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Post by rikita on Jan 20, 2012 21:49:46 GMT
not particularly important medical problem, but i thought i'd share anyway...
in the last week I have been getting more and more of an itchy back - it is driving me crazy at times, and sometimes it hurts now if i scratched too often... I am using the same clothes washing stuff as always, same clothes (well I am occasionally wearing one new pullover I got as an early Christmas present - could it be that?) as always, same everything...
any idea what could cause it?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2012 1:13:27 GMT
Rikita, do you use a back brush when you bathe? Sloughing off some skin while bathing might take care of the problem. If no brush, Get Mr. R to go at your back with a loofah or some such.
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Post by mich64 on Jan 21, 2012 4:12:38 GMT
Winter itch Rikita. Your skin that is not moisturized in winter and can become quite itchy some years, while other winters not. Try having your husband apply some moisturizer to your back each night before going to bed. Not a perfume type moisturizer though, just a moisture cream.
Hope this helps!
Cheers, Mich
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Post by spindrift on Jan 21, 2012 15:21:40 GMT
Please take a supplement of EFAs...Essential Fatty Acids. I've suffered a bit during this cold weather, with itchy legs. I noticed that my skin is rather dry and the bitingly cold wind doesn't help when I'm only wearing jeans. As Bixa said use a brush to slough off dead skincells, take EFAs and moisturize... Only wear pure cotton next to the skin (or silk but I don't do this)...
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Post by rikita on Jan 22, 2012 8:32:24 GMT
Thanks for the replies!
i have a brush but am not very good with it - i never reach the areas i want to reach... sometimes i ask mr. r. but he seems to think that is work and i should do it myself...
hm yeah winter itch might be true... with moisturizer you mean like normal skin lotion?
what are EFAs? are they in some specific food or do i get them in the farmacy?
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Post by spindrift on Jan 22, 2012 11:03:28 GMT
There is a wide variety of moisturizers, some are cheap and some are expensive. You can buy any brand of body lotion or go for lotions produced by Vaseline? Something like this. EFAs = Essential Fatty Acids. Without going into confusing details about Omegas 3, 6 and 9... look for a supplement containing Fish oil (this has omega 3 oils in it)....look for Solgar products. I think they are sold throughout Europe. From what I have learned in bio-chemistry, most people are deficient in Omega 3 oils that, of course, find their way into skin cells...I take a supplement of EFAs for most of the year....
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Post by rikita on Jan 22, 2012 12:31:54 GMT
thank you!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2012 12:43:14 GMT
I get an itch on one side of my face. Luckily it is not something that makes me scratch myself raw -- I just have to brush my hand over my face when it is acting up.
Then there is a uniquely male place where I sometimes get an itch, but I have found that practically any cream makes it disappear immediately.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 22, 2012 13:44:38 GMT
Our summer's are OK with skin, but come winter there has to be an ample supply of body lotions in the house as skin simply dries so much it flakes off and itches like mad. I hate winter dry air
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2012 16:53:41 GMT
Thanks for that info, Spindrift. My skin in the dry season here gives me fits. Of course lotion helps, but surely the body should be making some natural moisture, too. I'm off to research the various Omegas!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 22, 2012 21:56:38 GMT
not particularly important medical problem, but i thought i'd share anyway... in the last week I have been getting more and more of an itchy back - it is driving me crazy at times, and sometimes it hurts now if i scratched too often... I am using the same clothes washing stuff as always, same clothes (well I am occasionally wearing one new pullover I got as an early Christmas present - could it be that?) as always, same everything... any idea what could cause it? Rikita is it localised or all over your back? if it is a smallish area or a 'streak' of itchiness it might be shingles? I had this when I was in my forties...the only symptoms being a line of itchiness on my lower back that blistered slightly and 'flu like symptoms. The doctor said that I must have been exposed to the chickenpox virus when I was out and about... You can only get shingles as an adult if you had chickenpox as a child as it is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus triggered by exposure to somebody suffering from the illness. It can be quite nasty. It probably isn't shingles...but I thought I'd just mention it....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2012 12:43:43 GMT
I think shingles would send anybody straight to the doctor. I saw a case of it twice and it was a pretty horrifying sight. My grandmother was even unlucky enough to get it at age 80+.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 28, 2012 17:54:47 GMT
Actually shingles can be missed quite easily...I've known a few people who've had it, and I've had it myself. In all but one case the only 'rash' was a line of inflamation on the sufferer's back. The other person had a significant rash. It's very itchy tho...and it can be very painful because the virus attacks the nerves themselves so it really stings.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2012 18:20:45 GMT
Oh, well if you can get a minor case, sure. Both cases I saw covered at least 30% of the body.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 29, 2012 9:59:49 GMT
In severe cases, like the ones you saw Kerouac, it can be dreadful. An elderly lady I knew had the blisters it on her face, neck and back. The other sufferers that I knew were in their 40s and 50s, maybe our younger immune systems were a little more robust than my aged friend?.
