Is it possible to have Eczema for over years at a time? If this isn't Eczema, what could it be?

Question

Years ago, I found tiny little blisters on the bottom of my feet and all over the palms and fingers of my hands. Over time, the majority of it has gone away for good. For some reason or another, I continually get reoccurring micro-blisters on my left ring finger. Pretty much only concentrated there now. I've never known what they really were and never took a lot of time into looking into what it could actually be as it was never so bad as it were the 1st time.

If it is in fact eczema, I can finally put the problem to rest. Which is why I'm curious as to how long it could stay in your system and only so seldom come back to bother.

Details of the problem:
Always comes back as tiny water blisters on my finger. (Used to be whole hands)
Usually it seems to return only if I feel my body is overheated?
Itches when blisters are present.
After blisters dry under skin, itches more and peels in flakes that are like scabs AND live skin at the same time and if peeled early, leaves a popped blister wound (if that makes any sense)
I am NOT allergic to anything I can think of.
After years of the seldom recurrences, finger looks more "aged" than the neighboring fingers.
Blisters also seem to affect my nail under the skin. (As the nail grows out, you can see tiny craters / dents on the nail's surface)


**Please, I'm looking for a very knowledgeable answer with good citation of information provided**

? · Accepted Answer

Only a dermatologist after proper examination and a skin biopsy if needed can tell.
Lots of dermatitis have the same symptoms or even other skin contagious diseases. So we can only ''guess'' here and guessing is not good or helpful. 

From my experience with dermatitis ( allergies and other skin diseases ) I think it's eczema. What triggers an eczema flair up depends on the person and his lifestyle. Usually fever, cold, flu, stress, climate, other conditions, products we use can trigger eczema. It is possible to be ''clean'' for a long period of time and get some outbreaks in specific areas on the body. 
Small blisters or dots go away easier, bigger patches need time.
Eczema on nails is also really common. Most people with a dermatitis like this have ''infected'' nails as well. It's more difficult to treat it on nails and it gets worse if you have an eczema flair up in other parts of the body also. They start to get better as soon as the blisters/dots/marks go away. 
Eczema on nails can't be cleared up in days, takes time. This is because the nail has to grow in order to be healthy again. It does not just disappear. 

If for a reason you don't want to see a dermatologist go to a pharmacist and get yourself a cortisone or not peoper cream for eczema ( they work the same for any dermatitis - chronic auto immune ones ). I use Protopic for my proriasis. Protopic has no cortisone, it's not a steroid cream does not have as many side effects if using it for years, like I do. Protopic is for eczema not for psoriasis but it works great on me as well. Psoriasis and eczema have the same treatments/creams etc. 
If you see improvement in 3 days after applying the cream daily you'll know what it is. Other than Protopic you can use Dovobet gel. Works faster because it has cortisone. 

As for the nails I recommend to get yourself Tea tree oil mix it with a liquid hands soap and use it to clean your nails ( around the nail and cuticles also ) once a day. Don't add too much tea tree oil, only a tiny bit is enough. This will help the nails to recover and protect your nails from fungus. People with infected nails from a dermatitis like eczema can get nail fungus very easily as there's enough room underneath or over the nail.

Other than that it could be prickly heat causes by hyperhidrosis. 

Gluck

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Is it possible to have Eczema for over years at a time? If this isn't Eczema, what could it be?

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