skin on hands weird during shower?

Question

when my hands get really soaked like during a long shower they start to take on a bumpy appearance, on the palms and especially between the fingers. when i scrap the skin with my finger nail or straight hard object the skin peels off in big clumps. when the skin completely dries my hands look totally normal. also when wet the undersides of my wrist have areas where there are small circles, like islands, where the skin looks almost eaten away. again, i only notice this when hands have been wet for a while. i start scraping and sometimes it takes 15 minutes in the shower to get all of it out.
WHATS GOING ON? any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You may have psoriasis.

Last year, during a long, stressful period in my life, I started experiencing exactly what you described. I was getting little bumps - like blisters - between my fingers and on the palms of my hands. When the blisters would clear, my skin would come off in clumps. I went to a dermatologist and he diagnosed it as psoriasis.

No one really knows what causes it, except that it can be brought on by stress. What's happening is that your body is regenerating your skin every three days or so, instead of the normal every 4 weeks or so. That's why the skin sloughs off, but it doesn't leave your skin raw.

You can also have absolutely no history of it in your life and one day it just shows up. Millions of people have it to varying degrees. No one knows how to cure it. All you can do is treat it when it pops up.

The doctor prescribed an ointment that contains a solution of clobetasol propianate (a steroid). When it flares up, I have to put the lotion on my hands and wear rubber gloves all night for the stuff to soak in (it's a petroleum-based ointment and it's really sticky). It then clears up in a day or two.

I would suggest you go see a doctor to get it diagnosed. It's not contageous. You can't even spread it from one part of your body to another. But, it's annoying. And, you can get treatment for it.

Answer 2

Your skin expands a little as it absorbs water in the bath or shower thats probably what your seeing happen to your hands. Your skin is a lot softer and easier to damage if it is really wet so be careful, don't go crazy scraping the skin off, you could go too far and make your hands sore.

You could also be seeing patches of dry/dead skin. Even so, it's still not a good idea to scrape at it like you are. Maybe use a gentle exfoliant to help get rid of it and use a good moisturizer on your hands when you get out of the shower/bath.

If your skin looks perfectly normal when its dry, i wouldn't worry too much about it. Just make sure you have a good skincare routine to protect it from damage. If it goes back to normal once it's dry then it's not likely you have any kind of skin condition.

Answer 3

go to your doctor! the fact that they aren't permanent is good but you may have a vitamin difficiancy or worse.. or it could just be dry skin, either way I would want a professional to diagnose and treat over anything I read over the internet.

Answer 4

You might have dry hands, or the body soap you use might be causing irritation. Or you could have eczema. Go to a dermatologist.

Answer 5

dont worry, its just cuz u spend a lot of time in the water, it happends to me too. just dont scrape it off!