What is this on DS's thumb? UPDATE it's back...help

[balancedmama]

Okay, so after a long while it had finally healed and gone away. I was assuming it *was* a chillblain. But now it's back again, raw and newly split open in several spots. He picks at it too and I'm worried it will get infected. I'm not so sure about the pernio anymore because the weather has been much nicer. So it couldn't be from cold this time.

Photo here.


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DS has has this rough, callousy-looking spot on his thumb for several weeks. I cannot exactly say when it started. I have only been treating it with his eczema salve but it seems to be getting worse and not better. Two days ago it cracked when he bumped it on something. It is rough, and raised, and although you can't tell in the photo, it has a defined edge. Looks like a callous but not quite. Also, I can't think of any possible way that it would be a callous. I've watched all of his daily activities and there is nothing that would create this.

Pic here.

Any suggestions? I also wondered about hand eczema as a possibility. He does have egg and soy allergy and has had a lot of eczema flare-ups lately which we can't identify the cause of.

[fruitfulmomma]

To me it looks like either a burn or fungal.

[sahmmie]

My first thought was that he sucks his thumb, but I'm sure you would have mentioned that in your post if he did.

Do you live in a cold climate? My dd had something very similar looking on her toes. It turned out to be a condition called Pernio (also called chill blains) which is an abnormal reaction to cold. If we keep her feet warm she's fine. If not she has an immediate break out that looks a lot like your son's thumb. I'm not sure if that's what it is but I thought I'd mention it since it looks so much like my dd's toes.

[balancedmama]

Originally Posted by sahmmie

My first thought was that he sucks his thumb, but I'm sure you would have mentioned that in your post if he did.

Do you live in a cold climate? My dd had something very similar looking on her toes. It turned out to be a condition called Pernio (also called chill blains) which is an abnormal reaction to cold. If we keep her feet warm she's fine. If not she has an immediate break out that looks a lot like your son's thumb. I'm not sure if that's what it is but I thought I'd mention it since it looks so much like my dd's toes.

Wow that is really curious. We do live in a cold climate (colorado) and DS refuses. refuses. to wear gloves.

[balancedmama]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

To me it looks like either a burn or fungal.

I thought it looked like an old burn too but I never saw it in a blister stage. It also seems like if it was a burn, that would have hurt a ton and I would have known. It kind of looks fungal in the pic but I'm not sure about IRL.

[sahmmie]

If it's Pernio the only real treatment for children is to keep the fingers or toes warm. It can take weeks, or even months for an outbreak to resolve. My daughter has Pernio on her toes. She was in ice skating last year and that's what her toes looked like. It took three doctors to diagnose it because it's so unusual in children. As soon as we found out what it was we took her out of skating, bought her wool socks and good boots, and her toes began to heal. This winter her toes have been much better but she did have one outbreak, probably because she snuck outside without her boots one day. The doctor who diagnosed her said you can have Pernio on your toes, fingers or face, and that it's a genetic condition. No one else in our family seems to have it though.

[balancedmama]

bump for update