Help me with the two dry knuckles I have on my left hand.
July 31, 2017 2:01 PM Subscribe
I have two knuckles (pinky and ring) on my left hand which are in a constant state of dryness, regardless of weather or season. Any sense what's going on and how I might fix it?
Further explanation:
- The skin flakes, but does not itch.
- The skin thickens below the surface, and if I pinch it between my thumb and finger, it is less malleable/movable than the skin on my other knuckles.
- The wrinkles in my skin, I guess you might call it a knuckle-print, disappear almost entirely on these two knuckles, and they are a slight pink color. They look misplaced on my hand.
- I have used all of the following with little success: Aveeno Oatmeal lotion, Vaseline Advanced Repair, a coconut/avocado oil tincture, and cocoa butter.
- I have also tried to exfoliate really heavily with pumice and other items, and then lotion/oil/ointment. Again, little lasting success.
- This has been going for about two years.
Further explanation:
- The skin flakes, but does not itch.
- The skin thickens below the surface, and if I pinch it between my thumb and finger, it is less malleable/movable than the skin on my other knuckles.
- The wrinkles in my skin, I guess you might call it a knuckle-print, disappear almost entirely on these two knuckles, and they are a slight pink color. They look misplaced on my hand.
- I have used all of the following with little success: Aveeno Oatmeal lotion, Vaseline Advanced Repair, a coconut/avocado oil tincture, and cocoa butter.
- I have also tried to exfoliate really heavily with pumice and other items, and then lotion/oil/ointment. Again, little lasting success.
- This has been going for about two years.
Have you talked to a dermatologist? There are several things it could be, and some of them are worth checking out. (I have psoriasis, which is not a huge deal, and psoriatic arthritis, which is a moderate-to-severe life-fucker. My psoriasis works much like your symptoms, although I get it elsewhere.)
posted by restless_nomad at 2:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 2:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Are you left-handed or right-handed? Is there anything you regularly grasp with your left hand which might be causing the fingers in question to be abraded or squished or something like that? Like maybe a rivet on the holster of one of your revolvers, if you're a gunslinger?
posted by XMLicious at 2:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by XMLicious at 2:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Related to the above comment, do you wear rings on those fingers?
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2017
I am sensitive to the chemicals and dyes in paper so when I hand write notes or letters, the skin on my knuckles where they rub against the paper gets thickened and scaly. Maybe?
posted by PorcineWithMe at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by PorcineWithMe at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017
Little patches of eczema? A dermatologist can give you a steroid cream that will help clear it up.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
My mom's allergy to anything but gold manifests itself always on her left ring finger. No matter where the notgold is. So it could be an allergy to something nowhere near your hands, but still showing up there. The body is weird.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 3:18 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by crankyrogalsky at 3:18 PM on July 31, 2017
In my case, it's that I play a video game on my computer and, because of how the commands are structured vis-a-vis the touch pad, I curl those fingers under. They rub against the warm surface of my laptop and so now I have a similar situation.
posted by carmicha at 4:04 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by carmicha at 4:04 PM on July 31, 2017
I have a similar spot on my lower arm. I blended some lavender oil and tea tree oil into some cocoa butter and applied daily for a few days now. It's slowly starting to go away.
posted by Vaike at 4:07 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by Vaike at 4:07 PM on July 31, 2017
Absolutely have a derm see it. If it's psoriasis, you need to be routinely assessed for psoriatic arthritis so that intervention can begin the moment it escalates, if not prophylactically.
Do not fuck around with that. Most people have the rash first, some people never get PA, but you want to be on top of it immediately if it's a possibility.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Do not fuck around with that. Most people have the rash first, some people never get PA, but you want to be on top of it immediately if it's a possibility.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
nthing that you should get it checked out by a dermatologist.
What you're describing could be a symptom of a systemic autoimmune condition. It was for me - the knuckle symptom I have is called Gottron's papule or Gottron's sign - but the condition I have (dermatomyositis) is very rare and you probably don't have it.
If you look images up online, mostly you'll find pics of people whose knuckle symptoms are pretty bad. Mine has never been anything close to as bad as you may find online - just two knuckles now like you describe, and only one knuckle at diagnosis.
I'm not trying to scare you, because like I said - the condition is super rare, and you probably don't have it. But it's definitely worth getting it checked out - just totally not worth spending a lot of time worrying about.
posted by invincible summer at 4:54 PM on July 31, 2017
What you're describing could be a symptom of a systemic autoimmune condition. It was for me - the knuckle symptom I have is called Gottron's papule or Gottron's sign - but the condition I have (dermatomyositis) is very rare and you probably don't have it.
If you look images up online, mostly you'll find pics of people whose knuckle symptoms are pretty bad. Mine has never been anything close to as bad as you may find online - just two knuckles now like you describe, and only one knuckle at diagnosis.
I'm not trying to scare you, because like I said - the condition is super rare, and you probably don't have it. But it's definitely worth getting it checked out - just totally not worth spending a lot of time worrying about.
posted by invincible summer at 4:54 PM on July 31, 2017
How do you wash your hands! I always kind of put the same hand over the other meaning my left pinky side of my hands gets a better wash than my right pinky finger.
posted by raccoon409 at 5:05 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by raccoon409 at 5:05 PM on July 31, 2017
It might be you hang those two fingers out the window when you drive. They get air dried, and sun baked. If that is what you do, that might be why they are like that.
posted by Oyéah at 9:41 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 9:41 PM on July 31, 2017
« Older Recommend an LTO-7 drive for use on CentOS 7 | Household water use: higher in summer or winter? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kensington314 at 2:05 PM on July 31, 2017