Mechanic's hands

What it means

Mechanic's hands are fissured, erythematous, hyperkeratotic eruptions on the hands, resembling the type of occupational dermatosis said to resemble the hands of a manual laborer. The lesions are classically on the lateral edges of the fingers and thumbs, largely sparing the palmar, and dorsal aspects of the digits.

This feature can be observed in antisynthetase syndrome (ASyS), an autoimmune disease clinically manifested most often by interstitial lung disease, myositis, and arthritis.

Rare diseases that can present with this2

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category