hello good people. my post might be quite a lengthy on so please bare with me please.

a few years ago my son went vegetarian and remained so for about 5 years before he eventually started eating meat again, which he does still to this day. prior to being a vegetarian my son ate the same food as ourselves [basic british food with the odd curry here and there etc]. however when he became a vegetarian he got into indian cookery and it was not long after this that he started to get dermatitis on his fingers [which started off as small itch blisters and once popped they spread]. my son is right handed and these litle blisters only appeared on the top part of his fingers and in between his fingers on the right hand. eventually he started to develop blisters on and off on his left hand but not very often. now [a few years on] he gets patches of these blisters [which eventually turn to dry scaly skin] on his left or right ankle and sometimes on the foot. during the winter time he gets is bad on both his hips where the waist band of his trousers touches [in the summer he is normally in shorts].

when he became a vegetarian he started cooking all of his own meals [prior to this i did all of the cooking] and he began using a lot of garlic in his curries and other meals [he really disliked garlic until be went vegetarian now he eats a lot of it] and also fresh chilli peppers [something i never used before].

there are times in the past when he has stopped eating spicy food and his dermatitis seems to clear up slightly...but as soon as he startes eating a lot of indian food [he gets weeks here and there when he eats a lot of indian food in a week or two] he starts noticing the little blisters pop up again.

he is currently not eating garlic in indian food or any other food to see if this helps his problem. however he has told me [and this will seem strange] that when he eats anything with a lot of chilli in it he feels that the skin on the top of his fingers on both hands goes dry...while he is eating the food and for an hour or so after. i am unsure what to make of this because i have never heard of anything like it before, but he insists it is true.

a herbalist told us that if you eat anything which is harsh on the stomach that it can cause problems with the skin on other parts of your body. she said anything harsh such as pepper and chillis.

we are unsure if it is a spice which is causing this or if it is garlic or chillis.

has anyone ever heard of chillis causing skin problems when eaten?

at first i assumed it was something he was coming into contact with [given that the skin is far worse on his right hand than the left and he is right handed] or if it is something he is eating.

up until many years ago before he became a vegetarian he never suffered from this.

he really enjoys indian food so i wish we could get to the bottom of the problem and eliminate a spice or ingredient that maybe causing this.

could it be garlic?

any help appreciated.

anita

Several thoughts were going through my head while reading this.

1 - he could be allegic to something

Could be the ingredients he is eating but equally could be the washing up liguid he uses more of when cooking his own food ?

2 - It might be something he is eating with the curries and not actually the curries themselves, ie the naan bread and it being the yeast that kicks it off (might not be the contact with it, could be eating it etc)

3 - Could it be something he is cleaning the pans with (ie when he makes curries he ends up having to scrub the pans clean with some sort of chemical cleaner/pad etc?

4 - Maybe its not the curries etc, could it be possible that something he isn't eating when he's on the currys that helps to prevent the problem that would have appeared regardless of starting to eat curries.

5 - I eat loads of garlic and its not affect me...

Steve

If he is preparing his own food could it not simply be a topical reaction of the chemicals in the chillis on his fingers? Perhaps try experimenting using protective gloves when he is doing his food preperation? Does he for instance have the same reaction when eating in an Indian restaurant or someone else is cooking spicy food for him?

It is very difficult to work out what may be causing his problems. It could be a million things, as Steve says; foods, drinks, oils, cream's, washing-soap, shampoos, soaps, parfumes, some medication he is taking etc. ec. The best thing will be to see a skin specialist, who may have seen this thing many times and may be able to diagnose on the spot, or conduct some tests..

Best wishes.

