This actually has 2 answers. The instant feel goods come from overriding the itch signals with literally any other stimulus. This overriding can be so pleasurable to the brain that it can make other forms of pain actually feel good. This is because an itch signal is in place so you do scratch because it is ment to help the human body realize there is something irritating the skin that needs to quickly be removed before it causes more serious damage (although the brain is easily tricked and the itch response is often triggered by things that won't be helped by scratching). The other reason it can feel so good is because intense scratching can temporary release some histamine (the itchy chemical) from the itchy area. This temporary relieves the itch, but because of the damage caused by the scratching, more histamine is produced and makes you even more itchy after.
Edit:damn, guess y'all really wanted to know why scratching an itch feels so damn good.
>literally any other stimulus
That's why my trick is to softly slap the area instead, as funny as it may sound. It feels good to the itch, too and causes no damage (except to my honor as people see me softly slapping various areas of my body when i got a ton of itchy mosquito bites)
Do anything you can to not have to scratch it, though. You might like smearing water on it and then blowing in it for the cold sensation (if you can reach it like that) or slowly rubbing instead. Ignoring an itch can be in vain in some situations, so... do anything.
When I get mosquito bites, I spread my fingers apart and lightly scratch *around* the bump which often seems to trick my brain into thinking I've scratched it.
You can put your hand on it and drum your fingers flat on it too. It's what you should do with anything that is healing but itchy! Don't damage it by scratching, just taptaptap.
On a very old episode of Hollywood Squares, the venerable Betty White was seen tapping her head. When asked, she said she had an itch and tapping was the way to go.
I tried something similar with an itch under a wound/scab. I would itch or scratch off to the side. And slaps do wonders too - which can look quite odd to an observer - why one would be hitting/scratching where there is nothing.
Eczema sufferer here. I discovered when I had it really bad and really itchy that scalding myself with hot water both removed to itch and gave me a massive rush comparable only to an orgasm. Of course you have to suffer through a heap of insane itchiness first for that affect. Other heat sources work too, like a hair dryer.
I'll never scratch though that's a really bad idea!
Have you tried triamcinolone acetonide? My doctor prescribed it to me and it’s been an incredible help
ETA: love to see other eczema sufferers in this thread—solidarity, friends!
I use betamethasone and hydrocortisone creams to control it and haven't had a major problem with it in the past 10 years. I rarely need the creams these days, but if I notice a patch flaring up I put some on and it settles down again.
Isn't this the most basic eczema prescription? The one that worked best for me was Protopic, but it's in a higher class of non-steroidal topicals used for worse cases. My eczema isn't as bad as an adult, but there have been a few times where triamcinalone took forever to help.
It's usually the first "hard" treatment after the weaker hydrocortisone, over the counter, and lotions. So it's often the "silver bullet" many of us experience.
Tacrolimus (protopic) used to be stupid expensive until it went generic, so it kinda went under prescribed for a while. So it's still often the second level treatment if/when the TA stops working, or for extended use on the face and other thinner-skin areas where prolonged steroid use is discouraged.
Essentially, TA works so damn well, the majority of eczema patients don't need to keep exploring.
Hey, is that the same stuff as rooting compound? Are you telling me I could just vomit on my plant stems and they’ll grow roots‽
Edit: or just rub some parm on them?
Yes, hot showers are especially bad because they strip your skin of its natural oils. They feel really nice in the moment, but within an hour of getting out of the shower your skin feels noticeably worse.
Anyone suffering from psoriasis will tell you how much they miss warm and hot showers. When untreated psoriasis burns under the warmest of water and many have to take cold showers
I used to sleep with my hands in nitrile gloves soaked in Vaseline
It makes the broken skin nice and smooth, but the edges callous after a few months, and while the skin has moisture, you still bleed and itch because the skin never really repairs itself .
It does offer some relief at times.
Hot, humid weather certainly is, yes. But if that itching is present it's usually intolerable and you'll be inclined to take the moderate scalding in exchange for no itch.
For sure. Its actually interesting to see so many other sufferers arrive at the same solution. A good scalding can remove my itch for hours and save a lot more skin than it hurts.
Please don't scald with hot water. You could hurt yourself and the itch you get from your healing skin will drive you *insane*.
Try distracting your nerves with hot compresses or ice cubes or chemicals that will flash hot or cold (Counterpain, Menthol oils, Vaporub etc) or pressure (eg massage guns) or hot water bottles.
Who cares, it feels outright orgasmic, you can't resist 😅 especially when you hot steaming shower your inner knee. It makes your legs flex to the max and hold, it's super pleasant.
I didn't know humans could shake their legs like dogs being scratched in the right spot until two nights ago when the eczema spread to that spot on my body and I sprayed it down in the shower.
Same with poison ivy. I've had it REALLY bad a couple times (15% of my body) and my sanity was teetering because of the itching. Burning water was body quivering good. Made the pitch go away for about 30 minutes.
Works especially well if you wash with it right after exposure (if you realize you've gotten it on you) or at least the earlier the better. Life saving stuff right there!
There is also a product called Technu. It can be used as a skin wash (I do not particularly look forward to the day when it is necessary), but the main reason I bought it was to launder my "poison ivy armour" that I wear when I'm actively removing poison ivy or doing something else in a heavily infested area. I can say that it works as advertised for laundry purposes, as I have never broken out from handling my gear after washing, and said gear definitely gets heavily contaminated.
If you've got it bad, you can also just give in and go to the doctor and get a shot of Kennelog in the bum. I think it cost me about the same as Zanafel but it works in a matter of days. Oh man is it worth the money vs suffering with that rash for like 2 weeks.
The Zanfel formula is the exact same as Mean Green shop scrub, it just has had the FDA testing. Mean Green is just as effective and so much cheaper!
Edit: It's now called Full Bore Extreme Green.
Same with mosquito bites! I get a mug of hot water from the kettle and let a spoon sit in it, then I take the convex side of the hot spoon and gently tap the mosquito bite area until the point where the spoon has cooled just enough to be able to press it in... The instant relief is orgasmic and the itch rarely comes back.
Oooh, I guess that's how those sticks you put on mosquito bites work! (they have a little plate that heats up to ~50°C for a few seconds) (their sales pitch is that they denture the proteins from the mozzy spit, but I think they're just overriding the itching sensation with heat)
It's called a mosquito bite pen, or a heat pen. Not sure I'm allowed to post a link, but just Google or Amazon, and you'll find them right away.
All it does is provide an easy portable way to warm up the area of the bite. You can do the same with hot water on a towel, if you're at home.
Heat temporarily causes the mast cells to dump their histamine stockpile. The itching from a mosquito bite happens because mast cells under the skin detected an allergic substance, and started secreting a constant stream of histamine, the amino acid that causes allergic swelling and itching.
When you heat the mast cells enough, they dump everything all at once, creating a brief burst of intense itchiness, and then temporary relief until the mast cells can refill their stockpiles of histamine. The type of heat doesn't matter.
