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I'm being attacked by the itches
Shurakai
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Over the past couple weeks I have been getting progressively itchier. Now, I'm talking all over, but most prolifically the back (rib area), chest, collarbone, and arms. If I was developing a rash I would have gone to the doctor already, but im not. My skin looks perfectly healthy.
When I am idle, its there, and when I am moving around like at work, it doesn't seem bad enough to distract me. The time of day where I notice it the most is after I wake up and have a hot shower. This is actually almost a plus to the whole ordeal, as hot water feels almost orgasmic. Its like a thousand fingers scratching at the previously harmless seeming itch and causing me to nearly drool with ecstasy.
Now, the only thing I could think of being a cause would be my foam mattress on top of my bed, which I of course have a bedsheet on top of. I have used a foam mattress for two or three years and it hasn't caused any problems, but its honestly the only thing I can think of.
So, my questions are,
Any ideas as to what the cause might be?
and
How long should I wait before I seek the advice of a medical professional?
When I am idle, its there, and when I am moving around like at work, it doesn't seem bad enough to distract me. The time of day where I notice it the most is after I wake up and have a hot shower. This is actually almost a plus to the whole ordeal, as hot water feels almost orgasmic. Its like a thousand fingers scratching at the previously harmless seeming itch and causing me to nearly drool with ecstasy.
Now, the only thing I could think of being a cause would be my foam mattress on top of my bed, which I of course have a bedsheet on top of. I have used a foam mattress for two or three years and it hasn't caused any problems, but its honestly the only thing I can think of.
So, my questions are,
Any ideas as to what the cause might be?
and
How long should I wait before I seek the advice of a medical professional?
Shurakai on
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My doctor told me to use less soap.
It could also be that your skin is dry since it's the wintertime, maybe not enough to make it visibly look different but enough to make it itch. One thing you can try to test this is to get some really good moisturizing lotion like Aveeno Itch Relief cream and put it on the parts that have been itching both immediately after your shower and right before you go to bed for 3-4 days. The really important part is NO EXCEPTIONS, keep putting it on at least twice a day for at least 3-4 days (even if it isn't itching right at the moment) and see if it gets better. If it does, then your skin was dried out and if you keep putting it on regularly until it gets to warmer months than you should be fine.
If neither the reducing/changing soap/detergent or the lotion works then yeah, go to a doctor and try to think of any changes you might have made. Things like changes in diet, changes in soap, changes in detergent or fabric softener, changes in environment, etc are all things that would help to know if you have to go to a doctor.
try washing your sheets
And, sadly, it's better if you take showers that are less hot, and for less time.
This is what happens to me as well. My skin gets very dry in the winter.
Whenever I exercise or my blood pressure gets elevated, I get an intense, almost painful, pins and needles/iching sensation on my arms/neck/chest/back mostly. Sometimes if I just keep exercising and begin to sweat it will go away, but sometimes its too much and I have to stop. Goes away once it warms up, weird huh?
But that's also why you can't scratch it to make it go away -- it's inside your body. And can happen anywhere there's capillaries.
High phosphorus is usually found to cause tingling in your extremities or extremely itchy skin, and cramps and spasms.
I also had two winters in a row where I was getting dry itchy skin on my arms, and if I scratched it then the skin would get red and broken in patches.
This winter I finally saw a doctor about it, and he said that the eczema had to do with depleting my skin's moisture. He said drink more fluids, avoid hot showers (doh), don't scrub those areas with soap when I am in the shower, and to towel off by dabbing rather than rubbing. And then he prescribed a mometasone fluorate ointment to apply once a day to affected areas. Doing all of that, the problem resolved itself in like four days. I'm not moisturizing or drinking extra fluids or anything at this point and it hasn't come back. It was apparently mostly the hot showers.
Hey, thanks for this. I may have to look this up. I get weird random spasms in my legs sometimes. Doesn't matter what I'm doing. Sitting, or just finished running. It's random and it's in my legs only. Sometimes it carries on for a few minutes, sometimes it's only once or twice.
Does it only happen in your legs?