An Itch That No Scratch Could Kill

April 15, 2007 1:33 AM

Possible Hypochondriac-filter. I have an itch that keeps showing up in the exact same place; around the top of my left shoulder-blade. Normally I wouldn't worry about it at all and think "Oh it's just an itch" but the fact that it keeps coming back pretty much in the same spot on a fairly frequent basis (every few hours or so) makes me question if this is something I should be worried about?
posted by Second Account For Making Jokey Comments to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

dermatitis.
no biggie.
not likely to die.
sorbolene.
posted by taff at 2:59 AM on April 15, 2007

Welcome to my world. Hope this helps...
posted by pdb at 3:03 AM on April 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

It's dry skin. Use cream on that spot for a week and it will go.
posted by markesh at 3:07 AM on April 15, 2007

Hey, me too! SAME PLACE (that's creepy)! Thanks for asking ... I feel like I got a free question answered.
posted by theredpen at 4:52 AM on April 15, 2007

Somewhat unrelated anecdote:

I have a scar over my left eye, where I got hit by a baseball bat when I was 7.

Occasionally, the area will start to tingle/itch intensely, and despite ANY attempts to ignore it, it will ramp up considerably.

The kicker is that if I scratch/touch slightly/apply ANY pressure to the area, a wave of pain radiates out from there, albeit only temporarily.

This is consistent, but it happens only once a week or so...

It's happened for years and years, always in that spot, and thus, I suspect some form of nerve damage.

As the others said, scratch lightly, use a cream or ointment and don't fret.
posted by disillusioned at 5:07 AM on April 15, 2007

Is the skin otherwise unmarked - i.e. no indication of any problem at all when you haven't been scratching it? I had that for about 6 months, all over my right shoulder. The skin looked 100% normal (when my fingernails hadn't been scratching it to death), nothing triggered it, and nothing helped calm it, i.e. hydrocortisone, etc. It was *weird*, my doctor was stumped, and it went away on its own one day and hasn't returned since (2 years ago). Weird, weird, weird.
posted by AthenaPolias at 6:54 AM on April 15, 2007

My literary experience is that whenever you have scars that start to tingle and/or produce pain, tell Headmaster Dumbledore sooner rather than later.
posted by adamwolf at 8:10 AM on April 15, 2007 [6 favorites]

Wow, disillusioned, I have the exact same thing, except it was a softball and I was 11. The sensitivity has decreased over the 16 years since then though.
posted by nekton at 8:17 AM on April 15, 2007

Good god, wo/man, get off the web and get to the ER ASAP -- you need a doctor, not a bunch of strangers on the internet!

end dorky MeFi joke
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 10:53 AM on April 15, 2007

I had something like this. When I went to a dermatologist, I found out I had dermatitis. I had to put Lidemol cream for a couple of days. It appeared again after a couple of months, but I was able to tame it using Aveeno's Anti-Itch lotion.
posted by chette at 11:21 AM on April 15, 2007

I had something like that too. Cortisone cream (I think it was called) and you really have to leave it alone and give it time to heal if you have broken the skin. The skin on the shoulders and upper back is thicker than other parts of your hide and can take longer to heal.
posted by Listener at 12:13 PM on April 15, 2007

I have the same thing on my right side but for a different reason:
I have a very fine rogue hair in the area that, left to its own devices, will just keep growing. The itch/tickle is usually the hair tickling my skin.
I know, I know, gross!
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:15 PM on April 15, 2007

Something might be pinched in your shoulder or neck. If it is a nerve-related-symptom, a good massage, a yoga session, or even a chiropractic alignment may help. At least, the massage and yoga can't hurt.
posted by Eringatang at 12:48 PM on April 15, 2007

Weird possibility to consider -- in this one stressful situation, all my stress seemed to go to one specific spot on my body above my left eyebrow. Nothing felt so good as massaging that spot. A friend of mine was saying something similar lately. Maybe it's something like that. :)

Normal possibility -- the rough edge of your clothes (bra strap, T-shirt seam)?
posted by salvia at 2:34 PM on April 15, 2007

Mine's coming from a pinched nerve, as Eringatang suggests. It only fires in the one spot. I notice it mostly when I take my clothes off for the evening.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:44 PM on April 15, 2007

Perhaps it's where a strong stream of water hits you when you take a shower and it's just dried your skin out.
posted by idiotfactory at 10:10 PM on April 15, 2007