Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with itchy

Help a fussy, picky dresser look better.

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:10:40 -0800

I'm embarrassed by the way my husband dresses. He says he wants to dress better, but that he "physically can't". My husband has told me repeatedly that he wants to look more stylish and more professional (he's 30). This is great, because I'm tired of feeling like he's my kid brother instead of my partner when we go out. However, he has a bizarrely long list of tactile sensitivities that make it "impossible" for him to wear certain things because they're so uncomfortable that he "can't concentrate on anything else".

I don't really know what to make of these objections. I remember when I was a child thinking wool sweaters must be punishment for bad behavior, but I definitely grew out of it. Is he just being ridiculous, or could these issues be physically and/or psychologically real? Any other picky dressers have insight?

Here is partial list of his self-imposed sartorial restrictions, along with his rationales. (He also has a rather spartan aesthetic sense, you'll notice). He won't wear any of the following things except under extreme duress:

Things that are "scratchy":
denim (i.e. all jeans) and corduroy
synthetic fabrics or blends
wool or wool blends

Things that "make me feel like I'm suffocating":
sweaters
ties
undershirts
slim-fitting shirts

Things that are nonspecifically "uncomfortable":
blazers and jackets
shirts tucked in
belts

Things that "look dumb":
stripes, checks, or patterns of any kind
v-necks
boots
pink, yellow, purple, and pastels
vests
watches
hats
(pretty much any accessory/nonessential)

Things that are "inefficient":
shoes with laces
owning more than one pair of shoes
owning more than one coat
buttons

The end result of these limitations is that he typically wears Gap chinos, a t-shirt, and slip-on shoes every single day. On dressier occasions he'll swap the t-shirt for a solid-colored oxford-type shirt, but only if it's half a size too big, loose at the collar, and untucked.

So...

1) In the short term, what can he do to dress better within the boundaries he's set for himself? I'm not very knowledgeable or creative in this department, unfortunately.

2) More importantly, in the long term, can he be desensitized to blazers, belts, shoelaces and sweaters? How should he go about it, and how can I help?

Anonymized for my Mefite husband's privacy, who would die of embarrassment.

itchy itchy baa baa baa

sio42 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:33:38 -0800

Woolrich stuff has actual wool in it. I have received a gift of a lovely sweater and a very nice coat that are from Woolrich. I can wear a long sleeve thin shirt under the sweater, but what about the coat? i don't always wear long sleeves and the coat is a 3-season. Is there something I can put over the wool part inside, like iron-on felt or nylon or something? I received this coat.

On the inside, there is some wool right where your arms go into the sleeves, but not the whole way down the inside of the sleeves. It's super itchy. I've always found wool to be super-itchy and some other threads on here lead me to believe it's an allergy, that wool is not really itchy (?!).

So, hive mind, what would you recommend I wear under the sweater that won't make super super hot? Some sort of wicking layer, like for running or skiing?

And for the coat, is there anything I can put over it or some way to make it less itchy when wearing short sleeves?

Mites - An Itch That Can't Be Scratched...

curiositykilledthelemur — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:11:02 -0800

Mites - is moving only option? Will we take them with us? Neighbor cut down HUGE tree. Part of it falls on our window before being hauled off. We start noticing more bird poop on our window.

A week later, we start itching and noticing little grains of pepper bopping around in our apartment, crowding up on our plates and cups and computer screens. And a few white flying things, one that chose my glasses as a landing spot. And I'm sure there are tons of microscopic mites that we can't see now. Now our bodies are covered in welts. We do not see when they bite us. And we are freaking out.

Googling shows we either have bird mites or black pepper mites or at any rate, mites. We live in a 1 bedroom apartment and are not afraid to completely move if that's the option that makes the most sense, but it will take us until at least August 1 to make this happen and we need to know what to do about this NOW.

We do not want to spend more than $100 of our own money. Some places say Windex works, others say nothing works, other say really expensive stuff works....

We DO want to make sure that we don't take them with us. Are they REALLY like embedded in our skin and hair? How do we get them out permanently?

Will drycleaning and hot washing all of our clothes work? We have very expensive clothes and not too many spares to wrap up for a month in garbage bags.

We're going to throw away all of our furniture and bed and start fresh. It's the only way, right? Thank goodness we only have cheap furniture!

This is freaking us out. HELP!

