Fingertip of right hand thumb is skinned for no reason

[guywithbadthumb]

White male, 29, 65kg, 1,85m tall from and living in Spain.

Right hand thumb only, no other finger is being skinned. No meds, no allergies or anything like that and blood tests are normal.

Here is a photo: https://i.imgur.com/8ja7fev.jpg

[AnnieBrooke]

How long has the skin been like this?

[AnnieBrooke]

It looks like a burn or blister. Do you have any idea of what began the peeling?

[guywithbadthumb]

I have no idea, it just starts peeling and doesn't stop for a couple of months. It happened to me several times in the same area in the last couple of years. I found that this might be keratolysis exfoliativa, but it seems weird because it doesn't happen to any other finger.

I'm just remembering that this used to happen to me a lot when I was a kid in both hands and sometimes the feet, but I don't think it's the same because it only appears in the fingertip of the right hand thumb, not anywhere else.

[AnnieBrooke]

If you bandage it and leave it alone, does it heal?

[AnnieBrooke]

And, what does the dermatologist say? If you haven't seen one, it would be a good idea.

[guywithbadthumb]

I think I tried splasters last year and didn't seem to work. Maybe bandage could be better. I try to use gloves when I can though (like for doing the dishes and stuff like that)

No, I didn't because my doctor doesn't feel like it (I'll try next week again)

[AnnieBrooke]

I would think the doctor will ask you if you habitually do something with that thumb that you don't do with your other digits, though it might be something you did when you were a kid with both hands and sometimes the feet. This might include something abrading (like absently rubbing your thumb along a rough surface, like a brick, often) or something caustic (like if you apply a substance to something always just using that thumb). There is a condition called "contact dermatitis" that the doctor would probably be trying to rule out. If it was a system-wide problem and since you used to have it more broadly in your hands and sometimes in your feet, it seems like it would not center just in your thumb. Any possibility you are biting or peeling it in your sleep? This is why I was wondering if it heals if bandaged.