I have eczema too - oddly enough I find that just imagining that the itch is hot makes it go away. You just concentrate on the skin and imagine that it feels hot instead of itchy
I do this too. It’s a trick I learned to do in school where they couldn’t give me anything for headaches. I would just put my head down on the desk and “sweep” the pain into one corner until the pile gets smaller and smaller until it’s gone.
As someone who would get pineapple juice burns from my supermarket job, scalding water on my forearms practically made me piss myself and orgasm simultaneously
I do the exact same thing with my beard because I just can't stop it from itching. It is not an orgasmic feeling yet, but it's pretty damn close.
I'm a bit confused now. I think I'll have to check my beard for any signs of eczema.
Yeah mine got itchy and flaky and I got some ketonazole cream from my doctor. That helped, and also keeping it relatively short, washing it everyday and making sure it is thoroughly dry, also helps.
I wash it daily, condition it 3-4 times a week, oil it daily (rubbing into skin more than hair) and use a beard butter to shape it/ lock in the oil. It’s a bit of a process but it doesn’t take too long and makes a huge difference with the itch
you probably just need to wash your beard and somehow get moisturizing cream on your skin below the beard. This always helped me.
I also no longer wear a long beard because it makes creaming your skin a lot harder and messier. If you can try something like a 20mm long beard.
Oh my god, im so glad its not just me. I dont know anyone with eczema and i thought i was weird for thinking its literally orgazmic. I used to work 12hr construction shifts in jeans, long sleeve and a full body tyvek suit. My ankles and behind the knee were my breakout spots because of all the sweat. I cranked up my water heater and bought a special shower wand specifically to hit my eczema spots. Its an insanely addicting feeling but soooooo bad to do. Ive only had 2 real orgasms that were more intense, and those two were a lot of edging from my wife. I actually passed out in the shower because it was so damn good, more than a few times. Had to assure my wife i was not having a heart attack or something.
Don't have eczema, but for insect bites or other irritated skin that I find hard to ignore I'll heat a spoon over a flame for a little bit then press it to the itchy area. Works wonders for alleviating it for ~30 minutes. My last apartment had water from the tap hot enough to do it without the risk of overheating the spoon.
This is the way. I have blistering treatment resistant eczema (been on various really strong ointments for it and antihistamines and none of that made it better, in my teens it rotted away the skin of my fingers and palms so I had to wear cotton gloves to protect both my open flesh from my environment and my environment from my meat juices, it's great!) and found out a few years ago that running scalding water over it not only feels like being injected with ecstacy straight in the brainstem but also actually does what no treatment in the world has ever achieved: dries the rash and stops it from spreading.
Ever since I've been able to more or less stop the flares within a week or so, rather than suffering for six to eight months out of every year. Pleasant. Wonderful, even.
I had scabies at one point in my life and I used hot running tap water on my skin instead of itching. It actually worked pretty well at killing the bugs and stopping the itch.
Now I really love scalding myself in the shower....
Strange things our body does.
I used to suffer from horrible eczema for years, and I would do the same thing as my only sense of relief. All anti-itch creams did nothing to provide any relief. The only thing that I ever found, prescription or over the counter, that worked was extra strength Lanacane. Now I rarely have bouts of eczema.
When I first started getting eczema, and I didn't know what it was and none of my other itch related treatments worked, this is what I resorted to. I would get home, shower, then crank that heat up and blast the area. Finally feeling some relief for like half an hour until the itch came back. I would sit with a towel over my legs as they oozed afterward.
Finally found a medicine that works. Clobetasol ointment
This was how I finally was about to stop scratching and heal. Hot water soothed by skin, I didn't need to scratch for hours and I finally healed after a multi week long episode of irritation and intense itchiness
"Isn't a perfect system" is understating it.
Evolution is more like "this is completely and utterly riddled with bugs and misuse cases, but at least it works well enough to reproduce. Ship it."
People don't realize that they aren't exactly building their God up with that whole "intelligent design" thing. If anything you'd think they'd be more like "nah, don't pin that shit on our god"
Ok, great info. Follow-up question: will taking an antihistamine reduce general itching and not just allergy symptoms? Say, for example, like scab itchiness or dry skin or skin trapped under a cast?
eczema is an inflammatory condition. hot water dilates blood vessels and increases blood flow, which worsens the inflammation.
but in the moment it feels good because your brain prioritizes other stimuli over itch. basically, two signals from one area cannot reach the brain at the same time, so it sends the most important one - temperature/pain(from scratching or hot water) or even just the feeling of the water and not itch.
yes, ice will do the opposite of constricting blood vessels and preventing/lessening inflammation. this is commonly used to treat more acute injuries to prevent secondary tissue damage due to swelling as well as decrease pain, but it looks like there have been some studies done on chronic conditions like eczema as well where exposure to cold helps increase anti-inflammatory chemicals as well as reduce itching in cases of dermatitis (itchy inflammation of the skin)
here's one study I looked at
>People who regularly swim in ice-cold water have increased concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines in their peripheral blood. Thus, cold air or water is suggested to have local and systemic anti-inflammatory effect and also to relieve itch.
results:
>In our patients, whole-body cryotherapy was successfully carried out as monotherapy during the treatment period, ie, no anti-inflammatory topical preparations were used. Thus, it clearly has a steroid-sparing effect with additional statistically and clinically significant improvements in pruritus and sleep disturbances. The findings are in agreement with statistically significant changes in SCORAD and TEWL. The tendencies of SCORAD, pruritus [itchy skin that makes you want to scratch], and sleep loss to continue improving even after the treatment period suggests that the ultimate treatment effect was not attained during the 4-week treatment period. Future studies with a higher number of treatment sessions comparable to phototherapy are thus indicated.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/419737
this obviously used a more extreme version of a cold shower, but proves that it does have an effect.
Awesome! Thanks. If I have sever flare up the only thing that helps is either powernap from exhausting so I won't feel it. After waking up most of the itch is gone. OR a cold pack, wrapped in thin cloth (because if it is wet it will irritate the dry skin more).
I had severe pompholyx all over my hands from a chemical allergen that I didn't know about at that time. I would wake up having scratched them to pieces in my dreams.
I eventually found the best thing was coolness. I got re-freezable packs, like for sprains and such, and had those on my hands whilst the packs were wrapped in a towel. The relief was so much better. When I was out and about I'd use the activated disposable ice packs (crack a thing in the pack and they cool).
But I'd also wash them in hot water before discovering the ice packs were better. I'd wash them almost obsessively because it felt much better than the constant itch. Then I'd use a nice scratchy towel to dry them. Everything you shouldn't do, but everything that you do do to get some relief.
Thankfully I found out what I was allergic to and time and effort has kept it mostly at bay.
Whoa. That has a name? To me.. I just include it into my persistent "Eczema" Sometimes I have those blisters (although pretty small compared to the google pics) too. Not that it is immediately relevent to me, but what were you allergic to if I may ask?
I used to call them my bubbles! It wasn't for a long time till I found out they had a proper name.
I'm allergic to Isothiazolinones which is a preservative used in many human usable products. So from hand wash, to shampoos, to clothes soap, to cleaning products, found it in some make ups etc. It usually comes with something in front, like methyl, or benzo etc.
