I guess I have just itched a lot for my entire life, so I just scratch and don’t really think about it. But it was recently brought to my attention by someone, and I realized that I am scratching constantly. Like all over my body. I’ll scratch my leg, then my head itches, then the back of my hand, then my cheek, then my arm, and so on and so on, every few seconds. I might scratch 10 or 20 spots within a minute. I think I might stop scratching if I’m really focused on something, but if I start thinking about my itching, then it just keeps happening. And like I said, I think this has been going on for my entire life, but I never really paid much attention to it. Is this normal?
I was told it’s part of my hypervigiliance. I have cystic fibrosis so I already have more nerves that are more strongly connected than other people so my skin is incredibly sensitive and I have tons of physical and medical trauma that makes me hyper aware of my body and skin sensations so I’m always itching and noticing every little thing on my skin. I recently stopped shaving my legs and the feeling of my leg hair moving when I walk is so incredibly distracting and intense it almost tickles. I think trauma can induce excessive skin concern in people I just happen to be on the more extreme end of that spectrum
Constantly. Every part of my body. Like even weird places like my shins or palms.
Go get yourself tested at an allergists. It’s relatively cheap.
Dust mite allergies are extremely common, and dust mites are hard to see. They look like dust.
Whatever it is, it could be an environmental allergy.
One place I did JiuJitsu at had a guy with a specific type of soap allergy and it was being activated from other people’s Gi’s.
Allergies suck. I’m eternally grateful I don’t have a peanut allergy; that always sounds like a living hell. Imagine being afraid every time you get on a plane that someone brought peanuts with them, and you’re going to die because some molecules got into the air recycling system and you breathed them.
All I have is grass allergies. And pot makes my nauseous; I put that in the “allergy” column, too.
Yeah these days it’s literally just a blood sample and it tells you everything you’re allergic for. Everyone should do a test even if you don’t have problems right now it might save your life or at least make it easier at some point.
Really? I went to an allergist a couple of years ago, and she scratched me about 6 times with different things and looked to see how much it welted. Real old school.
Yup! I had the scratch test 10 years ago where nurse drew up a crossword board on my back and went at it with sample tubes but now blood test are just as effective.
If I start to itch all the time, all over, and there’s no associated rash anywhere: it means I have been too depressed to bathe and need to wash.
That, along with bedsheets needing to be changed. But I know if I’m too depressed to shower no way in hell am I going to be able to wash laundry, but at least putting clean (or less dirty) linens on can help
I’m in this comment and I don’t like it.
You’re getting a lot of good answers, but the most likely reason is just that your skin is dry. Try taking cooler showers, and put coconut oil or similar on your skin after the shower.
Or even taking fewer showers. So many people shower daily with out actually sweating or getting dirty at all, destroying their natural skin barrier. Both taking fewer showers and also moisturizing, inside by drinking water, and outside with lotions or creams is the ticket for most people.
Hygiene marketing by big soap has done a number on a lot of people. If it’s winter and I’m not getting dirty/sweaty I’ll go day or three without a shower. I always have a shower if going to meet people or I’ve got, say, a medical appointment.
I’m in the opposite camp, if I don’t shower daily - even when I don’t need it - I feel either dry skinned or covered in filth.
I’m a greasy person tho, just, like, deep down inside me there’s a large pepperoni pizza or something.
Yeah, there’s no one size fits all solution. When I was living in Thailand I’d have a quick cold rinse twice a day because of the humidity.
whoa yeah this is legit - visiting singapore and manilla, it’s amazing how a quick cold rinse can make shit tolerable
I’m gonna go a different direction than the other replies. I have experienced something similar, and received pretty heavy feedback about it not looking great, etc. For me, it was psychological. I had to do pretty basic behavioral modification to address it as a teen, and then again later in life in a period of high stress. I do actually have skin issues that cause itchiness, but those weren’t the root cause. They didn’t help, tho.
In short, you may not actually be itchy, you could be ticcy. Both can be treatable 🙂
This was my first thought reading his post as well. That and lotion.
I used to shower every day religiously whether I needed it or not, but eventually I found out it was drying out my skin and causing itchiness, especially in the winter. Showering less often has helped. And moisturizing after a shower.
Wearing 100% cotton and using sensitive skin soap and sensitive skin detergent are some of the first few generic things you’ll hear from a doctor. (If they don’t see something more specific going on.)
Good call. Someone recently introduced me to the idea of putting lotion on while still in the shower (after the water is off, but before toweling off) and it’s helped me stay more consistent with moisturising.
I have Lichen ruber planus. Yes.
Is it normal without: no.
- environmental
- hormonal
- dietary
Any of the above might be the source of your itchiness. Try keeping your environment minimal and look for triggers
For diet: that’s a tough one, any of a million things you could be sensitive to. You can try a elimination diet for a month and see if that improved your itchiness
Hormonal : this one is fairly easy, assuming your getting all the nutrients you need (check with cronometer) just reduce all glucose sources in your food and your hormones will stabilize
How often do you wash your bed sheets?
Probably every couple of weeks. Just washed them yesterday.
Try washing them weekly. I used to itch and it went away after washing my sheets weekly.
Have you tried switching detergents?
If i go three days without allergy meds i get super itchy.
Do you have skin rashes? Do you have any “skin disease”?
I have to warn you from personal experience, if you investigate with a doctor or whatever the system will declare you fucked for life. It’s easy to step into this trap.
Learn about nutrition and lifestyle (counter sedentary lifestyle with sports).
Increase your high quality protein. Add to that natural vitamin c source. At least once per week eat cod liver with its oil. Decrease carbohydrate intake.
Do cardio.
Lotion !
or else hose!
how much sugar do you consume?
I’ve always loved sweets but I’m eating them much less in recent years than I did when I was younger. I don’t drink anything sweet, and I’ll have 1 or 2 sweet snacks a day.
I’m down to an eight ball every other week.
On and off. But I have fairly mild allergies/eczema which seems to flare up when I am stressed more than anything. Like, I can’t use regular aluminum deodorant every day or I will get a rash. Three days is the limit for most cheap bars, and fuck off with native charging $20/stick, I’d rather just smell bad.
Same shit with most fabric softener. But again it’s like a cumulative+ stress thing. I can go months without an outbreak and then the combination of a long week at work and some dry weather will give me itchy thighs.
