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What are these orange stains that have appeared on my hands overnight?

(471 Posts)
25Avalon Thu 13-Feb-20 11:00:12

This happened first about 3 weeks ago and I thought it was because I had handled a Satsuma. It wouldn't wash off but disappeared over 24 hours. Then I woke up this morning to find dark iodine coloured stains down my index finger and light orange blotches on both palms and on the back of my thumb. I have googled this and nobody seems to know what it is so I am wondering if anyone on gn has come across this?

Lin52 Tue 29-Jun-21 11:11:02

Please do not scrub your hands with bleach. Very dangerous. Could tell you an awful story about someone who did this, with disastrous consequences.
As others advise, go see your GP, more reliable than Google,

Shropshirelass Tue 29-Jun-21 09:23:35

Do you have lilies? The pollen stains terribly.

3dognight Tue 29-Jun-21 09:21:35

I get these stains too, it seems to get into every crevice of my chewed finger nails and onto my palms. It always appears after scraping new potatoes and pruning tomatoes.

25Avalon Tue 29-Jun-21 09:02:40

25Avalon

Thanks Cassiesierra18 I have followed your posting and see there is not just something called carotenemia but the similar lycopenemia from eating tomatoes, beetroot, and red peppers amongst others. Looking back over my previous posts I see I remarked on eating raw Romano sweet red peppers in a salad and this could be what caused it. Apparently you only need a small quantity and as I don’t eat salad every day in the winter this would explain why it went away after a few days and came back sporadically. I haven’t had Romano peppers during lockdown and no orange hands.

Other posters may like to think back to what they have eaten.

This is an earlier post on this thread that I am reposting as I am convinced that in my case it was lycopenemia. I have eaten no red Romano peppers chopped up in salads and I have had no further reoccurances. It is not an external stain from something you have handled. It will not wash or scrub off. It is from something eaten. Chilli sauce could well be a culprit as it is in concentrated form and chillies are usually red. I shall be careful of it.

TrendyNannie6 Tue 29-Jun-21 08:44:48

The only time I’ve had that was years ago when used a fake tan

Ali08 Tue 29-Jun-21 08:43:09

Sorry, I just saw your updatd and cant remember how to delete/edit my last comment!
It looks like pollen - have you touched any flowers or plants that may have temporarily dyed your skin?
Or have you touched anything rusty?
It does look vaguely familiar to me, but I really can't think why!

Ali08 Tue 29-Jun-21 08:37:40

Did you find out what this was?

Fennel Mon 28-Jun-21 20:29:32

I think this is about the most fascinating thread on Gransnet!
@Kkflow - I agree about secretions from stinkbugs. I've had discoloration from that too.
I've had the orange stain on my hands overnight occasionally but it's always shortlived. I've looked up on Google over the years and all I've found on palms of hands was liver problems. But that was red flushes not orange.
Could it be connected with Covid?

zieg Sun 27-Jun-21 22:23:28

So it's been three days, and the orange splotches have more or less disappeared. This leads me to believe it was just a fun lil bodily reaction to high stress and anxiety. I'm really not sure what else it could have been.

zieg Thu 24-Jun-21 12:54:06

Wanted to add one more thing. Just cut my left thumbnail to see of the orange hue was there and, lo and behold, I was. Untainted right thumb for comparison.

Whitewavemark2 Thu 24-Jun-21 12:41:22

I’ve had orange stains on my towels.

DH sorting out his tomatoes and not thoroughly washing his hands?

zieg Thu 24-Jun-21 12:35:00

Forgot to attach pictures! The discoloration is more apparent in person, as others have stated.

zieg Thu 24-Jun-21 12:32:01

Hey there! To echo others, woke up today with orange splotches on my left hand. I've had red sauce and pasta for 3 out of my last 4 meals, but that doesn't feel too odd. Fungus from a banana seems unlikely, although I did eat a banana yesterday, because of repeat instances from others. I am 21/M who just moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Düsseldorf, Germany a couple of days ago. I could be stress related? I'm right-handed so it's appearance on my left hand makes me think that it isn't something I grabbed. It doesn't seem that anyone else has experienced any other relates symptoms other than the skin discoloration. I've been vaxxed with Moderna since late April, but this thread has existed much before the onset of vaccine distribution, leading me to think that there is no correlation.

I find it odd that it has discolored part of my left thumbnail as well. Not the whole thing, just a little bit. I feel like I would've noticed this before, but the fact that it isn't the whole nail puzzles me. Will keep y'all posted on any changes or new developments.