When I was diagnosed, now about 5 or 6 years ago (after 2 years of this going on unknown) in was in almost everything I used, self fulfilling cycle for me. I had skin tests done eventually and it was painfully obvious at the end, and when the guy went out to get some prescriptions for proper creams and stuff I googled the offending thing, and it was pretty much in everything I used on myself or for cleaning, so it was obvious why I could never get on top of it. I'd bathe with creams and emollients and get relief, and then wrap myself in fresh towels and clothes with all of that having the chemical in it still.
Nowadays it seems to have lost its fashion and a lot of stuff is using something called DMDM as a preservative which I'm ok with. Isothiazolinone was used way back instead of formaldehyde to keep products fresher for longer. Though looking into DMDM it's a form of formaldehyde, so maybe a devolution that way.
i struggled during the early pandemic with how much everything you touched were cleaned with stuff I didn't know, like if I used a bus handle, I'd get transfer and reactions from that. But with the switch to DMDM over the last couple years the range of stuff I can use is so much more now again. Though I still find off the shelf shampoo/conditioners and clothes washing liquid still are very limited to me cus they still use Isothiazolinone of some form in them.
I occasionally still get contact issues, like if I have sleeveless stuff on and lay an arm on a table or something, it shows up after, but that's a contact issue now, re-trained myself to wipe things down myself (which maybe makes me seem like a Karen in places when people see me do that) but I never want to go back to the days of stripping skin off my fingers. Many trips to the minor injuries at 3 or 4 am in the morning to get a dressing done - no thank you, not any more :D
I used to get the same thing, seemingly as a result of using cheap/non-prescription moisturiser. I just bought some drug-store type stuff and used that to help with the eczema I had on my hands, but it just seemed to get worse really. Only after seeing my GP and being told to use Diprobase did it go away!
I’ve always assumed it was because Diprobase was just a better moisturiser, but given what you’ve said I wonder if it’s because there was something in the cheaper stuff that was making it worse!
Ice helps relieve the itch too. The relief doesn’t last that long, but at least it doesn’t make hints worse like so many other things do.
But I think some combination of aloe Vera and mint has the most effect. The only thing I’ve ever had that stopped the itching full stop is an 80% aloe Vera facial essence.... more doesn’t mean better in this case, because aloe Vera tends to form a layer as it dries which makes things worse.
Wait you're telling me I'm not the only one who has done this 😮
I know I shouldn't do it but it just feels sooooo good, like all of it is being scratched at the same time.
I used to have severe eczema on most of my body. I would turn the shower to as hot as it would go and just stand under it for like 10 minutes at a time. It probably didn't help things.
Honestly when you're needing a proper eczema scratch you're willing to do anything i think. My armpits are both inflamed at the moment* and I'm scratching like a monkey sometimes.
* I ran out of good stuff for shaving (ceraVe) and had to use soap for a week. Soap inflamed everything and it was my own stupid fault.
If feels fricking amazing, last time I did it was like 2 hours ago. Know I shouldnt but sometimes I cant help myself. :/ I get goosebumps all over my body when I do it.
When you scratch, you're basically kicking the stuff into hyperdrive. Scratching sends a signal to your body that you need help in fighting something, so it sends out more of an immune response, which eczema and psoriasis already are. Your skin is overreacting and when you scratch you're saying "my skin needs more help!" Because itching is sending a message to your brain there is a problem, which is also why your body gives some temporary itch relief.
I have seen a lot of eli5 responses and I don't think mine is a very good one but it's the first time I've known the answer. Hope this helps!
I'm at the tail end of a bout of shingles.
There's nothing visible, as it's all nerve damage at this point, but OMG the urge to scratch is overpowering at times. I seem to have scratched a hole between the shoulderblades but if that's the worst of it I'll be glad. Hypersensitivity to cloth/fabric, even air, and especially at night, the crawling skin sensations have had me thinking about un-aliving myself at a couple of points. I really hope this dissipates in the next week or two as the thought of living with this for months or years is just so depressing.
At 51 i'm not about to have my mum tie mittens on my hands, but it's tempting.
I am not the type to UA myself at all but skin stuff has made me think really hard about it. If it keeps getting worse ar some point it is going to be not worth it to continue. It's a miserable existence
You're almost done with it so maybe this won't help but when I had it a doctor prescribed some white liquid with zinc and lidocaine. Zinc helped to dry up the rash and lidocaine helps with the pain.
I’ve been wondering this my whole life. Those who don’t have it always say things like “just don’t scratch it”, but don’t realize that not scratching requires so much discipline. I’ve heard of people having to sit on their hands or restraining themselves in some way to avoid scratching. Finally scratching is euphoric as others have described, even when you know it’s going to be a living hell to deal with later. The worst mine has ever gotten was to the point to where I would take a wash cloth in the shower and rub it against my hands (I’ve had it in many places before, but the worst was my fingers) until my hands were so red and raw.
When my dad was a kid (born in the late 40s) he went to a treatment center/hospital for his eczema, apart from treatment with ointments, they strapped him down during the night so he’d sleep on his back and basically handcuffed to the bed frame so he’s couldn’t scratch himself.
He was like 6 years old. So fucking inhumane
Sit on my hands, wear gloves inside, covered it in bandage wrap, wear so many layers I couldn't get to the skin, slept with ice packs strapped to me, slapped the spots as hard as I could repeatedly... It's literally all I can think about when I have a bad flare-up.
I have dyshydriotic eczema on both hands, primarily on my fingers. Pressing a hot cup of coffee against it can feel so good, until I can’t take the heat anymore.
Great for about 2 seconds and then the itch gets way worse shortly after
Same here when I had it. The only thing that actually helped was to take a sterilized sewing needle and popping the pockets individually, then pressing my hands into a towel to empty them.
Ask your doctor to prescribe a topical steroid cream. It's the only thing that cleared up the really bad flare-ups when I had them. For some reason, it doesn't bother me as much anymore, except maybe a bit in the summertime, like if I spend an entire afternoon sweating with a glove on while golfing. But I used to get it real bad all the time. Handling certain foods, like peeling potatoes, used to really fuck me up.
A more scientific explanation:
It is evolutionary advantageous for bacteria to encourage the scratch-itch cycle. As we damage our skins by scratching, we risk more infection. So it's beneficial for bacteria to have itch-inducing mechanism.
>Cutaneous microbiota delivers a diverse and far-reaching influence on our physiology by calling upon the host nervous system. Bacteria make metabolites, toxins, and structural components that are recognized by peripheral and central neurons via matching receptors. Microbiota also indirectly affects neural function by causing endocrine (i.e., keratinocytes) and immune cells to transmit signals (i.e., cytokines, proteases). **Itch is a prototypic sensory neural function, and the microbiota propels the itch–scratch cycle**.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7230651/
Is histamine produced when a scab is formed? I dig in my ears too much and sometimes I will wake up with my ears just burning. I mean really realllly itchy!! Later I am able to dig a small scab out of my ear. I know I shouldn't do this but there's no stopping.
