Lumps or bumps from pressure or friction?

Does anyone here get lumps or bumps from rubbing or bumping repeatedly certain body parts especially arms and fingers? (like from things causing friction?)

For example... if I am trying to put things in boxes and tape the boxes and I have to hold the boxes closed and this requires a little bit of pressure - wherever my fingers touched something and created friction even just a few times - deeper single little bumps almost like deep blisters will form (one per area affected) and my fingers at these spots go crazy nerve sensitive and I cant touch things without pain unless I put a bandaid over the spot to act as a buffer so nothing can graze the finger and aggravate the hyper sensitive nerves around the bumps. I can get this from also holding things that are even slightly heavy. Wherever they rested on my fingers - that's where the bumps form. By the next day they arent as sensitive and by day 3 they are gone completely. I have talked to RA doc about them and he mentioned possibly RA nodules but said that how fast they come on and go does not make them sound like this is what they are. The are not a water blisters (they are too deep) and the skin never flakes off nor do they ever drain like a water blister could.

The other lump/bumps I get are larger ones for example on my forearm just from my under forearm resting/bouncing against my keyboard as I type on the laptop. The lump will go away in 2-3 days but will swell and be painful to touch until that happens so I have to take a break from whatever activity caused the lump to form in the first place.

This has only come on in the last 18 months and I have been diagnosed with RA for the last almost 4 years. I will say that I have been pretty much out of control for a myriad of reasons the last two years so things are not in check as far as disease progression but I am more curious if this could be a RA side effect or some other auto-immune issue manifesting.

Anyone ever have something similar happen? I also have been getting blood blisters on the sides of my fingernails from my fingers swelling right next to my nailbeds. This also started around the same time.

Believe it or not I have had those types of bumps before when really stressed out but these are totally different. They dont come on in clumps of lumps and arent colored or fluid filled that I can tell in any way. These are much deeper. Definitely not right on top of the skin and they never flake off or drain or anything like that. They just come on and then disappear within a few days.

Thanks for posting this. I get these "blisters" too. Like you said; they aren't really blisters because threre is no fluid associated with them. Just a small bump/lump forms and it is quite painful to the touch. I get them from flicking a lighter, writing, even just rubbing my thumb with my index finger. I have gotten them after cutting veggies, holding a heavy pot while washing it, scooping ice cream and grooming my cats.

Edited by NJ Marie - 26 June 2012 at 6:18am