BigBendFishing.Net

My hands have been peeling for 8 mths now. The fingers and palms peel off over about a 7 day period then heel up for a few days and start over. I 've heard a lot of guesses, nothing has worked, and quit fishing is not and option so I went to the doctor and he gave me a shot of something said should help, we will see, some nice lotions, ok i'll try anything, almost. I'm just checking the fishing faithful to see if anyone else knows about this ?? I'm a believer of 1st hand experience knows more than the doctors anyway. Frank Bradfield

8 MONTHS!!!! Dang Frank. Sounds Chronic. I had about 3 months of hand peeling. I used gardeners hand cream from crabtree and evelyn(froo-froo store in the mall) in the morning, and Huskers lotion in the evening(Walgreens). I am not sure which one did the trick but peeling was gone in about 3 weeks. Sound like you need to see one of the derm guys after 8 months.

"first hand experience", I get it!

PS- I am pulling a bank hiest in a few weeks and could use non traceable "fingers".

Frank Bradfield wrote:My hands have been peeling for 8 mths now. The fingers and palms peel off over about a 7 day period then heel up for a few days and start over. I 've heard a lot of guesses, nothing has worked, and quit fishing is not and option so I went to the doctor and he gave me a shot of something said should help, we will see, some nice lotions, ok i'll try anything, almost. I'm just checking the fishing faithful to see if anyone else knows about this ?? I'm a believer of 1st hand experience knows more than the doctors anyway. Frank Bradfield

Frank:

Some Questions:

1)does it happen after a fishing trip, but not associated with other outdoor activities that involve fishing? For example, does it happen when you go boating but do not fish? Does it happen when you go out in the sun but do not boat or fish?
2)depending on the answer to the above, you may be able to isolate what is causing the peeling. Is it a contact dermatitis from exposure to something like fish, bait, gas, or the like? Is it from the sun?

My hands get red and peel, also after fishing. I have never been able to "prove" whether it is sun or contact issues, but wearing gloves reduces it a lot. The problem is doing so during the summer, when gloves are so hot. I wear the fingerless gloves, but then my last two digits peel, even with liberal application of sunscreen.

Try the thinnest cotton or cool glove you can find and see if that helps. If you still get it some, but see improvements, it might be contact with fish juice. If so, you would need to wear a rubberglove to avoid it altogether, or at least when you handle bait or fish. If it goes away with the light glove, it could be sun. Washing your hands frequently at sea may also help, followed by putting on more sunscreen.

My doc recommended a cortizone cream, but it didn't seem to help.

Luck,

EJ

They make some gloves for protecting your hands from the sun during fishing...You see fly fisherman using them more than anyone else...I saw them at the World Wide Sportsman in Islamorada the other week....Check Bass Pro

The sun ? on the palms of my hands ? huh ? dosen't compute with me ? I've been fishing for 30 years and never had this problem until recently. I did go to a derm doctor but i figured the doctors here on the site would be more helpful since he told me he thought that the condition was caused from the inside and then later on he said it was probably from getting wet and dry alot I was confused ! I'm self employed myself so i understand coming up with the best possible answer for a problem that you can but usually i don't give one answer and then later a different answer for the same problem , so if his cortizone shot dosen't work i guess i'll go to a witch doctor. And just to verify i did not fish in Jan and Feb and my hands kept on peeling. Now l have tried to put 2 and 2 together myself and keep getting 5 , Got a new boat in October around the time it started , Am i allergic to the Key West ? dunno, Do i have grouper itis ? dunno , Just puzzled but the advice here is got to be better than the doctors.. ha Frank

Is it on your fingertips too?

Mine peel off a lot, and its pink/tender right where my fingerprints are.

I thought it was from fishing but then I started to think it was from the chemicals involved with gun cleaning after a day hunting or at the range.

Never figured it out but I haven't had a problem in a while. (haven't fished or shot in a while either)

I get an allergic reaction on my hands when I handle raw shrimp. Baiting a hook with them has never been a problem. Peeling a couple pounds to cook will tear me up.

I know several people who are allergic to shellfish (shrimp).

My first thought was to quit fishing for a while. But then I read your comment about that. So, quit everything else for a while. If the peeling persists, it must be from contact with something to do with fishing. If so, sounds like you're gonna have to live with it.

Do you have hair growing on your palms? Has your eyesight been going bad lately? I think I might know what is wrong.

Frank, I guess you've done the detective work already but didn't see it in the posts.

At home any new anything like clothes soap or rinse, bath soap/shampoo, different dry cleaners, hair ointment (I don't have to worry about this ), if you wash dishes ... ??

Do you use spinning or a bait caster where you would switch off between both hands? Any environmental things at work, emotional stuff - like not catching enough fish? Go figure...

Frank-
Everyone here is a Doctor.... Maybe this link will lead to some insight
into your condition.

http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_d ... ashes.html

I have experienced peeling of skin on the fingertips around my nails and drying/puckering of the skin on my palms, when sea fishing (especially in the cold and rain).

It normally clears up after a couple of days and a few applications of Nivea skin lotion (non perfumed).
I know a few professional Pot Men that put a barrier cream on their hands, two or three times during a working day.

I,ve always thought that if it got worse, I would continue fishing until I started losing my fingers.......................then I would investigate the prices of electric reels.

Sooner or later they all shed there skin.

My hands (palms) started peeling off about half way through college and continued through grad school. Doctor said it was caused by nerves! Said the body deals with stress in different ways and that was how mine was dealing with it! I'm not a nervous person....? Anyway, it quit after school and haven't had a problem since!
But, I am newly engaged and fixin to buy my first house....so if it doesn't start again soon we can rule out the nerves!!

You said it started around the time you got the new boat.......so that could be it!

I get a similar reaction when I fish. Although, I think I've isolated it to times when I've had to clean the catch. After a couple of days, I get numerous small bumps, under the skin, on my palms. They are somewhat painful. Feel like small pin pricks. Then, maybe 6 or 7 days later, my palms begin to peel.

I'm pretty sure that it's an allergic reaction to handling raw fish. I can still eat it fine, it's only when I handle it and even then, only when I've handled a bunch of it (i.e. cleaning a large mess of fish). And the symptons have only begun appearing in the last couple of years.

I'm thinking about trying latex gloves next time I've got to clean a mess.