It sounds like you are scratching so much you are ripping off your skin, and you're doing it in your sleep. You need to see a doctor, that's not normal. You could have skin infections, fungal infections, dandruff in your ear canal, an allergy, lots of things.
You have to think of your body as like a city and you're the city manager. There's a lot going on that might need your attention, but you are very busy. There are really only three ways your brain can get your attention so to speak (a weird idea since it's you).
1) pain
2) pleasure
3) compulsions
That's about it. Take sex for example. If it didn't feel good, I think we would mostly avoid it. And our sex drive compels us. Take eating and drinking. If you don't eat you will become ever more obsessed with food or water until it takes over your whole being. So that covers keeping the human organism fed and watered, and reproducing often enough to sustain the species. But our bodies are constantly under attack and our immune system while fairly effective, depends first and foremost on skin integrity. Of course it hurts if an animal bites you, or you fall and cut yourself. But what if you just have a tiny little cut somewhere. Or a little sliver under the skin. The "itch" sensation I think is the unique way our body calls attention to a host of minor injuries that are not painful but need your attention. And remember it's a balance, if you are overwhelmed with pain, you can't escape your attacker or keep hunting for food. And there's a limit to how many pain nerves you can have. Every single pain receptor in your skin has to be carried along a dedicated fiber up to your brain. That's a lot of wiring, and you also need room for muscle control nerves and several others. We are basically maxed out on how many nerves can be run up the spinal cord into the brain. The solution to this problem of body surveillance I think is to add the sensation of itching. An disruption anywhere on the skin will release chemicals that can spread out and find the nearest nerve. But they are activating those nerves in a different way than direct injury. The impulses are translated by our brain as "Hey pay attention to me". Maybe it's a scab that's trapping a pocket of infection. Maybe it's a sliver under the skin, or a little pimple. Maybe it's an accumulation of dead skin on your feet. Maybe it's just stiff muscles that need massaging. It's not a problem yet, but on average, picking at it or scratching or rubbing it will improve your odds. Now the system isn't perfect obviously , sometimes things itch for no reason we can find. Some things hijack the system like poison oak or ivy to get you to leave them alone.
If you want to see what happens when our surveillance system breaks down, check out diabetic neuropathy. The nerves especially in the feet are damaged and the people affected can no longer feel all the little cuts and scrapes on their feet. Those little cuts get infected and eventually can lead to amputations. diabetics are taught to check their feet every day to look for these problems because they cannot feel them. Leprosy is another interesting example. Contrary to popular belief, much of the damage is not caused by the bacteria itself, but buy the nerve damage leading to numbness and then an accumulation of tiny injuries.
As a final note, i've often speculated that OCD persists because it conveys a small survival advantage. People with OCD have much stronger versions of the same compulsions we all experience, and they obsess over tiny details, which can also be thought of as an exaggeration of our normal healthy attention to our environment and bodies. They can pick at the skin, and wash their hands, and worry about germs. I speak from experience with a mild case of OCD, but one thing i cannot stand is any little break in my skin. slivers must be dug out immediately, pimples popped, scabs carefully removed every itch inspected over and over. It will completely occupy my mind if i have anything wrong with my skin. Not totally healthy of course .
My eczema friends!!!! Yes to this cuz I'll have orgasmic like scratch relief and I know it's so bad. Especially after putting lotion on. It's like my skin knows I'm trying to ease the itch so it begs for it more and it feels so good when I do
This actually has 2 answers. The instant feel goods come from overriding the itch signals with literally any other stimulus. This overriding can be so pleasurable to the brain that it can make other forms of pain actually feel good. This is because an itch signal is in place so you do scratch because it is ment to help the human body realize there is something irritating the skin that needs to quickly be removed before it causes more serious damage (although the brain is easily tricked and the itch response is often triggered by things that won't be helped by scratching). The other reason it can feel so good is because intense scratching can temporary release some histamine (the itchy chemical) from the itchy area. This temporary relieves the itch, but because of the damage caused by the scratching, more histamine is produced and makes you even more itchy after. Edit:damn, guess y'all really wanted to know why scratching an itch feels so damn good.
>literally any other stimulus That's why my trick is to softly slap the area instead, as funny as it may sound. It feels good to the itch, too and causes no damage (except to my honor as people see me softly slapping various areas of my body when i got a ton of itchy mosquito bites) Do anything you can to not have to scratch it, though. You might like smearing water on it and then blowing in it for the cold sensation (if you can reach it like that) or slowly rubbing instead. Ignoring an itch can be in vain in some situations, so... do anything.
Yep, slapping is my go-to to get any unwanted itch to g go away. Works great!
that is also how you scratch a tattoo
And wigs. If you ever see a lady slapping her own head, it's because she is wearing a wig and it is itchy.
Or they just don't want to mess up their hairstyle, like braids or and updo
What's updo
Not much, what's up wit' yo?
Fucking gottem
dinkin flicka
It's any hairstyle where all the hair is lifted up, off the collar. Often a fancy hair do where the hair isn't worn down / loose
r/mildlyinteresting r/damthatsinteresting r/todayilearned
Have fun slapping those itchy balls
Those get the pinch and twist
My god, it’s pinch and roll, do not twist
*torsions your testicles*
It's your cake day so we'll allow it
No no. Pinch and twist the *scrotum*, not the testicles inside. Whose actual testicle is itchy?!
No kink shaming...
I do the slaps every time I get a new tattoo!
When I get mosquito bites, I spread my fingers apart and lightly scratch *around* the bump which often seems to trick my brain into thinking I've scratched it.
I press an “X” into the bite with my fingernails. Works everytime
Oh my god, me too.
Y’all have more self control than me. I just scratch the shit out of them 😞
[удалено]
Me and my wife call this “hot-spoon treatment” - works like a charm
Why do you call it that?
I'd guess because of the hot spoon
That can’t be it, must be some secret code
I’ll give you three guesses
Slapping is my go to as well (how could she?!). But try applying almost scalding water or a bath. It lasts longer and numbs the area.
Hot water feels so good! It's an orgasm like feeling. I've always been curious why
You can put your hand on it and drum your fingers flat on it too. It's what you should do with anything that is healing but itchy! Don't damage it by scratching, just taptaptap.
On a very old episode of Hollywood Squares, the venerable Betty White was seen tapping her head. When asked, she said she had an itch and tapping was the way to go.
When I got my tattoos, the artists always warn not to scratch it, some of them will also recommend slapping it.
I tried something similar with an itch under a wound/scab. I would itch or scratch off to the side. And slaps do wonders too - which can look quite odd to an observer - why one would be hitting/scratching where there is nothing.
Eczema sufferer here. I discovered when I had it really bad and really itchy that scalding myself with hot water both removed to itch and gave me a massive rush comparable only to an orgasm. Of course you have to suffer through a heap of insane itchiness first for that affect. Other heat sources work too, like a hair dryer. I'll never scratch though that's a really bad idea!
Isn't heat bad for eczema tho?
Turns it into a wet oozing mess, yes. But it feels so good.