Itchy skin on areola

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:38:45 -0800

What is this dry, itchy patch on my areola? I know you are not my doctor and I will go back to see my doctor (or another doctor!), but I wondered if anyone out there has any idea what this could be.

For over a year now I've had a patch of dry, itchy skin on my areola. I saw my doctor about a year ago. He thought it was tinea and prescribed a prescription anti-fungal cream (clotrimazole and betamethasone). That didn't work. I saw another doctor. I explained the previous treatment. She said to try Lamisil, which contains clotrimazole but no betamethasone. I have been applying this twice a day as directed for over three weeks now, with no change to the condition.

Both doctors did not think that the condition was serious - ie. not Paget's disease of the breast. I don't have children, so this wasn't caused by breastfeeding.

Help my gum sockets stop itching (or at least itch a bit less)

NikitaNikita — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:36:43 -0800

How can I calm my itchy wisdom tooth sockets? My gums are crazy-itchy at the sites where I had 4 wisdom teeth extracted last Thursday. I know that this is likely a sign that they are healing, (and at least this isn't the dry socket pain I had two days ago!) but is there any way i can calm this insane itching of my gums? It's making me quite bonkers today. The oral surgeon said he never heard anyone complain of itching before, so no suggestions there either.

Thanks!

Andropause or hypochondria?

markhu — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:08:15 -0800

I am about to turn 40, and the last couple years have not been great for me physically, so if this is middle-age, then I don't want it. In my case, the problem is dry skin, which has plagued me more or less all my life, but looking back, it seems like in former decades it was a relatively minor annoyance compared to the scourge it has become. Sometimes I go into an itching frenzy. Not good at night when I'm trying to sleep or when out in public. In a certain sense, you could consider my question a male version of http://ask.metafilter.com/59650/Hypothyroid-or-hypochondriac from last year. FYI, andropause is the medical term for "mid-life crisis" and is like a male version of menopause. In summary, the idea is that for various reasons your hormone levels begin to deviate from normal.

For me, about 2 years ago, at the age of 37, my dry skin started going from bad to worse. Before, my dry skin was made tolerable by simply doing extra dollops of hand lotion on my hands and face throughout the day. I grinned and bore the jokes if it happened to be scented stuff. But now, my skin is dry and cracked and flaky, and regular lotion doesn't help at all and some brands even make it worse. I've been trying lots of different creams and ointments, and have accumulated quite a collection. Then I developed a tenacious jock itch.

The skin between my fingers often erupts in a yellow-crusted rash. Sometimes something similar happens behind my ears, such that if I sleep on one side during the night, then I wake up in the morning with that ear plastered flat to my head.

The dermatologists only seem to offer stronger prescription creams with various side effects. Then they prescribed oral antibiotics which really messed up my digestion. I fired him and went to an Osteopath.

The Osteopath put me on a bunch of vitamin and herbal supplements and told me to avoid dairy and carbs/sugar in favor of protein and fats. She also put me on hormone -replacement therapy (testosterone cream) and oral hydro-cortisone capsules. The jock itch went away, but the rest of my skin is as dry and itchy as ever. In fact in some ways it seems worse and the rash has spread to the backs of my knees. Also, my shins are so itchy I sometimes claw them raw.

I started a homeopathic remedy last month, but the homeopath said it might take a year to work. Sometimes I wonder if I'll have any skin left by then.

The osteopath's next suggestion is for me to see an acupuncturist. Other un-tried suggestions include: 1. buying a $400 cranial-electrical stimulation device; 2. undergoing a $700 genetic test for hormone deficiency.

One thought I've had is to try hypnotherapy because I think I'm "addicted" to scratching myself. Sometimes it feels good (endorphins?). But I almost always regret it--sometimes within a few minutes, although sometimes it isn't until an hour or so later when the pain kicks in.

Another recent symptom is that I'm often cold and hungry in the afternoons: More so than just the snack-cravings from my younger years. These days I find it hard to wait until noon for lunch, and can still pound down quite a lot of snacks only a couple hours afterwards.