Mamta

thankyou for the replys so far.

he can not wash up because this makes his condition worse. he only eats rice with curry and uses ghee most of the time to cook with. he doesnt use any soap or shampoo at all and has not done for a long time. wearing gloves also worsens his fingers because i got a box of vynal gloves for him and it did him no favours.

the reason why we initially thought it was garlic is because i read somewhere that when garlic is crushed or chopped it lets out a chemical that can cause reddening of the skin and blistering...but this doesnt account for why he would get the dermititis on his feet. we are in the proccess of eliminating garlic from his diet for a few weeks and then we will see if this helps at all. if this doesnt work then we will eliminate chilli next but all the time staying on the indian foods. if this doesnt help then we will have to start looking at individual spices.

we came across an article somewhere that says some people can develop contact dermititis from turmeric but i assume this means touching it which is something he does not do.

thankyou

anita

It could be garlic as I'm sure you "sweat it out".. so it could be getting to his feet...

Steve

then why only one hand?

yes steve it is quite possibly garlic. hopefully this is the problem because he enjoys indian food and other spicy foods without garlic and actually says they taste nicer without garlic.

he made a mixed vegetable curry two days ago without using garlic and it actually tasted nicer than it does with garlic in it.

he made something this evening with minced beef [something mexican] and it tasted much better without garlic. i am now even beginning to question why i use so much garlic......it's almost like an addicction

....

Hello Anita

Garlic is a personal taste, as far as Indian cooking is concerned. As I have mentioned several times before in other discussions, half the population in India, especially vegetarian one, does not eat garlic and you can make very tasty Indian food without it. But why would ingested garlic cause dermatitis only in one hand or localised allergy anywhere? Eating it would cause more generalised reaction. Same is true of turmeric or anything else for that matter? From what you are describing, it sounds more like contact dermatitis to me, localised. I would still say that before you deprive him of various foods he loves, please see a skin specialist, if he hasn't already, who will take a full history, look at it and do some allergy tests if necessary. Admittedly, allergies are not always easy to diagnose, but it is worth a shot.

Best wishes

Mamta

"why only one hand"

Maybe one hand comes into more contact than the other, as one holds the knife while the other holds the garlic and keeps touching the board its been cut on. Onions on same board etc ?

Steve

I fully concur with Mamta (no change there then!) I replied in exactly the same way, only my script never got put up (something about spam?) anyways, my sentiments exactly! Ingested material can only be transported by the blood (or lymph system?) so this one hand thing makes little sense to me.

Puzzled. Please tell us what you find, it may help others. I hope it is resolved.

Garlic is one of those foods/herbs (I think garlic has become known more as a vegetable nowadays given how much of it people eat) and it has a really really strong flavour, to the point that it can over power food. I think people eat that much of it today that they have got used to its flavour, and when it is taken away people instantly notice that something is missing.

I don't use garlic in my cooking anymore. I am vegetarian and I think that food taste heaps nicer when you don't use garlic. I cooked a mixed vegetable curry this evening and it tasted far better without the garlic. I guess it is a personal choice, but in my opinion people eat too much garlic.

I was staying at a friends house last night, and he had some chilli con carne in his fridge. When I took the lid off it the smell just hit me like a boxers glove. I tasted a little of the sauce and it was just over powered with garlic. I make a vegetarian chilli (is that chilli sin carne?) and it tastes just great - to me anyway - and I don't use garlic.

I have no problems with using other members of the allium family, but garlic is something I avoid now.

Isn't is Chilli sans carne, rather than con/with meat..

I read that the English are now eating more garlic per head than the Northern French. Is it our national love of garlic bread or Chicken Kiev? TV chefs encouraging us to roast whole garlic, or the British love of curry with the misconception that lots of garlic (and chillies) are a requisite? All contribute I suppose!

Winton

If he has the same little blisters that I get on my fingers it has nothing to do with food. It's got a lot to do with the nervous system. He could try a multi-vitamin supplement that is balanced to support the nerves.

Cut out anything that may be detrimental to the nervous system (smoking and drinking spring to mind).

A guy I know used to be into hallucinogenic mushrooms and one day he took and extremely large dose and ended up having a really bad trip ? one that has affected his life ever since. He ended up suffering from paranoia, anxiety and panic attacks (I'm no doctor but I assume they are all to do with the nervous system) and he has never really been the same guy ever since. However, one thing he did start suffering from was similar to what the original poster had mentioned ? blisters on the body (in particular the hands) and has had them ever since...and they break out into dry patches of skin (like the original poster had mentioned).