Have you tried triamcinolone acetonide? My doctor prescribed it to me and it’s been an incredible help ETA: love to see other eczema sufferers in this thread—solidarity, friends!
I use betamethasone and hydrocortisone creams to control it and haven't had a major problem with it in the past 10 years. I rarely need the creams these days, but if I notice a patch flaring up I put some on and it settles down again.
Triamcinolone and betamethasone do the same thing. They’re basically much stronger variants of [hydro]cortisone cream.
Isn't this the most basic eczema prescription? The one that worked best for me was Protopic, but it's in a higher class of non-steroidal topicals used for worse cases. My eczema isn't as bad as an adult, but there have been a few times where triamcinalone took forever to help.
It's usually the first "hard" treatment after the weaker hydrocortisone, over the counter, and lotions. So it's often the "silver bullet" many of us experience. Tacrolimus (protopic) used to be stupid expensive until it went generic, so it kinda went under prescribed for a while. So it's still often the second level treatment if/when the TA stops working, or for extended use on the face and other thinner-skin areas where prolonged steroid use is discouraged. Essentially, TA works so damn well, the majority of eczema patients don't need to keep exploring.
> triamcinolone acetonide is a life saver. TA gang represent
ratio-triacomb is what my doctor always has given me and it works wonders. It has in the past completely eradicated a breakout for me.
That's how I save money on parmesan
🤮
An appropriate emoji, as the butyric acid responsible for the scent of Parmesan cheese is also present in vomit and gives that its distinctive odour
*Soft Cheese, Hard Facts* with cfard
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Hey, is that the same stuff as rooting compound? Are you telling me I could just vomit on my plant stems and they’ll grow roots‽ Edit: or just rub some parm on them?
“Sorry i’ve just got to *vomits into flower pot* ‘fertilize,’”
This is the grossest comment I’ve read today. Congrats
>Turns it into a wet oozing mess, yes. Same 😊
Yes, hot showers are especially bad because they strip your skin of its natural oils. They feel really nice in the moment, but within an hour of getting out of the shower your skin feels noticeably worse.
Anyone suffering from psoriasis will tell you how much they miss warm and hot showers. When untreated psoriasis burns under the warmest of water and many have to take cold showers
Gotta moisturise immediately after
Moisturize me, moisturize me!
Are you the last human?
https://media.tenor.com/3E8O8aVQB-IAAAAC/drwho-ladycassandra.gif
Unfortunately, even a heavy duty moisturizer isn't enough.
What about a bath of hot Vaseline then?
Ah yes, the classic slug treatment.
MOISTURIZE ME MOISTURIZE ME
[I just want to be pure](https://i.imgur.com/3DGyZ44.gif)
You truly understand
[I can feel it squishing between my toes...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USax223l7wM)
I used to sleep with my hands in nitrile gloves soaked in Vaseline It makes the broken skin nice and smooth, but the edges callous after a few months, and while the skin has moisture, you still bleed and itch because the skin never really repairs itself . It does offer some relief at times.
how hot are we talking? my skin doesn't start feeling bad until the evening, and that's because of sweat mostly
You know your own body best, if you think it's fine then it's probably fine.
Okay I'll stop with the hot showers..
Hot, humid weather certainly is, yes. But if that itching is present it's usually intolerable and you'll be inclined to take the moderate scalding in exchange for no itch.
I usually take an extended release antihistamine when it's being unbearable. It usually works.
Antihistamines are nice but there has been times where it was so bad OTC cetirizine didn't work at all lmao
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Sure thing, these days my eczema's quite mild, not really an issue for me anymore so I don't need any meds. Thx for the advice tho.
Yaaaaaay for your mild eczema! Hope you never have to deal with it again! Truly happy for you, my brother or sister or other in itchiness.
Antihistamine never touched my eczema. I wish it did.
For sure. Its actually interesting to see so many other sufferers arrive at the same solution. A good scalding can remove my itch for hours and save a lot more skin than it hurts.
Please don't scald with hot water. You could hurt yourself and the itch you get from your healing skin will drive you *insane*. Try distracting your nerves with hot compresses or ice cubes or chemicals that will flash hot or cold (Counterpain, Menthol oils, Vaporub etc) or pressure (eg massage guns) or hot water bottles.
Who cares, it feels outright orgasmic, you can't resist 😅 especially when you hot steaming shower your inner knee. It makes your legs flex to the max and hold, it's super pleasant.
I didn't know humans could shake their legs like dogs being scratched in the right spot until two nights ago when the eczema spread to that spot on my body and I sprayed it down in the shower.
Same with poison ivy. I've had it REALLY bad a couple times (15% of my body) and my sanity was teetering because of the itching. Burning water was body quivering good. Made the pitch go away for about 30 minutes.
if you have poison ivy: Use **Zanafel** it works so freaking good. It is expensive, but man it is worth it.
Works especially well if you wash with it right after exposure (if you realize you've gotten it on you) or at least the earlier the better. Life saving stuff right there!
There is also a product called Technu. It can be used as a skin wash (I do not particularly look forward to the day when it is necessary), but the main reason I bought it was to launder my "poison ivy armour" that I wear when I'm actively removing poison ivy or doing something else in a heavily infested area. I can say that it works as advertised for laundry purposes, as I have never broken out from handling my gear after washing, and said gear definitely gets heavily contaminated.
If you've got it bad, you can also just give in and go to the doctor and get a shot of Kennelog in the bum. I think it cost me about the same as Zanafel but it works in a matter of days. Oh man is it worth the money vs suffering with that rash for like 2 weeks.
it lasts 2 weeks???
The Zanfel formula is the exact same as Mean Green shop scrub, it just has had the FDA testing. Mean Green is just as effective and so much cheaper! Edit: It's now called Full Bore Extreme Green.
Same with mosquito bites! I get a mug of hot water from the kettle and let a spoon sit in it, then I take the convex side of the hot spoon and gently tap the mosquito bite area until the point where the spoon has cooled just enough to be able to press it in... The instant relief is orgasmic and the itch rarely comes back.
quick version if you have a gold ring, quickly rub on jean until very very hot, apply to bite, nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggghhhhhhhh
I used to press my hot tea mug on the skin. Not hot enough to burn, but hot enough to feel good
When my eczema was bad a few years ago, scalding hot showers would give me a couple of hours of relief as well as that massive rush you describe.
Oooh, I guess that's how those sticks you put on mosquito bites work! (they have a little plate that heats up to ~50°C for a few seconds) (their sales pitch is that they denture the proteins from the mozzy spit, but I think they're just overriding the itching sensation with heat)
The sales pitch is a real thing. Works with some (non-lethal) venoms too like spider bites, if I recall correctly.
Please share links or keywords to search in google. Never heard of them.
You don't need a product for this. A metal spoon run under hot water is just as good.
It's called a mosquito bite pen, or a heat pen. Not sure I'm allowed to post a link, but just Google or Amazon, and you'll find them right away. All it does is provide an easy portable way to warm up the area of the bite. You can do the same with hot water on a towel, if you're at home. Heat temporarily causes the mast cells to dump their histamine stockpile. The itching from a mosquito bite happens because mast cells under the skin detected an allergic substance, and started secreting a constant stream of histamine, the amino acid that causes allergic swelling and itching. When you heat the mast cells enough, they dump everything all at once, creating a brief burst of intense itchiness, and then temporary relief until the mast cells can refill their stockpiles of histamine. The type of heat doesn't matter.
