Definition
A skin rash, also known as exanthema, is a redness and rash of the skin caused by allergic reactions, infectious causes, food or drug intolerances or other reasons. A skin rash can cause small pimples, pustules, blisters and wheals, which can become very unpleasant for the patient due to burning and itching. This is often referred to as eczema of the fingers. This is an inflammation of the skin that has a non-infectious cause. The causes are nevertheless numerous.
Causes
Skin rashes on the finger can have many causes. In most cases, a rash is caused by an excessive release of the hormone histamine. This leads to allergy-like redness and irritation including itching.
The cause of histamine release is often allergies to environmental substances such as pollen or grasses. Food, drinks, medicines and other substances supplied to the body can also trigger a hypersensitivity reaction. Besides intolerances, metabolic disorders can also lead to skin rashes.
Thyroiditis and histamine degradation disorders can cause the same symptoms. Likewise, infectious inflammations, especially of the gastrointestinal tract, can cause a skin rash on the finger as an accompanying symptom. Causes are pathogenic bacteria or viruses.
The main infection is often found in the intestine. However, the blisters on the skin do not contain any pathogenic germs. A physical cause is more rarely present.
Here the hand reacts to stimuli such as pressure, light, water, heat and cold. The triggering factor should be avoided as much as possible. It can also happen that the itchy skin rash typical of neurodermatitis does not appear in the usual places (flexor sides of the hand, elbow and knee joints, and on the head) but on the fingers and fingertips.
Associated symptoms
A skin rash first appears as reddening of a specific area of skin. This happens suddenly and acutely. Small irregularly distributed pimples or nodules can form quickly.
Within a few hours or days, the small nodules develop into papules, blisters or wheals, which can be filled with a clear or milky liquid. The rash can be unpleasantly burning or itchy. The blisters and wheals usually disappear by themselves within a few days.
If the irritation persists, new skin changes form elsewhere. In chronic cases, which are not uncommon, redness, nodules and blisters exist simultaneously. The inflammatory reaction of the skin causes small nodules to form within a few hours, which then fill up with water.
In the process, superficial skin layers detach from each other, resulting in a fluid effusion into this cavity. The vesicles can be filled with a clear or milky liquid, which is usually not infectious and contagious. The vesicles in a rash on the finger recede of their own accord within a few days.
Particularly in children, care should be taken not to scratch the blisters. Scratching open the blisters damages the superficial skin and offers a potential entry point for pathogens that cause illness. Further inflammation of the skin can be the result.
There is no itching in the early stages of the rash on the finger. Only when, in addition to the reddening of the affected area of skin, blisters, pustules or wheals appear does the itching begin. The itching usually makes the rash a pain for the patient.
It is of great importance that the rashes are not scratched open so that there is no risk of inflammation or scars. A weeping rash on the finger can indicate skin infections or advanced skin eczema. In a moist skin environment and especially in warm areas or summer months, a skin fungus may settle on the skin.
This causes an itchy and weeping skin rash. It can be treated with special ointments. However, the treatment takes place over a long period of time, as fungal infections are often persistent.
It can also be an advanced eczema with existing pustules and blisters. If the blisters open by scratching or by themselves, the liquid will pour out. Swelling is a typical sign of inflammation together with pain, redness, reduced function and overheating of the skin.Since rashes also develop in inflammatory reaction, a slight swelling of the affected skin area is normal.
Severe swelling is either a pathogen-related infection or a pronounced allergic reaction. In rare cases, so-called angioedema may occur as a result of a rash on the finger. This is an effusion in the subcutaneous fatty tissue, which sets in about 1-3 days after the rash begins. The affected area of skin swells over a large area.