Has the mysterious itching stopped yet Rikita? If you go along to the pharmacist/chemist and explain they may recommend some ointment will help. Hope that you feel better dearie.
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Post by rikita on Feb 6, 2012 15:46:26 GMT
it is more all over the back. or rather, it is specific spots, but different ones each time. got better lately though...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 7, 2012 18:32:46 GMT
I'm glad it's getting better Rikita...
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Post by rikita on Feb 7, 2012 21:30:53 GMT
thanks...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 8, 2012 15:54:38 GMT
Just out of interest...I have an itchy area on my leg that was driving me crazy, over the past few months I scratched it until it looks like a graze...I showed it to the pharmacist yesterday thinking it might be a fungal infection or something similar...but he said that it wasn't that...he wasn't sure what it was!
Anyway...out of desperation as I was going round the supermarket afterwards I saw some Sudocrem..something I used to buy to treat my sons' nappy rash when they were babies. Anyway I bought some. It's not just a barrier cream! it's 'a healing cream'....it seems to be working as the scratchy area is already looking a lot better....oooOooo
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 19, 2012 10:38:24 GMT
Guess what? I got shingles again....I had it a few years ago when I had a rash on my lower back. I've been feeling quite unwell for a while now, but thought that it was probably just a consequence of a rather demanding shift system brought in a few months ago at work. I am a lot older than many of my colleagues (most of whom are also having problems adjusting actually!). I had a little 'graze' on my thigh that was very sore, but dismissed because I thought I must have just hurt myself gardening...couldn't really see it anyway as it isn't in a very convenient place. However, after a few days the area really started to hurt so I examined it in the mirror. Saw that they were little blisters and it all clicked into place. OH dragged me to see our Doctor yesterday and she said 'AHA! shingles.....' So I'm stuck at home with ungents, creams, antivirals and painkillers feeling quite shitty and having to sit in a MOST unladylike fashion. *sigh* I really need a chaise lounge (red velvet) to drape myself over in a silk dressing gown....signed off work for a week with instructions to go back to the Doctor if I'm not better. It's almost worth the pain...but not quite.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 19, 2012 15:36:41 GMT
They are recommending an injection here to prevent shingles, I guess this does not help you now... But would it help once you recover from this occurence to prevent another I wonder?
I hope you can find some ways to enjoy your medical leave and that you can find a comfortable position.
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Post by mossie on Oct 19, 2012 18:38:36 GMT
Some years ago my wife had shingles. It was finally cured by an injection in or near the spine, to block a nerve.
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Post by onlymark on Oct 19, 2012 19:05:56 GMT
I remember getting a terrible headache from shingles.
Had to get a roofer in to fix all the ones that kept being blown off.
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Post by onlymark on Oct 19, 2012 19:13:02 GMT
Shingles can be a beach.
(There is a double pun joke in that sentence. Not a funny one, but still, quite clever when I thought of it.............. Mossie, shall I get my coat?)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2012 19:15:16 GMT
Damn, Cheery, that is one affliction that I hope never to get. I have seen it on a friend from Singapore and also on my grandmother, and I know that it is more than just ugly -- it is excruciating!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 20, 2012 18:57:55 GMT
I remember getting a terrible headache from shingles. Had to get a roofer in to fix all the ones that kept being blown off. very droll....wanna see my scabs?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 20, 2012 18:59:01 GMT
Today I have been mostly sleeping ;D
It's the drugs....
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Post by onlymark on Oct 20, 2012 19:00:56 GMT
cheery, I was a scab in 1984 - hopefully that means something to you.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 20, 2012 19:01:08 GMT
Damn, Cheery, that is one affliction that I hope never to get. I have seen it on a friend from Singapore and also on my grandmother, and I know that it is more than just ugly -- it is excruciating! I'm quite 'lucky' Kerouac. Nothing on my face...so my natural gorgeousness is unmarked...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 20, 2012 19:02:15 GMT
cheery, I was a scab in 1984 - hopefully that means something to you. good grief...were you a miner then?
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