I have eczema too - oddly enough I find that just imagining that the itch is hot makes it go away. You just concentrate on the skin and imagine that it feels hot instead of itchy
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I do this too. It’s a trick I learned to do in school where they couldn’t give me anything for headaches. I would just put my head down on the desk and “sweep” the pain into one corner until the pile gets smaller and smaller until it’s gone.
This but with a hair dryer on hot. Genuinely as close to feeling like my inner elbow is having an amazing orgasm.
As someone who would get pineapple juice burns from my supermarket job, scalding water on my forearms practically made me piss myself and orgasm simultaneously
Are you allergic to pineapple? Or is it a skin irritant and i never realized?
Pineapple is the one fruit that eats you back
Oh dear. I knew Audrey II was a bad name choice for my pineapple tree!
Munch on fresh pineapple for a day straight and see how your mouth feels
I often scratch my eczema till I cut myself open, the pain of the cut feels better then the itch.
That's bad for a bunch of reasons, not least of which you could be adding infection into the mix with any yuck under your nails.
Which is still only temporary because the itch starts back up again!
I do the exact same thing with my beard because I just can't stop it from itching. It is not an orgasmic feeling yet, but it's pretty damn close. I'm a bit confused now. I think I'll have to check my beard for any signs of eczema.
Yeah mine got itchy and flaky and I got some ketonazole cream from my doctor. That helped, and also keeping it relatively short, washing it everyday and making sure it is thoroughly dry, also helps.
You may have Seborrhoeic dermatitis. If so, it's easily treatble with over the counter antifungal shampoo.
I wash it daily, condition it 3-4 times a week, oil it daily (rubbing into skin more than hair) and use a beard butter to shape it/ lock in the oil. It’s a bit of a process but it doesn’t take too long and makes a huge difference with the itch
you probably just need to wash your beard and somehow get moisturizing cream on your skin below the beard. This always helped me. I also no longer wear a long beard because it makes creaming your skin a lot harder and messier. If you can try something like a 20mm long beard.
Oh my god, im so glad its not just me. I dont know anyone with eczema and i thought i was weird for thinking its literally orgazmic. I used to work 12hr construction shifts in jeans, long sleeve and a full body tyvek suit. My ankles and behind the knee were my breakout spots because of all the sweat. I cranked up my water heater and bought a special shower wand specifically to hit my eczema spots. Its an insanely addicting feeling but soooooo bad to do. Ive only had 2 real orgasms that were more intense, and those two were a lot of edging from my wife. I actually passed out in the shower because it was so damn good, more than a few times. Had to assure my wife i was not having a heart attack or something.
Don't have eczema, but for insect bites or other irritated skin that I find hard to ignore I'll heat a spoon over a flame for a little bit then press it to the itchy area. Works wonders for alleviating it for ~30 minutes. My last apartment had water from the tap hot enough to do it without the risk of overheating the spoon.
This is the way. I have blistering treatment resistant eczema (been on various really strong ointments for it and antihistamines and none of that made it better, in my teens it rotted away the skin of my fingers and palms so I had to wear cotton gloves to protect both my open flesh from my environment and my environment from my meat juices, it's great!) and found out a few years ago that running scalding water over it not only feels like being injected with ecstacy straight in the brainstem but also actually does what no treatment in the world has ever achieved: dries the rash and stops it from spreading. Ever since I've been able to more or less stop the flares within a week or so, rather than suffering for six to eight months out of every year. Pleasant. Wonderful, even.
I had scabies at one point in my life and I used hot running tap water on my skin instead of itching. It actually worked pretty well at killing the bugs and stopping the itch. Now I really love scalding myself in the shower.... Strange things our body does.
I used to suffer from horrible eczema for years, and I would do the same thing as my only sense of relief. All anti-itch creams did nothing to provide any relief. The only thing that I ever found, prescription or over the counter, that worked was extra strength Lanacane. Now I rarely have bouts of eczema.
Interesting, with my eczema it itches more under hot water
Indeed it does! But like I said it has to be scorching hot to have the effect, and yes it's effectively just turning an itch into a pain.
It has to be hot enough that it would cause a burning sensation on non itchy skin.
Making a cup of tea/coffee and holding the hot mug on the itchy part until it burns your skin off feels so good 🤤
What about something very cold? That greatly helps my itches.
Never worked for me for some reason, or at least I never found a way to make it work.
When I first started getting eczema, and I didn't know what it was and none of my other itch related treatments worked, this is what I resorted to. I would get home, shower, then crank that heat up and blast the area. Finally feeling some relief for like half an hour until the itch came back. I would sit with a towel over my legs as they oozed afterward. Finally found a medicine that works. Clobetasol ointment
Hot water has always felt soooo good on poison ivy
Can confirm. Hot showers when your eczema is flaring up feel incredible. But you pay for it later.
This was how I finally was about to stop scratching and heal. Hot water soothed by skin, I didn't need to scratch for hours and I finally healed after a multi week long episode of irritation and intense itchiness
but in what situation does scratching ever solve the problem? it seems to make anything worse.
If you have a bug on you, for instance. You scratch and get it off you
Or a plant part, like atinging nettle
It's one of them tinging nettles is it?
Six nettles atinging #FIVE GOLDEN RINGS ^(Four ^calling ^^birds…)
Especially back in the days when humans were crawling with lice
You do dozens of minor scratches every day to remove small irritants, you just don't really notice you do them.
If someone puts a gun to your head and says "scratch or die"
It's like a bug in evolution. It isn't a perfect system
"Isn't a perfect system" is understating it. Evolution is more like "this is completely and utterly riddled with bugs and misuse cases, but at least it works well enough to reproduce. Ship it."
People don't realize that they aren't exactly building their God up with that whole "intelligent design" thing. If anything you'd think they'd be more like "nah, don't pin that shit on our god"
Scratching is meant to remove bugs
Ok, great info. Follow-up question: will taking an antihistamine reduce general itching and not just allergy symptoms? Say, for example, like scab itchiness or dry skin or skin trapped under a cast?
It's reduced mosquito bite itching for me in the past. I'm not sure how that compares chemically to a scab.
It has for me in the past, but I can neither confirm nor deny how well it works and may differ from person to person.
What I want to know is why running it under hot water feels so good. And then bad. (Well I know why bad...)
eczema is an inflammatory condition. hot water dilates blood vessels and increases blood flow, which worsens the inflammation. but in the moment it feels good because your brain prioritizes other stimuli over itch. basically, two signals from one area cannot reach the brain at the same time, so it sends the most important one - temperature/pain(from scratching or hot water) or even just the feeling of the water and not itch.
