I’ve recently (in past few months) began to develope these little postules (sp?) on my wrists, hands, feet and ankles. They itch pretty bad, and remind me of chigger bites.
Chigger bites itch really bad. So bad the itch can be painful, and you just can’t not scratch it. From what research I’ve done on chiggers in the past, there are similarities with these bumps.
There is the location. Same exact locations that chiggers love do some reason. I’ve never had chigger bites anywhere else but these locations. And of course the itching. Which is probably an allergic reaction in both cases.
I’m pretty sure this can’t be chiggers for one reason. An essential part of their life cycle is to feed as an adult (hence the bites), but on water fowl. Ducks and geese most notably. I haven’t seen a single waterfowl within miles of my home. So I’m doubting this is the cause.
[leaving out the rest of the boring research about chiggers]
These bumps first appear as a slightly itchy spot. Still completely undetectable other than a general itch. About a week or so before it shows as a reddish area, the skin there has a very high sensitivity to heat. Washing my hands in normally slightly hot water causes these spots to feel like pinpoint fires on the skin. Something like popping cooking oil just landed. Using slightly less hot water alleviates this. It’s N all or nothing pain too. It doesn’t go up as the water heats. Once the water hits a certain temperature, instant pain. No ramp up. It just flips a switch.
After a few weeks of itching a bump appears. The pustules as I call it. Not in groups like a contact dermatitis, but more like a splinter. Like something inside the body is being attacked and pushed out, only the thing is fighting back and refusing to leave.
These things itch so bad that I have scratched them until they bleed. (I have stopped doing that, as I really don’t want these thing to spread or get infected
).
Something I have noticed when scratching or feeling them, they feel somewhat solid inside. Thus my reference to something being attacked and pushed out. Scraping with my fingernail and my nail will catch on it, and if I try, I will break the skin open by scraping it. I have done this a few times, hoping to remove the offending object only to find nothing in it, not even excess moisture.
The bump then begins to subside over about a week, and the itching lessens. I end up with a little brown scab on that spot.
The largest grouping of these things is on my right hand. There are six of them in an almost straight line from wrist to top of palm, about 5 inches long pretty evenly spaced too
.
There is on spot that seems to be maybe 3 to 5 of them grouped together pretty tightly and looks more like one large one. That one being about 4 mm long by about 1 or 2 mm wide. The single bumps are 1 to 2 mm in diameter with a red ring around it.
I have two each of these pustules on my other hand, and on each foot. Cortisone cream seems to help with the itching, but that isn’t a long term solution. @atomicspacebunny thanks for the links. I’m looking into the clay. I have been thinking this might be some kind of detox going on. But I’d always rolled my eyes when I would hear others talking about a “detox diet” or whatever. I like the way Dr Berg explained it.
Saved the picture for the end.