Hot spots on my index fingers with red centers,painful

could possibly be a whiltlow???

I have had those occur as well for a good many years now. I have been to many doctors with all types of varying possibilities and no successful diagnosis. I have checked the various suggestions from this website as to what it could be, whitlow and various dermatological conditions, none of which resemble what I have, unless those google images are only ever extreme cases. I have found that taking photos of what I have to show others and doctors is extremely difficult as once taken, the photo barely shows the red area, which is simply red, not inflamed red and the swollen area is never really excessive enough to show very well on a photo. Visually I'd say it looks most similar to a very light steam burn about 4mm to 6mm in width (sorry I don't know inches). Mind you I can achieve the same level of red skin from a nice hot shower, just not in a small spot only on a finger or two. But that is basically all it looks like.

I discovered one treatment that helps ME with the symptoms but does not cure it.

I have found that when I have an occurrence of the mysterious tender red spots, that if they are touched or much pressure is applied to the affected areas then the spots themselves can get bigger, spread out into a larger tender red area. I do not recommend doing this yourself, unless you want to compare what you have to what I have to see if it could be the same. It doesn't do anything more than basically squish the affected part inside your finger and thereby affect a larger area via blood vessels or lymphs tissues etc... Not exactly sure, as I said, never been successfully diagnosed, yet it seems the most logical explanation.

As far as treatments go, which didn't work, I was told by one doctor to place a special cream on it and massage that into my finger which was intended to help moisture the skin and surrounding area and was meant to alleviate the painful area, penetrate a soothe deep inside my finger. As I described above, I had already found out that massaging the affected area only aides the spread of the tender red spot area. I tried his treatment all the same, to no avail.

A few months ago, on a trip away, we were using a waterless hand sanitiser. I found it helped immensely with the tenderness of my affected area of skin by in fact drying the hell out of it. In doing so, it made my skin mildly tougher and more resilient to physical touch.

The sanitiser is basically just one of those alcohol based anti-bacterical gels. I have tried several of those now and found the one without the added ingredients works best. The added ingredients are things put in with the alcohol which are moisturisers etc... Exactly what I am trying to avoid.

Since I found that sanitiser to work on that day I have bought several bottles to see if a more prolonged exposure to the sanitiser will have any noticeable helpful effect on the red spots. In the past when I had an occurrence, the red spots would be tender to the touch and I'd have to be very careful what I did physically with my fingers for fear that I bump the red spot areas and thereby making them worse, larger or more of them. Since using the sanitiser, it toughens my skins, dries it out and makes it extremely resilient to further damage. This has the effect of clearing up the tender areas within a day or two instead of having them last for 2-3 weeks in a stretch. In the past, due to being a computer graphic designer I have softer skin than say a brick layer, whenever I first noticed a tender red spot area I'd have to be careful otherwise any bumps to the area would make them worse. Carrying grocery bags, turning on and off sink/shower taps, even bending my finger would make it worse if one occurred on a joint etc... After using the sanitiser, I am no longer at as great a risk of having them become aggravated.

I still use the sanitiser. My tender red spot areas still occur, still feel tender, still peel, BUT their duration and vunerability has been greatly reduced.

Basically, I still get the problem from time to time, having no successful diagnosis or cure so far, but they are fixed so easily for me now that they are not nearly as much of a problem as they used to be.

Michael
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**edited by moderator** **e-mails are not allowed**

I get them on my index fingers. To me they look like hard bumps that are red but they seem to be deep under the skin - not just under the first layer. They don't really hurt when I press on them with my finger, but if I use the edge of my fingernail and apply pressure, they are tender. Mine feel almost calloused over, like the top layer of skin is dead and hard. I don't recall them itching. I only get them on the side of my index finger, never on my palms.

After a few weeks, the skin starts to get very dried out and begs for me to pull it off. It isn't painful, but the skin is always very thick coming off - like a callous.

I asked my doctor about them and (like many other people that I've seen on the internet say this) she gave me s cream to put on them. This doesn't seem like something that can be treated with a topical ointment because it seems to be so deep into the tissue. I used the cream and it did nothing.

Mine look like blisters and mine are very deep under the skin, not on the surface like these. I haven't found any internet pictures that resemble what I'm talking about. Anyone looking at my hands would not notice them unless I pointed them out. They are barely visible and the bump is almost not visible unless you touch it. You can see it when it's pointed out.

I wish someone could tell me what they are - they are very annoying.

