stop scratching

Despite returning to sporting activities which usually make my skin itchy because of the heat/sweating I have been very well behaved. I am conscious that after hockey I have to stay away from my shins (which get very itchy from the shinpads) and I am moisturizing much more regularly and staying away from heaters in winter. QV cream is a little tub of gold.

Scratching until it feels good..but later on..my skin hurts and it bleeds and scars!—That’s ugly!

Since last year i managed to get rid of my need to scratch nearly all my body, which was covered with topical eczema (that came without any determined reason), by using a treatment composed of cortison and heavy moisturizing cream. The change didn’t take place in one week but in several months: I had to spend a whole summer with long trousers and long sleeved tshirts before finding the right treatment… Now I only scratch myself around the throat and on the back of my hands, not to the blood anymore, and not everyday !
For the persons in the same situation as me, I would advise first to see a doctor to determine which cortison cream you need (in severe cases, using the over-the-counter one is useless, a stronger concentration is needed), to lower down the use of cortison very progressively, to use a lot of moisturizing cream, at least twice a day and even more at the beginning of the treatment (and if you dont like the smell or the texture of this cream, try another one, otherwise it will become a nightmare to apply it!), and to continue using that cream twice a day even when the skin seems to be completely repaired.
Try avoiding long showers, fancy cosmetics with a lot of chemical perfumes and additives, heating (makes the air too dry), rough clothing. In my case, a moderate exposition to the sun is beneficial but still, with a lot of moisturizing cream applied after !
“Stop itching” will stay in my list for 2008 but not at the first position! Hope it becomes the same for you!

I just happened to be on steroids and antibiotics for my asthma and …no itching…no scratching…let’s hope that holds!

i really wish i could just stop. i’ve been dealing with unbearable itching since i was six years old, and now i’m sixteen. i have eczema. i remember when i was eight, the doctors told me that this condition should go away when i turned sixteen, but no. it’s still here and worse than ever. i just wish i didn’t have this horribly itchy skin. i’ve tried everything, and i know that a major help to alleviating my problems would be to stop scratching. easier said than done, but maybe i can find a way to fight the itching sensations. hopefully cause i’m tired of being embarrassed with the appearance of my skin. it’s summer time, and i’m wearing pants and 3/4 sleeved shirts to cover up my open sores. its time for that to stop. this is going to be one of my top goals.

Every night I scratch my legs without even knowing about it. Every morning I wake up and see my legs and I feel so embarrassed about them, so I wear jeans every day to school. It seems like it just gets worse and worse, but then I will have a period of time where they start to get clean. Right now isn’t one of those times. I always feel sort of stressed, so I’m pretty sure that’s why I do it. I’ve tried almost everything to stop, but nothing ever works. I’ve got to 5 different doctors and no luck. I hate not being able to wear shorts, or go to a beach just because I’m so embarrassed about what they look like. I’m really, really, REALLY going to try to stop this time. I really need to stop scratching. I don’t want to feel ashamed anymore Maybe if I truly set my mind to it and have enough support I can mentally get through it…

Lately ive started to scratch my arms whenever i’m nervous, depressed, angry, anything! i do have eczuma(sp?) on my arms but it never itched b4 and it still doesnt, i just scratch cuz i can. and since i have eczuma(sp?), my arms are easier to tear up, and ive done a good job of it. Now i REFUSE to show my arms in public, im sooo self-conscious of it. I have other reasons to hide my arms but even that never made me self-conscious enough to feel uncomfortable with my arms showing. i really need to stop. i get depressed just looking at them….

Well, I started digging into my legs again and my arms are all inflammed too. This week has been the worst outbreak ever. I’ve been trying the different prescriptions, and reading up on eczema to see what kinds of holistic cures there may be. I’ve learned a lot, but I don’t have an answer yet that will keep me from scratching until I bleed.

When I was at the doctor last week I showed him the “rash” on my arms and flanks. I also described the rash pattern where it would start out as papules, which would eventually break or be broken by me, and then they would dry out and heal up and then the cycle would resume. He diagnosed it as diffuse eczema, and we tied it back to the Hep-A vaccination that I received last year when I was being deployed after Katrina. There’s no cure for it, but he did prescribe a new ointment that will help with the itching. I tried it out and it really did work. I didn’t itch and the spots are also healing over. I’d suspected eczema since there is a family history of it, but the presentation just didn’t match what I associate with the condition. It’s nice to finally know for sure what the cause is.

Sometime over the summer I managed to grow my nails out AND stop scratching at my stomach and legs… They look SOOOO much better!

Happiness