Inflamed cuticles yuk!

Polly

Help! For no apparent reason, my cuticles and the skin around them seems to be getting inflamed followed by the skin 'bubbling' and then peeling. I've tried a number of cuticle creams and vaseline to no avail. I've changed my nail varnish remover and then stopped using nail varnish altogether but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I wear rubber gloves for housework and always have. I spoke to a pharmacist in Boots today who couldn't recommend anything new. I thought there might be a medicated product I could try but apart from recommending germolene or savlon when the area is inflamed, she had no ideas. Anyone know what this is or what I should do? Thanks

GotToChange

Try soaking them in warm water with several drops of tea tree oil - it may help with any bacterial infection that you have. It certainly won't do any harm. Don't apply it neat though.

Raksha

It could be a fungal infection. I've used Canestan Athlete's foot on something similar.

freyasmum

Does it come and go every-so-often? Could be paronychia, which is an infection in the nail fold. In which case, follow GTC's advice. It sounds like it's more likely to be a bacterical rather than fungal infection as they tend to come and go quickly.

Could be a sensitivity to a chemical - if your hands are in water, or in contact with detergents () a lot. Have you changed shampoos/cleansers or anything like that recently?

Cuticle oils and potions won't really help in either of these cases, but it's good practice to keep the skin around the nail bed in good condition to help prevent splitting of the tissue

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

See your GP. Could be anything that needs to be treated.

Beenie

When my cuticles are sore, I rub in L'Occitane 100% Shea Butter. It's better than any nail cream. However, if I thought they were infected, I'd see my GP.

Polly

Thanks everyone - I'll give some of these a try. Definitely appears to be bacterial rather than fungal and due to the swine flu scare, I'm now using those alcohol based hand foams a lot. Will avoid these for a while and see if things improve.

MrsBartolozzi

When you have the "bubbles" is the skin itchy? Might be an idea to see your GP as it might be pompholyx. Mine started just around the nails of my toes and later spread to my hands too. (some of the pics on google are very severe and look nothing like what i get).

Polly

No itching - just get red and then swell a bit before the skin breaks. Trying to resist the urge to google as I'm a bit of a hypocondriac!