Science101 Wed 09-Jun-21 19:19:04

You can also get it from fruit that has the fungus like someone who posted about getting it after peeling very ripe bananas (bananas come from the tropics). The actual fungus is called, Hortaea werneckii fungus, but the condition in humans is called TINEA NIGRA.

Science101 Wed 09-Jun-21 18:43:13

You can get it if you have very sweaty hands or feet. Using salicylic acid should help, sometimes you’ll need to add a fungal cream too

Science101 Wed 09-Jun-21 18:40:19

For those of you not consuming foods with beta carotene, you may have a fungus called “tinea nigra “. People in the tropics tend to get it, it likes salt. You can get it from wood, soil, vegetation that has it, like gardening without gloves. But you don’t have to live in the tropics to get it

Aikaterine Thu 03-Jun-21 15:10:56

I also just registered only because of this! I can't find any information nor did my doctor know what these orange spots could be. I am 1 week after the 1st Pfizer shot, and have felt a collection of side effects from tasting iron and neck pain to pins and needles in the whole body. And now this! Went to bed normal, woke up with orange fingers! I am not scared of it, and I am not against the vaccination, just interesting that so many people have it and nobody knows why...

cvmillemve Sun 23-May-21 22:59:23

Kkflow

So I’ve been getting these random spots as well, and I think I may have found something.... it’s from secretions of a stink bug that is commonly found on citrus! We got a bag of satsumas that don’t look in their best shape, and I’m guessing this is what’s causing it. I suppose it could be on any produce. What do we think?? wiki.secretgeek.net/bronze-orange-bug-stains

That’s very interesting! I don’t handle or ingest citrus at all but I do have a lot of house plants. My main issue with this idea as far as my experience goes is that the staining happened in my sleep. Also there was no smell at all and it didn’t hurt. I don’t live where these specific bugs live but we do have a different kind of stink bug and have had them secret orange fluids on me before from handling them. It always washes off right away and has a very distinct scent to it. this might be an explanation for some of the people on this forum though!

Flutterbybye Wed 19-May-21 09:21:43

Just joined as I too have woke for the 3rd time with this. Thought I had been sleep walking and taken my daughters tanning lotion! Anyone found out what it is?

Kkflow Sat 15-May-21 04:11:02

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

GoodJujuBeans Wed 12-May-21 02:16:53

Wow. Very strange. I have had my mark for 4 days now, which has slowly faded. I’m 32/F, live in Washington. No changes in diet.. but my hand did feel soar the day before the mark, and I assumed it was a bruise of some kind but could not for the life of me remember a time when I would’ve hurt my hand. And there was no longer any pain or tenderness when the mark showed up the day after like you’d expect with a bruise.
I do eat lots of leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables.. regularly. I got my Moderna Vax in March and April.
I’m curious what herbs and seasonings people are eating? One minor change I made to my diet is cooking with Creole seasoning the past month or so which has an orange tinge to it, and I use burts bees face wipes which has sodium benzoate in it.. which someone had mentioned.
Did anyone notice the layer of skin was an orange tint to it that they were able to rub off? I’ve started to rub it off at day 5 now and it’s orangish but the stain seems much deeper than the first layer of skin.

Just65 Tue 11-May-21 18:07:11

I woke up this morning with this! A rusty colured patch on the palm of my hand and a couple of fingers. Doesn't wash off, but has definitely shrunk as the day passes, it was twice the size of the stain in the pic. How strange! No salad or peppers to eat yesterday, I was fasting and all I ate was cauliflower cheese and veggie sausages so not obviously food related! Anyone ever get to the bottom of it?

TheDude Fri 23-Apr-21 08:51:48

I got the same thing the last 2 days. I am 24/M and live in Germany. I can just remember what might be interesting that my head was hurting for a really short time yesterday in the evening.

Maybe it is some conscious matter... What is your believe system. do you meditate or pray? Do you do other mindful practices?

I meditated more often the recent weeks and worked on my general flexibility of my body...

Lets find out what is going on!smile

jb111 Thu 22-Apr-21 14:14:11

I also get orange/iodine colored stains on my hands, more prominently on my left hand, and they seem to come and go quite randomly. I can't find anything definitive on the internet. Its hard to capture a decent photo of them.

MadiiLowe Tue 20-Apr-21 22:23:59

I’m so glad this forum exists! Haha
I’m 26, female live in NSW, Australia.
I have this too! Used to happen to me a lot as a young teen apparently? But just happened again to me last night after about a decade of nothing.
I haven’t changed diet, no fake tan, nothing in my house that stains, no bell peppers, no other stains on my bed, all the same stuff as everyone else... just very confused.
Someone should take this forum to a lab and start a research on it ??