UKC

I've just finished a three month climbing trip, during which time I've caused the skin on my fingertips untold damage. Intrigued with the result so sorry for some OTT detail!

Basically what I've got now is a solid top layer of skin, but beneath the surface, actually inside the finger is what would look like a blister were it on the outside of the finger, a white 'thing.' These happened frequently throughout the trip when the skin got super thin, but climbing on it wore them away until it was normal skin again. Difference is now the 'blister things' are beneath the top layer of skin on the finger and can't be sanded off or similar. They don't hurt at all and I've had them before a few years ago so it'll clear up eventually, but I'm just curious as to what the hell is going on! Anyone had any similar experiences? Cheers for any knowledge/guesses

In reply to spidermonkey09:

Are you talking about a callus?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callus

In reply to EddInaBox

Nope that's totally different to what I've got! Callouses I could file down, these things are below the surface. Super strange.

In reply to spidermonkey09:

Isn't it just that you've damaged the skin in an uneven fashion and when it has healed, it has healed over the top before it has fully healed underneath, and then you've ended up with some subsurface scar tissue? I've had this happen to me a couple of times after bad finger grit days in the past. It's a pain as that bit of skin will generally be weaker and more susceptible to going through again than it should be, but it'll be fine eventually.

In reply to spidermonkey09:

I get these in the rowing racing season
I get them on the inside of my hands and they're really, really tough on the surface - I even tried biting one off! They're nothing to worry about though. Apparently it's where the skin on top has undergone a lot of pressure and the skin underneath builds with fluid to break the surface but can't. Then it starts to build a new layer in preparation for when the hard skin goes.

In reply to spidermonkey09:

Are you a lizard?

In reply to krikoman:
Were you sea cliff climbing?

I think you got crab DNA in your hands and you are ready to peel. You need somewhere safe, like under a boulder, as all your skin will come off and you need to grow some more on your flesh. But you will be able to do Nivea ads afterwards with you baby like perfect skin.

In reply to spidermonkey09:

Did you touch a squirrel, or did a squirrel climb in the area? I would definitely worry about leprosy.

By the way, most spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi), like squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), carry fancy herpes viruses, but these cause leukemia in other monkeys, not skin disease....

CB










PS: actually, not really!

In reply to spidermonkey09:

A 3 month climbing trip???
You're lucky you've still got any fingertips left.

In reply to Si dH:
Yeah this seems most likely I reckon, thanks. Was just curious as to the process that was causing it!

Strange in that when I was climbing, the white layers of scar tissue would appear and then abrade away rapidly if I kept climbing. Once I stopped the top layer of skin grew over and sealed it off, as it were.

In reply to Gone for good:

Yep I know, it was a lesson in climbing on bad skin to make the most of the time. got to recover as much as possible over Christmas ready for an assault on Tasmania in January though!

In reply to spidermonkey09:

It sounds a little bit like Pompolyx, but you don't mention any itching and I would expect Pompholyx to itch like an unpleasant metaphor.