Itchy Fingers

The itchiness can appear on the surface of the fingers, on specific fingers or under the skin. In most cases, itchy fingers are normal. However, they may also be a sign of serious underlying diseases that require specialized attention for treatment. This article aims to explain the causes, symptoms, management, and treatment of itchy fingers.

Causes of itchy fingers

Fingers itch for many reasons. Let’s look at some of them with their symptoms.

1. Contact dermatitis

Contact dermatitis develops when an individual touches a skin irritant. It may cause their fingers to itch. Other symptoms include:

• Itching hands and all fingers
• Swelling or pain
• Dry skin patches
• Red bumps on the skin
• Skin redness and inflammation

Hands handle many different things every day. It may take a long time to pinpoint an exact cause of an allergic reaction. Individuals who experience regular flare-ups are advised to keep a diary of common irritants they interact with every day with their symptoms.

Contact dermatitis is usually triggered by fragrances, metallic watches, and jewelry, disinfectants, certain hand creams and cobalt used in making dyes or deodorants.

How to treat contact dermatitis

The suitable way of preventing contact dermatitis is identifying and avoiding allergens. However, in case an allergic person contacts an irritant, symptoms can be managed using antihistamine creams, corticosteroid cream, over the counter medications and photo-therapy.

2. Foot and hand eczema

An individual with foot and hand eczema experiences itchy fingers, hands, toes and feet that may sometimes be accompanied by fluid-filled blisters. The condition is also referred to as dyshidrotic eczema or pompholyx. It’s associated with seasonal allergies, stress and skin irritants.

Foot and hand eczema manifests itself with the following symptoms:

• Tiny fluid-filled blisters usually on the fingers
• Intense itchiness
• Painful skin
• Red, inflamed skin
• Cracked, flaky or scaly skin

Women are more prone to foot and hand eczema than men. Also, everyone prone to allergies has high chances of experiencing this condition.

How to treat foot and hand eczema

Foot and hand eczema symptoms can be managed by compressing the affected region with cold water, moisturizing the skin regularly and using mild detergents or soaps.

3. Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a condition that causes the skin to build up rapidly creating patches of scaly and itchy skin. Generally, it affects different parts of the body including the fingers. Apart from itchy fingers, an affected individual experiences:

• Silvery white rough skin
• Dry and cracked skin that may bleed sometimes
• Skin redness and inflammation
• Painfully inflamed patches of skin

How to treat psoriasis

Psoriasis can become stubborn. Mostly, its treatment begins as trial and error to find an effective method. Some treatments commonly used include ingested medications, vitamin D creams, salicylic acid creams, corticosteroid creams, and phototherapy.

4. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy

This condition is closely associated with diabetes. It results from nerve damages from increased blood sugar levels. The disease affects the fingers, hands, and feet. Those affected by this condition show the following symptoms:

• Itchy fingers that are sensitive to touch
• Fingers become numb
• Weakened or painful fingers

How to treat diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Although this condition has no cure, its symptoms can be addressed to slow it down and get relief. Some of these treatment plans include:

• Quitting smoking and exercising regularly
• Controlling blood pressure
• Controlling and stabilizing amounts of blood sugars
• Using medications such as antidepressants and anticonvulsants
• Using creams rich in capsaicin.

5. Scabies

Scabies develops when small mites dig into an individual’s skin then lay eggs resulting in tiny itchy bumps. Their symptoms might take as long as eight weeks to appear after contacting a scabies mite.

Scabies mites prefer digging regions where the skin folds. Such areas include fingers, toes, elbows, knees, and genitals. They are very contagious. It’s very common in developing countries. Some of its symptoms include:

• Itchy fingers with tiny blisters on the surface
• Small blisters may be filled with pus after some time
• Thickened rough skin
• Itching gets worse with bathing or showering
• Itching intensifies at night

Scabies spreads mostly through skin contact, sharing personal items such as towels, clothing, and beddings.

How to treat scabies

It’s recommended to visit a doctor to get appropriate treatment that kills both the mites and their eggs. They can become stubborn requiring many rounds of treatment to eradicate scabies from the body completely.

Prevention and management tips for itchy fingers

Itchy fingers can be managed at home as long as the cause is known. That explains why diagnosis is reiterated as an essential step towards finding correct treatment. In some instances, medication may not be necessary. An individual can make lifestyle changes and improve significantly.

To manage, treat and prevent itchy fingers from developing, follow the following tips:

• Wash your hands with mild soap regularly and properly
• Dry your hands after washing
• To relieve itching, soak your hands in cold water
• Shun skin care products that cause irritation
• Protect your hands from harsh chemicals by wearing gloves when cleaning
• Always wear gloves during extremely cold and dry weather
• Moisturize your hands using hypoallergenic lotion or skin
• Exercise regularly
• Know your blood sugar levels to help you manage your health
• It’s important to check your blood pressure whenever you visit your doctor
• Keep your environment clean and hygienic
• Avoid sharing personal items

Calamine lotion is useful in managing itchy skin in some people. When the condition is severe, your doctor may recommend topical medications like antibacterial and antifungal cream to prevent further damage to the skin by secondary infections. Some doctors even prescribe corticosteroid.

When to visit a doctor for itchy fingers

See your doctor when all home remedies and topical treatments that are given appear not to be working and when symptoms persist instead of subsiding. You may need to visit a doctor who can prescribe immune suppressants, modulators, antibiotics, corticosteroids, antibacterial and antifungal medications to help you remove, treat and eradicate the condition entirely.

Conclusion

Itchy fingers with no other symptoms may not require a lot of medication. Instead, moisturizers may keep the skin healthy. However, you must remain vigilant. If it doesn’t go away after a short while, it’s prudent to visit a doctor. Keep in mind that persistent itchy skin needs prompt attention to ascertain underlying causes. In most cases, stubborn itchy skins are a sign of other underlying conditions.

Record anything that seems to worsen itching. Your doctor may need that information to narrow down the cause and administer the right treatment. Although most itchy fingers are curable, some require several treatment plans.