Wow, have just had a look at that site & thats my teenage years!!! down to the secondary infections and uv treatment.

The blisters under skin are usually the beginning of an outbreak

Yeah, that's exactly it (gross pics eh!  And thank god I've not had an infection like a couple of those poor sods!).  And to answer your q Kerryn, kinda a bit of both.  Luckily my hands have been mild in recent years - just crazy with dryness and some peeling where the blisters have been, but were teeny tiny ones.  I'd love to have something more effective than a steroid cream and moisturisers in my arsenal. 

OK so it's not Ella - she's got the regular kind of eczema, and thankfully she doesn't have too much trouble with it.  No, it's me who has these itchy, annoying blisters that appear on my feet and hands during a flare-up, and finally my GP diagnosed dyshidrotic eczema, a.k.a vesicular eczema.  It started years ago, but co-incided with the onset of a rather serious and long-term condition that I had and Doc's always put them down to that but were unable to explain what they were or why they appeared.  It's great to now know what it is, but it's getting really annoying this summer (only appears in summer months).  Does anyone else have this or have kids with it, and what have you found helpful?  I moisturise heaps, use aqueous cream, don't soap up, and don't sunbathe this summer, but it's getting worse rather than better.  The only seasonal changes to my diet are about more salads in summer (which has never been a problem), but not this year - I've just been chugging on with the winter veg mostly. 

TIA