I have been experiencing large (as well as smaller) spontaneous blisters on my toes that sometimes are so full of clear fluid that they hang on the floor. These do not seem to be caused by rubbing or other trauma. On occasion they have occurred after I have been standing on my feet too much in the previous 12-24 hours. They are occurring more frequently now that our weather has turned very cold. Currently, along with these blisters, I have extremely dry and cracking skin.
Have any of you experienced these blisters? Is this just part of more severe forms of EM?
What treatment have you used for these (other than keeping the area clean & protected)?
What products have you used to combat very dry and cracking skin that seem to contribute to this?
I haven't experienced heat blisters but I've read about them. It does sound really painful and distressing. I do get very dry skin all over my body and face (my face actually peels when I have had a run of flaring -- it's peeling lightly near my nose now). My feet are badly cracked in places.
At the moment I'm using Sorbolene cream instead of soap in the shower. It's a really effective body cleaner and in the past has really moisturized my skin helping with dryness and that scaliness I get on my legs and arms. First I get wet, I step out from under the shower and rub in the sorbolene gently over my body and face and then hop back under the shower to rub some more gently. After a few days it starts to look like my skin is nicely moisturized. I usually don't use it in summer because the residue can make me feel warmer -- my daughter who does not have EM has mentioned this problem too. But I find it's great in winter for day skin (doesn't do much for the cracking). It's summer here at the moment but I've started using it because my skin is so dry and I think the dryness is making it more painful and I might prefer feeling even warmer if my skin feels a little less like it's being 'chinese burned'. Sorbelene cream also helps with the peeling skin I get on the bottom of my feet.
I slather on (gently, again) lots of nappy rash/barrier cream on my feet. It contains a lot of zinc cream. It does help. When I stop doing it (I ran out a while back and haven't been out to get more) the cracks on my feet get worse. I really need to get some more. It helps but doesn't fix it completely.
I'm lucky that the cracking is only on my feet. And that I'm not dealing with blisters. Idon't know if sorbolene or nappy rash cream will be strong enough for you as it sounds like you are dealing with a pretty extreme situation;
Oh, both sorbolene cream and tubs of mostly zinc based nappy cream are both cheap. I get through a lot of sorbolene. I buy the Redwin sort, available in Australia as it does not have anything in it that irritates my skin and it's very, very cheap. Which is a relief give how having a chronic illness can be so financially draining.
I haven't experienced heat blisters but I've read about them. It does sound really painful and distressing. I do get very dry skin all over my body and face (my face actually peels when I have had a run of flaring -- it's peeling lightly near my nose now). My feet are badly cracked in places.
At the moment I'm using Sorbolene cream instead of soap in the shower. It's a really effective body cleaner and in the past has really moisturized my skin helping with dryness and that scaliness I get on my legs and arms. First I get wet, I step out from under the shower and rub in the sorbolene gently over my body and face and then hop back under the shower to rub some more gently. After a few days it starts to look like my skin is nicely moisturized. I usually don't use it in summer because the residue can make me feel warmer -- my daughter who does not have EM has mentioned this problem too. But I find it's great in winter for day skin (doesn't do much for the cracking). It's summer here at the moment but I've started using it because my skin is so dry and I think the dryness is making it more painful and I might prefer feeling even warmer if my skin feels a little less like it's being 'chinese burned'. Sorbelene cream also helps with the peeling skin I get on the bottom of my feet.
I slather on (gently, again) lots of nappy rash/barrier cream on my feet. It contains a lot of zinc cream. It does help. When I stop doing it (I ran out a while back and haven't been out to get more) the cracks on my feet get worse. I really need to get some more. It helps but doesn't fix it completely.