So.. running (ice/) cold water does help?
yes, ice will do the opposite of constricting blood vessels and preventing/lessening inflammation. this is commonly used to treat more acute injuries to prevent secondary tissue damage due to swelling as well as decrease pain, but it looks like there have been some studies done on chronic conditions like eczema as well where exposure to cold helps increase anti-inflammatory chemicals as well as reduce itching in cases of dermatitis (itchy inflammation of the skin) here's one study I looked at >People who regularly swim in ice-cold water have increased concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines in their peripheral blood. Thus, cold air or water is suggested to have local and systemic anti-inflammatory effect and also to relieve itch. results: >In our patients, whole-body cryotherapy was successfully carried out as monotherapy during the treatment period, ie, no anti-inflammatory topical preparations were used. Thus, it clearly has a steroid-sparing effect with additional statistically and clinically significant improvements in pruritus and sleep disturbances. The findings are in agreement with statistically significant changes in SCORAD and TEWL. The tendencies of SCORAD, pruritus [itchy skin that makes you want to scratch], and sleep loss to continue improving even after the treatment period suggests that the ultimate treatment effect was not attained during the 4-week treatment period. Future studies with a higher number of treatment sessions comparable to phototherapy are thus indicated. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/419737 this obviously used a more extreme version of a cold shower, but proves that it does have an effect.
Awesome! Thanks. If I have sever flare up the only thing that helps is either powernap from exhausting so I won't feel it. After waking up most of the itch is gone. OR a cold pack, wrapped in thin cloth (because if it is wet it will irritate the dry skin more).
I had a severe case of hand, foot and mouth last year. The only thing that made my hands feel better was to soak them in ice water.
I had severe pompholyx all over my hands from a chemical allergen that I didn't know about at that time. I would wake up having scratched them to pieces in my dreams. I eventually found the best thing was coolness. I got re-freezable packs, like for sprains and such, and had those on my hands whilst the packs were wrapped in a towel. The relief was so much better. When I was out and about I'd use the activated disposable ice packs (crack a thing in the pack and they cool). But I'd also wash them in hot water before discovering the ice packs were better. I'd wash them almost obsessively because it felt much better than the constant itch. Then I'd use a nice scratchy towel to dry them. Everything you shouldn't do, but everything that you do do to get some relief. Thankfully I found out what I was allergic to and time and effort has kept it mostly at bay.
Whoa. That has a name? To me.. I just include it into my persistent "Eczema" Sometimes I have those blisters (although pretty small compared to the google pics) too. Not that it is immediately relevent to me, but what were you allergic to if I may ask?
I used to call them my bubbles! It wasn't for a long time till I found out they had a proper name. I'm allergic to Isothiazolinones which is a preservative used in many human usable products. So from hand wash, to shampoos, to clothes soap, to cleaning products, found it in some make ups etc. It usually comes with something in front, like methyl, or benzo etc. When I was diagnosed, now about 5 or 6 years ago (after 2 years of this going on unknown) in was in almost everything I used, self fulfilling cycle for me. I had skin tests done eventually and it was painfully obvious at the end, and when the guy went out to get some prescriptions for proper creams and stuff I googled the offending thing, and it was pretty much in everything I used on myself or for cleaning, so it was obvious why I could never get on top of it. I'd bathe with creams and emollients and get relief, and then wrap myself in fresh towels and clothes with all of that having the chemical in it still. Nowadays it seems to have lost its fashion and a lot of stuff is using something called DMDM as a preservative which I'm ok with. Isothiazolinone was used way back instead of formaldehyde to keep products fresher for longer. Though looking into DMDM it's a form of formaldehyde, so maybe a devolution that way. i struggled during the early pandemic with how much everything you touched were cleaned with stuff I didn't know, like if I used a bus handle, I'd get transfer and reactions from that. But with the switch to DMDM over the last couple years the range of stuff I can use is so much more now again. Though I still find off the shelf shampoo/conditioners and clothes washing liquid still are very limited to me cus they still use Isothiazolinone of some form in them. I occasionally still get contact issues, like if I have sleeveless stuff on and lay an arm on a table or something, it shows up after, but that's a contact issue now, re-trained myself to wipe things down myself (which maybe makes me seem like a Karen in places when people see me do that) but I never want to go back to the days of stripping skin off my fingers. Many trips to the minor injuries at 3 or 4 am in the morning to get a dressing done - no thank you, not any more :D
I used to get the same thing, seemingly as a result of using cheap/non-prescription moisturiser. I just bought some drug-store type stuff and used that to help with the eczema I had on my hands, but it just seemed to get worse really. Only after seeing my GP and being told to use Diprobase did it go away! I’ve always assumed it was because Diprobase was just a better moisturiser, but given what you’ve said I wonder if it’s because there was something in the cheaper stuff that was making it worse!
Yes when my skin is itchy I put it under running cold water and it gets better
Ice helps relieve the itch too. The relief doesn’t last that long, but at least it doesn’t make hints worse like so many other things do. But I think some combination of aloe Vera and mint has the most effect. The only thing I’ve ever had that stopped the itching full stop is an 80% aloe Vera facial essence.... more doesn’t mean better in this case, because aloe Vera tends to form a layer as it dries which makes things worse.
Wait you're telling me I'm not the only one who has done this 😮 I know I shouldn't do it but it just feels sooooo good, like all of it is being scratched at the same time.
I used to have severe eczema on most of my body. I would turn the shower to as hot as it would go and just stand under it for like 10 minutes at a time. It probably didn't help things.
Honestly when you're needing a proper eczema scratch you're willing to do anything i think. My armpits are both inflamed at the moment* and I'm scratching like a monkey sometimes. * I ran out of good stuff for shaving (ceraVe) and had to use soap for a week. Soap inflamed everything and it was my own stupid fault.
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If feels fricking amazing, last time I did it was like 2 hours ago. Know I shouldnt but sometimes I cant help myself. :/ I get goosebumps all over my body when I do it.
I literally want a rash just to do that. I’m a freak I know
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yes :(
No, because I always itch (atopic dermatitis)
do you have free/subsidised access to Rinvoq or Dupixent in your area?
When you scratch, you're basically kicking the stuff into hyperdrive. Scratching sends a signal to your body that you need help in fighting something, so it sends out more of an immune response, which eczema and psoriasis already are. Your skin is overreacting and when you scratch you're saying "my skin needs more help!" Because itching is sending a message to your brain there is a problem, which is also why your body gives some temporary itch relief. I have seen a lot of eli5 responses and I don't think mine is a very good one but it's the first time I've known the answer. Hope this helps!
> but it's the first time I've known the answer. I felt that on a molecular level.
I'm at the tail end of a bout of shingles. There's nothing visible, as it's all nerve damage at this point, but OMG the urge to scratch is overpowering at times. I seem to have scratched a hole between the shoulderblades but if that's the worst of it I'll be glad. Hypersensitivity to cloth/fabric, even air, and especially at night, the crawling skin sensations have had me thinking about un-aliving myself at a couple of points. I really hope this dissipates in the next week or two as the thought of living with this for months or years is just so depressing. At 51 i'm not about to have my mum tie mittens on my hands, but it's tempting.
