Antibiotic Ointent make wounds worse?

[Terrier_Lady]

Hi everyone, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve written a post and just living with the daily problems that lupus cause. Anyways this year my skin issues from lupus seem to have become pretty bad. The disease seems to be attacking my skin much more often and once it causes wounds it takes weeks to get them to heal. It usually starts out as my skin starts to feel like it’s burning everywhere, and super sensitive. Things that wouldn’t cut or scrape normally hurt and cause scratches. Once this starts I know that my skin is being attacked and it’s usually not long before my fingertips become extremely sore and then the splits and sores start. My finger tips will get splits in them, and the lines of my fingerprints start splitting. Once they split they just want to keep going and with all the tissue and nerve damage from the disease it hurts significantly more that a would caused by injury. The backs of my hands start to get a rash which then turns into little sores and scabs, and the lines on the tops of my fingers start splitting open or turning into what looks like little cuts where the lines are. I’m not really sure if it splits or if it’s just a breakdown of the thinner parts of the skin from the disease. Anyways I try everything possible to get them to heal but nothing seems to work until the tissue no longer feels like it’s under attack. When it calms down I will notice my hands won’t feel as sensitive and then healing will start. This used to only happen occasionally but this year has been really bad in that it seems like a new attack will start before my skin has completely healed from the last attack. So I’m curious if anyone else experiences something similiar? I am so careful with my hands now, try to minimize hand washing, to the point I will even use disposeable gloves for certain things. My skin doesn’t feel dry at all but I have found a certain all natural lotion that helps soothe the burning feeling and I use that many times a day when my skin is bad. So it isn’t a moisture issue. When this happens the other lupus induced sores I get on my body usually start bleeding too. But my big question is when you have lupus induced sores does antibiotic ointment make them worse? My husband gets dry hands that crack do to his work. He puts antibiotic ointment and bandages them to get them to heal. So when he sees my hands look bad he always wants to do the same for me because he thinks it will promote healing and prevent infection as I’m on chemo, biologics, steroids and all the other lupus meds. But I find that when we use the ointment my fingers and sores hurt so much more. When I just try and keep them clean and bandaged it still takes forever to heal and won’t completely heal until the flare dies down, but they don’t hurt as much. My thought is that maybe the antibiotic cream is cotributing to tissue damage as the disease attacks the skin with my bodies antibodies much like taking oral antibiotics can induce a flare. I’m not sure if this is possible and hubby seems to think that the ointment can only do good. So I’m curious if anyone else has had a similiar issue with it. It makes everything hurt so much more I don’t see how it can be helping, so maybe it isn’t good for those with autoimmine conditions. It’s to the point I can’t pick things up without pain and even the pressure it takes to tear a piece of paper such as opening the mail will make the splits in my fingers bleed. Any thoughts or experiences would greatly be appreciated.

[AnnNY]

I know I have a lot of different things that I have used on my skin I'm allergic to or sensitive to.

[Terrier_Lady in reply to AnnNY]

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking about it today and wondering if maybe that might be the problem. Not the antibiotic properties but something in the cream. It’s so hard as I’ve used it my entire life, so I forget how sensitive I am to things now. Even being under fluorescent lighting for about 15-20 mins and my malar rash starts popping up. When I go for my infusions they turn the row of lights above me off. Crazy all the strange things this disease does. Thanks again.

[MVJohn62]

Suffering with same problem and had bad experiences with antibiotics creams and quickly healing organic agents, now settled with Hydroheal AM which is an amorphous hydrogel wound dressing with colloidal silver.

But for me it takes 2 to 3 weeks heal, may be because I gets emissions in the foot. Check with the Dermatologist whether it's suitable for your case.

Skin become more sensitive with prolonged use of immune suppresing medication.

Wish you a Happy Christmas 🌲

[Chanpreet_Walia LUPUS UK]

Hi Terrier_Lady,

Have you spoken to your doctor about the ointment that you are using? Your doctor may refer you to a dermatologist if needed. Exposure to certain ingredients can have the potential to trigger a flare in lupus, so it is often advised to be cautious when considering products like ointments and creams.

Raynaud’s phenomenon is where blood flow may be restricted in the fingertips, potentially causing open sores to develop which can become infected if not treated. To learn more about Raynaud’s phenomenon click here: lupusuk.org.uk/coping-with-...

Taking extra precautions such as using disposable gloves is a great idea. We published a booklet on lupus and skin which you can read here: lupusuk.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Please let us know how you get on, wishing you all the best.