I'm lucky that the cracking is only on my feet. And that I'm not dealing with blisters. Idon't know if sorbolene or nappy rash cream will be strong enough for you as it sounds like you are dealing with a pretty extreme situation;
Oh, both sorbolene cream and tubs of mostly zinc based nappy cream are both cheap. I get through a lot of sorbolene. I buy the Redwin sort, available in Australia as it does not have anything in it that irritates my skin and it's very, very cheap. Which is a relief give how having a chronic illness can be so financially draining.
blue
Thanks so much for you suggestions, Blue. I certainly need to find some alternatives to what I've been doing.
I can't believe I forgot that I had an outbreak of very small 'blisters' on my face about 3 or 4 years ago. Although, I'm not sure if you could call them blisters because they were perfectly dry and not fluid filled. They were tiny and turned out they were dry inside. My local gp had looked at them and said "Rosacea". But it wasn't. And I was not impressed with his examination (he did not put on gloves and touch one or anything. He just had a look at them). I remember that when I got home I looked in the mirror and just lightly pressed down on one and the skin sort of cracked under my finger (not painfully) like it was really dried out and cracking. Underneath was healthy skin, just a bit pinker than my normal colour. There was a lot of them. All the 'blisters,' or whatever they could be called, peeled and I had a face full of peeling skin. It wasn't a horribly deep peel but it took more than a week to resolve with steroid creams etc. Walking around outside was pretty embarrassing. I felt and looked pretty gross. And even my dear sister came to have a look to see if it looked as bad as I thought and she was all set to say, 'It's okay, don't worry about it." But she had her look and said something like, "I see what you mean." I was told by another doctor who had a much better look at them that it would probably happen again. And it has, but nowhere near to that extent.
I do have a habit of forgetting certain things have happened to me because if they aren't happening now I don't want to think about them, I guess. Sometimes I think that there is much going wrong with our bodies in this moment, that we forget things that went wrong in the past. Or at least, I have a tendency to forget. Until it happens again. So perhaps that's why I forgot about them.
I was wondering if your blisters are fluid filled? I had imagined you had fluid filled blisters caused by the heat of EM, for some reason.
Thanks for the update. My spontaneous foot blisters are fluid filled and there is only a very thin layer of skin on top, so these little "bags" droop (they look like small balloons!). The fluid is clear (no blood or discharge). Sometimes they break spontaneously when they get too large. They can start out small but enlarge when my feet do their usual flare in the evening. I haven't had any blisters on other parts of my body, thank goodness.I suspect that our blisters have a different origin. I am pretty certain that the upper layers of epidermis on my toes get under such pressure from standing too much or from particularly nasty flares that they separate from lower levels of skin and the fluid build up from flares oozes between these spaces. They take ages to heal and can be quite painful and get infected. Thanks for sharing your experience.
My apologies. I went back and read your first message and do know, now, why I "imagined' that your blisters were fluid filled -- because you wrote that they were. (My eyes are rolling at myself). My concentration is shot and my memory is worse. I know that it's tiredness and pain and anxiety that is messing with my comprehension and memory, but not sure knowing such makes it any better.
Your blistering sound very painful. You are right, my experience of blistering is different. It also has nothing to do with pressure of standing because it happened/occasionally happens on my face only. It is generated by heat and flushing. But, knock on wood, is not painful, just gross looking.
My apologies. I went back and read your first message and do know, now, why I "imagined' that your blisters were fluid filled -- because you wrote that they were. (My eyes are rolling at myself). My concentration is shot and my memory is worse. I know that it's tiredness and pain and anxiety that is messing with my comprehension and memory, but not sure knowing such makes it any better.
Your blistering sound very painful. You are right, my experience of blistering is different. It also has nothing to do with pressure of standing because it happened/occasionally happens on my face only. It is generated by heat and flushing. But, knock on wood, is not painful, just gross looking.
blue
Thanks Blue--no need to apologize. I find that my memory is so poor as a result of Lyrica that I couldn't remember how to subtract the other day (and I'm a researcher who uses numbers all of the time!!). Fortunately, that piece came back, but other pieces come and go. The important thing is to forgive ourselves--we're under a lot of stress.