Guest wrote:

I have had these little red dots pop up on my hands and they are usually very small and spread out. They feel like a piece of glass in my hand, which is usually how i find them. I went to a dermatologist yesterday and she said she has seen several cases and has no idea what it is. She said she has seen it with pregnant women, but I am not. She biopsied 2 of them and I should hopefully find out what they are.

Did you ever find out what it was??? I have it right now and my doc and dermatologist do not know what it is.

I had one last night and now I have 3. I'm very stressed because of exams.. and my room is quite warm, could this be it?

i used to get these in high school on the sides and tips of my fingers. one day i got frustrated with one of the dots i used nail clippers and pinched off the bump. BAD BAD BAD IDEA. after i clipped that one off, it started gushing blood like craaaaaazy, and it was just as small as a pinhole, so i thought that was unusual.
my doctor told me that they were little blood veins that strayed to the skin surface, and since the skin layers were thin on the bump, my blood turned red under the surface of my skin, from the oxegyn. so....maybe that will explain it. i used to be very stressed in high school as well, and thats when i got them....i'm not very stressed anymore and dont get them now, so try as much as possible to lower your stress levels. even just taking 5 mins out of a hectic day for yourself can help.

Mine are the same as yours! I used nail clippers to clip the "dead" skin and found there are two little red (beading) dots one dot larger than the other on all three of these "bumps". I am an electrician and work with a lot of mechanical stuff. Originally i thought they where little wire fragments or metal/fiberglass splinters. They don't hurt unless i press on them with my nail or something which is why i thought they may be old splinters that i dint get out. But after clipping my way to what i thought was a splinter using the nail clippers i found these two red dots, now that the skin is gone i can run my finger gently over the two red dots and OUCH it feels like a splinter still! but i don't see anything. Its just weird that there are two dots one larger than the other under all three of these callas like bumps.

Guest wrote:

I get them on my index fingers. To me they look like hard bumps that are red but they seem to be deep under the skin - not just under the first layer. They don't really hurt when I press on them with my finger, but if I use the edge of my fingernail and apply pressure, they are tender. Mine feel almost calloused over, like the top layer of skin is dead and hard. I don't recall them itching. I only get them on the side of my index finger, never on my palms. After a few weeks, the skin starts to get very dried out and begs for me to pull it off. It isn't painful, but the skin is always very thick coming off - like a callous. I asked my doctor about them and (like many other people that I've seen on the internet say this) she gave me s cream to put on them. This doesn't seem like something that can be treated with a topical ointment because it seems to be so deep into the tissue. I used the cream and it did nothing. Mine look like blisters and mine are very deep under the skin, not on the surface like these. I haven't found any internet pictures that resemble what I'm talking about. Anyone looking at my hands would not notice them unless I pointed them out. They are barely visible and the bump is almost not visible unless you touch it. You can see it when it's pointed out. I wish someone could tell me what they are - they are very annoying.

I have just one at the moment and it's been there for a very long time. I always pick at it and try to get to the "core" but it just gets red and bleeds a bit. It doesn't hurt at all not even when I press on it unless I've been picking at it excessively. I've had others though that did hurt and they went away quite quickly without me doing anything to them. This one is on my middle finger just below my knuckle.

i get these spots on my fingers and my genitles.

they dont hurt but seem to come up.

you are not alone. i get them too only on my index finger and im still looking for the answer on what the hell it could be.

Guest wrote:

I get them on my index fingers. To me they look like hard bumps that are red but they seem to be deep under the skin - not just under the first layer. They don't really hurt when I press on them with my finger, but if I use the edge of my fingernail and apply pressure, they are tender. Mine feel almost calloused over, like the top layer of skin is dead and hard. I don't recall them itching. I only get them on the side of my index finger, never on my palms. After a few weeks, the skin starts to get very dried out and begs for me to pull it off. It isn't painful, but the skin is always very thick coming off - like a callous. I asked my doctor about them and (like many other people that I've seen on the internet say this) she gave me s cream to put on them. This doesn't seem like something that can be treated with a topical ointment because it seems to be so deep into the tissue. I used the cream and it did nothing. Mine look like blisters and mine are very deep under the skin, not on the surface like these. I haven't found any internet pictures that resemble what I'm talking about. Anyone looking at my hands would not notice them unless I pointed them out. They are barely visible and the bump is almost not visible unless you touch it. You can see it when it's pointed out. I wish someone could tell me what they are - they are very annoying.