The Real Deal With Scratching
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Well then, moisturizing or using petrolatum can certainly help. I’d recommend a moisturizer with colloidal oatmeal.
Not for every one
@Becca_H85 Had it irritated your skin?
@blivion7203 Sometimes. And it isn’t helping with the itch when it’s bad.
Exactly ❤
Psoriasis and eczema girl here. Scratching really is irresistible when you’re having a flare. I’ve been teaching myself to use plain lotion (preferably chilled) or knocking on the area with my knuckles to “scratch the itch.” It took scratching myself bloody to try these things instead though.
I scratched bloody too. I’m sorry you’re going through that, it’s horrific. Steroids & Benadryl stopped it for me finally 🙏
Chilled lotion makes me wonder if rubbing the area with an pack ice would help as well?
The solution is to just always use 80 grit sandpaper. But make sure it’s the non-comedogenic type 😊
Thank you so much for speaking up about this.
Loving your YT shorts, Dr. Dray 😻
Respectfully disagree. When I was a kid and all the way through junior high, I had what can only be described as soul-destroying itchiness. Every moment I wasn’t scratching myself bl00dy felt like I was holding my breath under the water, counting the seconds until I could come up for air, my lungs aching.
I was left with some unsightly scars as a result of years of scratching. My parents didn’t get me any help, just continously shamed me for scratching, as if I could stop without imploding🙄 Things are much improved now – for no particular reason I can pinpoint – but some of the ways I dealt/deal with it without medication are: keeping any moisturizer you’re going to use on the areas chilled – cold helps the tiniest amount; tapping on the area – the vibrations will help a bit. Another thing I tried was either rubbing alcohol on the area, so that the sting will overpower the itchiness for a hot minute, or menthol lotion. But the thing that helped the most was using one of those scrubbing brushes to scratch, instead of my hands. It provides almost the same relief as scratching yourself bl00dy, but without opening your skin up to infections and scarring. Of course, you’re still irritating your skin, but it’s a lot less damaging than using your hands. But if you have itchy skin, you’ve probably already tried all these and a thousand more things 😅
My mom did this to me when I was having a reaction.
Well, scratching does make it worse. You have to get something from the doc. I have scars, it was so out of control.
When I have flare up, sometimes I shower and rub the itchy skin with body scrub. I don’t know if it’s a good habit and I don’t know if it’s placebo and just in my head, but I feel fine after. 😅
Tell me I have severe anxiety and I tend to get hives all over my body everyday it can last for minutes or hours and nothing helps I’ve left marks all over and drawn blood from scratching so hard …not scratching would be absolute torture 😞😬😵💫
If I wear elastic waist skirt or pants it irritates my skin and makes it itchy. Likewise with lace netting or eyelet. I loathe itchy skin to the point it upsets me.
I have never experienced psoriasis, but my legs can get so itchy my legs twitch. Now the itch feels deep and scratching often doesn’t touch it.
Itchiness is a really really devastating condition when it never stops.
Long long story short, 1 mg prednisone every other day, clear dye free Benadryl every day. Diagnosed finally with small fiber neuropathy. Moisturizers made it worse.
Gabapentin helped my small fiber neuropathy I think. Prednisone is amazing but the side effects for longer-term use were too much for me. I’d love to take Benadryl more frequently, but I’m scared of the increase of risk dementia with taking it regularly. I also take cetirize daily but am thinking about adding another daily allergy pill to see if it helps. Good luck on your journey to be itch/pain free!
@@charlieb6210 also, steroids can cause Glaucoma, because it leads to increased eye pressure, and can eventually cause optical nerve damage and blindness.
@@charlieb6210 I take that too for something else and I never saw any reduction in itching, until I added Benadryl (1 gel free capsule per day) and 1/2 mg per day prednisone. Maybe with the 3 of them, they have some kind of synergy to end the itching bc my doc is surprised that my itching stopped at the low doses overall that I take.
Another interesting find, coincidentally I started doing about an hour per day of intense aerobics (mini trampoline to low impact music) and I noticed that it drove the itching away when I did it while I was in a flare. Maybe it flushes out the toxins or drives more blood to areas in my body that weren’t getting enough by being essentially sedentary, or both.
Well anyway, thank you for your thoughts and I wish you well too.
Thank you❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I got my 1st allergic reaction at 22, I got super itchy hives over my entire body – with no idea why!
I’m not normally a person who scratches or picks but that was *so bad* that I’d scratch just enough to take a little skin off, then sit in the bathtub and pour vinegar over myself. Pain was more tolerable than the itch!
Turns out I became allergic to cats triggered by sleeping on a couch *covered* in cat hair/dander. I have 2 now but I got used to them as kittens so it’s fine!😊
(I just used/use Benadryl, that’s the only one that I’ve ever found to work on hives in particular.💊 )
Benadryl definitely works. I get the dye free. And a pinch of prednisone. Glad you found something that helps you.
I’m perimenopausal. One very *not* fun symptom is my skin is constantly itchy when it was never that way before.
No solution, steroid creams did it😊
As a kid I was completely covered in eczema from my knees down to my toes NOTHING ever got rid of it no product at all worked for a decade… not even in the slightest. So the only thing that cleared my intense eczema was to STOP SCRATCHING IT.
I think itching is much worse than some forms of pain. At least with pain you can take pain meds and/or sedatives to get some sleep. But itching? Sleep and itching are definitely not friends.
This is for anyone that might need help. I went through the worst time of my life with chronic itch when i was doing my PhD. I kept hoping i don’t wake up in the morning. Visited countless dermatologists who told me my skin was fine and they didn’t know why this was happening to me. Until finally, i went to a dermatologist that simply said: “antidepressants may help”. Went to get evaluated, had developed severe anxiety and burnout due to my PhD. Antidepressants and anxiolytics (pills against stress) solved it for me, along with regular therapy. Dr Dre has acknowledged many times how bad itch can be for sufferers. Psychiatrists say it is worse than chronic pain. I’m sending love to all who are feeling bad today, and I’m letting you know what you feel today will not necessarily be there in the future ❤