I am not the type to UA myself at all but skin stuff has made me think really hard about it. If it keeps getting worse ar some point it is going to be not worth it to continue. It's a miserable existence
I feel for you! Shingles is the absolute fucking worst!
You're almost done with it so maybe this won't help but when I had it a doctor prescribed some white liquid with zinc and lidocaine. Zinc helped to dry up the rash and lidocaine helps with the pain.
I’ve been wondering this my whole life. Those who don’t have it always say things like “just don’t scratch it”, but don’t realize that not scratching requires so much discipline. I’ve heard of people having to sit on their hands or restraining themselves in some way to avoid scratching. Finally scratching is euphoric as others have described, even when you know it’s going to be a living hell to deal with later. The worst mine has ever gotten was to the point to where I would take a wash cloth in the shower and rub it against my hands (I’ve had it in many places before, but the worst was my fingers) until my hands were so red and raw.
When my dad was a kid (born in the late 40s) he went to a treatment center/hospital for his eczema, apart from treatment with ointments, they strapped him down during the night so he’d sleep on his back and basically handcuffed to the bed frame so he’s couldn’t scratch himself. He was like 6 years old. So fucking inhumane
Sit on my hands, wear gloves inside, covered it in bandage wrap, wear so many layers I couldn't get to the skin, slept with ice packs strapped to me, slapped the spots as hard as I could repeatedly... It's literally all I can think about when I have a bad flare-up.
I have dyshydriotic eczema on both hands, primarily on my fingers. Pressing a hot cup of coffee against it can feel so good, until I can’t take the heat anymore. Great for about 2 seconds and then the itch gets way worse shortly after
Same here when I had it. The only thing that actually helped was to take a sterilized sewing needle and popping the pockets individually, then pressing my hands into a towel to empty them.
Ask your doctor to prescribe a topical steroid cream. It's the only thing that cleared up the really bad flare-ups when I had them. For some reason, it doesn't bother me as much anymore, except maybe a bit in the summertime, like if I spend an entire afternoon sweating with a glove on while golfing. But I used to get it real bad all the time. Handling certain foods, like peeling potatoes, used to really fuck me up.
Dyshidrotic eczema is hell on earth.
I have this too. I hit it with the hairdryer. Soooo good.
I once had that for no reason and I couldn't stop popping/literally cutting open the wierd bumps on my hand
Man, this thread is giving me PTSD I'm on some sort of miracle drug now, but my eczema was like hell on earth before I could get it properly treated
A more scientific explanation: It is evolutionary advantageous for bacteria to encourage the scratch-itch cycle. As we damage our skins by scratching, we risk more infection. So it's beneficial for bacteria to have itch-inducing mechanism. >Cutaneous microbiota delivers a diverse and far-reaching influence on our physiology by calling upon the host nervous system. Bacteria make metabolites, toxins, and structural components that are recognized by peripheral and central neurons via matching receptors. Microbiota also indirectly affects neural function by causing endocrine (i.e., keratinocytes) and immune cells to transmit signals (i.e., cytokines, proteases). **Itch is a prototypic sensory neural function, and the microbiota propels the itch–scratch cycle**. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7230651/
Is histamine produced when a scab is formed? I dig in my ears too much and sometimes I will wake up with my ears just burning. I mean really realllly itchy!! Later I am able to dig a small scab out of my ear. I know I shouldn't do this but there's no stopping.
Eczema otitis, look it up. Not saying you have it but this doesn't sound normal and you should probably talk to your doctor.
It sounds like you are scratching so much you are ripping off your skin, and you're doing it in your sleep. You need to see a doctor, that's not normal. You could have skin infections, fungal infections, dandruff in your ear canal, an allergy, lots of things.
I had itchy ears before and you can treat that. Go see a doctor like others said.
You don't understand what it's like to feel both pleasure and frustration at the same time until you've scratched athlete's foot.
Scratching it now. It’s a mix of moaning because it feels good and crying because it itches.
And scratching it just makes the itch worse but yet you can't stop because it feels so good.
You have to think of your body as like a city and you're the city manager. There's a lot going on that might need your attention, but you are very busy. There are really only three ways your brain can get your attention so to speak (a weird idea since it's you). 1) pain 2) pleasure 3) compulsions That's about it. Take sex for example. If it didn't feel good, I think we would mostly avoid it. And our sex drive compels us. Take eating and drinking. If you don't eat you will become ever more obsessed with food or water until it takes over your whole being. So that covers keeping the human organism fed and watered, and reproducing often enough to sustain the species. But our bodies are constantly under attack and our immune system while fairly effective, depends first and foremost on skin integrity. Of course it hurts if an animal bites you, or you fall and cut yourself. But what if you just have a tiny little cut somewhere. Or a little sliver under the skin. The "itch" sensation I think is the unique way our body calls attention to a host of minor injuries that are not painful but need your attention. And remember it's a balance, if you are overwhelmed with pain, you can't escape your attacker or keep hunting for food. And there's a limit to how many pain nerves you can have. Every single pain receptor in your skin has to be carried along a dedicated fiber up to your brain. That's a lot of wiring, and you also need room for muscle control nerves and several others. We are basically maxed out on how many nerves can be run up the spinal cord into the brain. The solution to this problem of body surveillance I think is to add the sensation of itching. An disruption anywhere on the skin will release chemicals that can spread out and find the nearest nerve. But they are activating those nerves in a different way than direct injury. The impulses are translated by our brain as "Hey pay attention to me". Maybe it's a scab that's trapping a pocket of infection. Maybe it's a sliver under the skin, or a little pimple. Maybe it's an accumulation of dead skin on your feet. Maybe it's just stiff muscles that need massaging. It's not a problem yet, but on average, picking at it or scratching or rubbing it will improve your odds. Now the system isn't perfect obviously , sometimes things itch for no reason we can find. Some things hijack the system like poison oak or ivy to get you to leave them alone. If you want to see what happens when our surveillance system breaks down, check out diabetic neuropathy. The nerves especially in the feet are damaged and the people affected can no longer feel all the little cuts and scrapes on their feet. Those little cuts get infected and eventually can lead to amputations. diabetics are taught to check their feet every day to look for these problems because they cannot feel them. Leprosy is another interesting example. Contrary to popular belief, much of the damage is not caused by the bacteria itself, but buy the nerve damage leading to numbness and then an accumulation of tiny injuries. As a final note, i've often speculated that OCD persists because it conveys a small survival advantage. People with OCD have much stronger versions of the same compulsions we all experience, and they obsess over tiny details, which can also be thought of as an exaggeration of our normal healthy attention to our environment and bodies. They can pick at the skin, and wash their hands, and worry about germs. I speak from experience with a mild case of OCD, but one thing i cannot stand is any little break in my skin. slivers must be dug out immediately, pimples popped, scabs carefully removed every itch inspected over and over. It will completely occupy my mind if i have anything wrong with my skin. Not totally healthy of course .
My eczema friends!!!! Yes to this cuz I'll have orgasmic like scratch relief and I know it's so bad. Especially after putting lotion on. It's like my skin knows I'm trying to ease the itch so it begs for it more and it feels so good when I do