have what is called “chronic paronychia” – if this is what you have you’re going to need to get some prescription topical anti-bacterial meds applied asap. it takes some time for it to work, but it does (although mine has come back with a vengance after I relaxed on the treatment for a few weeks). one thing to note is that if you bite your fingernails, it’s time to stop – that’s how i was affected and now i’m paying the price.
read the documentation here: http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010315/1113.html; this will give you a good start.
good luck!
thank you but mine, started to dissapear when i become older(in my hands) and now in te rest of my body i have are littles red spots when i take a shower and then when im dry become white and dry and ithces a lot, its satrted appearing in my arms and then in my legs stomach and even my back.
Ps: sorry of my english im from argentinian.
I have the same problem with my finger tips..it is starting to spread to the palm of my hands where it is getting increasingly dry. It is so weird because I have never had a problem with this before and it just came out of no where. I will try cutting out dairy because I have tried so many steroid creams its not even funny. If anyone else has any other suggestions please let me know 🙂
I have what I was told by doctors is eczema on my thumb and index finger, this picture is exactly what mine looks like when it starts to flare up and then it splits and throbs with the pain water and chopping veg stings a lot. steroid creams do clear it up but it only comes back again. I don’t eat a lot of dairy so I don’t think this could be the problem, however I do eat a lot of bread and I’m also wondering if it could be caused by two much yeast in my diet? Has anyone else tried to cut out yeast?
Wow I also have the same thing. I have felt so alone and ashamed of my hands for the past two years its not funny.
I have tryed steriod creams and every kind of lotion on the market. My hand just scream when there is a flare up.
I will try the dairy cut back and see how that works.
About a month ago I was sick and my doctor gave me a prescription of Prednisone to help clear up a respitory infection It also cleared up my hands.
My hands felt so good for a couple of weeks then back to the same thing. I wish I new what caused this to start and if I was going to have to deal with this forever.
Thank you for posting the picture I don’t feel so alone anymore.