Skin Peeling on Fingers

Skin peeling known as desquamation in medical terms, is the shedding of the exterior layer of the skin or the epidermis. So, if you notice skin peeling on fingers, it can be due to many reasons that can be in the form of mild to serious diseases and conditions

Skin peeling on fingers along with other symptoms

Peeling skin on the fingers may be accompanied along with other symptoms like

Blistering of the skin

Irritation and itching

Inflammation

Rash

Redness

Scaling of the skin

Swelling

Causes of peeling skin on fingers

Peeling skin on fingers or anywhere on the body can hint at allergic reaction, skin damage, infection or auto-immune reaction

Allergic causes– Allergic causes can be in the form of drug, food, animal or environmental allergens. It can also be due to contact dermatitis (contact with allergy causing substance like soaps, poison ivy, perfumes etc), atopic dermatitis and reactions to drugs

Autoimmune causes of peeling skin-Psoriasis and Kawasaki disease, which is an inflammatory condition that affects young children and infants.

Infections– Tinea infections like ringworm, athlete’s foot and jockey itch, scarlet fever and Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome can cause skin peeling as well

Serious causes of skin peeling- Serious causes of skin peeling can be due to Toxic Shock Syndrome, Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, Toxic epidermal necrolysis and Skin Cancer

Other causes of skin peeling

The other causes of skin peeling on fingers can be

1. Side effects of drugs and treatments

2. Use of facial creams and chemical peels which contain peeling agents

3. Acne treatments that contain retinol or benzoyl peroxide

4. Certain types of cancer treatments

5. Vitamin Deficiencies

6. Peeling skin syndrome, a rare genetic disorder

7. Sun burn

Diagnosis, treatment of peeling skin

The treatment of peeling skin depends on the diagnosis. The health care provider will ask you questions that are related to the peeling skin as well as other accompany symptoms, if any. The doctor will ask you if you had any illness previous to the peeling of the skin. Is it just your hands and fingers peeling or the feet too? Has your skin being exposed to the sun for a long period? Are you allergic to certain medications, have you been in contact with a new environment or substances that you are not used to, like new medications, poison ivy, a new perfume etc. The doctor will also ask you about how long is the person facing the problem for and the intensity of the skin peeling (is it just small parts of skin or large areas of skin being peeled). The doctor will also go through your medical history, including family history and medications, dietary supplements, food and treatments that you have been taking to diagnose the problem and prescribe a treatment methodology.