Therapy for eczema on the hand | Eczema on the hand

Therapy for eczema on the hand

The most important measure in the therapy of hand eczema is the identification and elimination of the triggering substance. If this substance cannot be found and remains on the skin at regular or irregular intervals, any therapy applied is hardly effective. For the acute treatment of hand eczema, it is important to first identify and correctly assess the stage of the eczema.

For acutely weeping eczema of the hand, creams and lotions containing cortisone are used. The preparation should only be applied to the affected areas and spread thinly. Regular repetition is necessary until the redness and blisters have dried and disappeared.

In addition to cortisone creams and lotions, greasy pads without a medical agent can also be applied. These include moist compresses, Ringer’s solution sodium chloride, antiseptic pads or black tea. If the hand is already in an encrusted stage with few weeping spots, very moist pads without a medical component should also be used here.

These include hydrophilic creams with a high fat content. The after-treatment should be done with creams which promote wound healing (e.g. chamomile, sage or arnica) or with creams containing urea or unsaturated fatty acids. For the treatment of chronic, very dry hand eczema, highly oily creams and lotions should be used.

Creams with antipruritic substances such as polidocanol can also be used. Furthermore, anti-inflammatory additives are used in the ointments. These include liquor carbonis detergens, tumenol, shale oil and evening primrose seed oil.

When using the creams and lotions, care should be taken to keep the composition of the various ingredients as low as possible. The background to this is that patients suffering from hand eczema are allergic to certain substances that the body recognizes as foreign. The greater the composition of the creams and lotions (number of ingredients), the greater the risk that patients will develop a new eczema.

Summary

A hand eczema is a skin reaction to various substances, mostly in the palm area but also on the back or fingers. In most cases, hand eczema begins with a reddening of the affected skin area after the affected person has touched a certain substance. After the reddening, scaling occurs.

This is followed by blistering. After some time and in very severe eczema, these blisters may open and empty. Allergic reactions as well as so-called toxic reactions are seen as causes for hand eczema.

Due to allergens, e.g. nickel or other mostly metallic coatings, alloys, etc., an immediate reaction in the skin area causes the described redness. This process is also called acute hand eczema. In contrast, chronic eczema is usually triggered by toxic reactions.

As in the case of a burn or scalding, this is a direct skin reaction without the immune system taking over the supporting role as in acute eczema. Another difference is that acute hand eczema usually has the same course of symptoms. Thus, after the reddening, scaling and, if necessary, blistering occurs afterwards.

With the chronic variant it comes mostly to all symptoms at the same time. With an eczema it concerns mostly a gaze diagnosis. However, it is not yet known what someone is allergic to.

In the so-called prick test, test strips containing allergens are stuck to the skin of the patient, either on the hand or on the back or upper arm. If there is no reaction after a few minutes, the patient is not allergic to any of the allergens on the test strip.If an allergy is present, the first reddening or even blistering can be read off after 20-30 minutes at the appropriate place of the allergen. The therapy of a hand eczema depends on the stage of the eczema.

Probably the most important measure is to switch off the allergen that led to the onset of the allergy. Furthermore, creams and lotions partly containing cortisone are used. Information to read up on: All topics published so far in the field of dermatology can be found under Dermatology A-Z.

  • Skin rash
  • Skin changes
  • Skin itches
  • Skin scales
  • Eczema eye
  • Eczema of the eyelid
  • Eczema on the foot
  • Eczema between the toes
  • Eczema on finger
  • Eczema on the face
  • Eczema corner of the mouth
  • Eczema in the genital area
  • Eczema scalp
  • Eczema in the ear
  • Eczema auditory canal
  • Eczema hollow of the knee
  • Eczema Acorn
  • Eczema on the Po
  • Eczema Baby
  • Eczema skin
  • Hand eczema
  • Dry skin eczema

All articles in this series:

  1. Eczema on the hand
  2. Common triggers for eczema on the hand
  3. Therapy for eczema on the hand