Hot spot -- the dog kind, not the T Mobile kind.

katemonster — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:50:53 -0800

Does my dog have a hot spot? What should I do about it? Poppy, my miniature Australian shepherd, has a spot she's been chewing at for the last couple of days. It's on her back, just to the right of her spine and about 4 inches above her tail. I clipped the hair around it, some of which has gotten kind of matted and nasty. The skin underneath feels kind of stiff and scabby/cardboardy -- not much wet exudate, and the only color difference I can see is that it's darker (but not red) than the surrounding skin. The spot seems stinky, but I can't tell if it's that or her stinky butt I'm noticing.
I plan to take her to the vet as soon as possible, but in the meantime I'd like to know if there's anything I can or should do for her, given normal household items. (I've seen recommendations for specific pet-related products, or witch hazel, etc, but I don't have any of those things on hand). Does this sound like a hot spot? Does the location suggest any possible causes? (Could this be an anal gland issue?) She doesn't have fleas, but she spends a fair amount of time outside, and her favorite hobby is herding the cat, which means she sometimes comes out on the losing end of the cat's claws.
To repeat -- I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning, so unless you think I need to rush her to the 24 hour animal hospital, be assured I'm not relying on you for her only medical care. But my vet is very popular and thus very busy, so I'm afraid we might not be able to get in for a day or so, and I don't want to let this get any worse; I've read horror stories of how fast a hot spot can go bad. What should a first-time dog owner do?

Who would pick up a hitchhiker with this thumb?

mwachs — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 17:02:10 -0800

Gumshoe dermatologists: What is going on with my hand and what can I do to fix it? This is not very pretty--although not as shocking as a previous question--so if you are queasy around skin ailments, perhaps you'd like to move onto another question...

For the past few months, the skin around my thumb on my right hand has been acting pretty strange.

First, there was a cut/crack in it that wouldn't heal--no matter the amount of moisture or band aids I put on it. That went away--eventually (a month or two after appearing)--but then the skin on the same thumb a little above where the cut was located began forming a rash. Or at least I thought it was a rash. Again, no amount of moisturizer can help it; though Keefe's did seem to help outward appearances for a bit, but it never cured it. The skin in the affected area is red, flaky, kinda burns a bit, and just a wee bit juicy which is pretty gross. When I stick it under hot water it almost feels orgasmic, but then it just flakes more and more.

A sort of blurry picture of my unfortunate thumb is in this link.

I'm stubborn and can't really afford going to a doctor right now, which is why I've avoided professional help. But now I'm starting to think that the irritation is about to spread and sort of am freaking out.

And FYI, I don't eat fish or meat, in case you think it may be tied into diet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

When biting is outlawed, only outlaws will bite me.

autojack — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:00:49 -0800

What's biting me in San Francisco? Over the last few months, I've noticed the occasional itchy bug bite, but never once seen or felt myself get bitten by anything. If I ignore the itchy spot, it'll diminish within a few hours or a day. I'm not even convinced these _are_ bug bites, but I can't see any pattern to foods eaten or things of that nature that might suggest an allergy. I don't think it's bed bugs, because again I've never seen any in my house, and the bites don't appear in clusters. Sorry this is so vague, I'm just hoping someone will reply and say, "Oh yeah that's the infamous San Francisco fog gnat, everyone gets bitten by those."

baby straight jackets?

markhu — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:42:26 -0800

Our itchy baby can only sleep if we swaddle her securely. By securely, I mean we have to wrap her quite snuggly, safety-pinning the stretchy cloth to prevent her from wriggling out and scratching herself awake. It took some trial-and-error to find a wrapping method that could contain her. Can snug swaddling harm babies orthopedically? It is hard to describe the wrapping pattern: We lay her on a 4-foot long strip of cloth that goes around each arm and back around to the front. There is a 6-inch-wide-by-12-inch-long flap sewn to perpendicularly to the middle of one long edge of the main cloth. This smaller strip is then brought to the front between her legs and pinned in place to prevent her hiking the bottom edge up.

We have not found any fold-down cuffed sleeves to be secure enough to keep her hands inside, and now that she has grown a little they don't seem to offer fold-down cuffs in her size anyway.

We survived the hot summer by running the air-conditioner in her room at night which allowed her to not overheat while wrapped in several layers of restraint.

She spends about 10 hours swaddled each night. And sometimes we have to swaddle her for naps or feedings during the day. She has learned to crawl well, and seems on her way to walking soon, so maybe I shouldn't worry.

Please don't ask, "have you tried lotion?" We have tried many different lotions, creams and oils, and been to a dermatologist who simply prescribed topical steroids. We try to avoid steroids because the side-effects compound her other challenges such as digestive sensitivity and slow weight gain. She is now 15 months old (adjusted), and quite small for her age: in the 5th percentile or less. She is a little over 16 pounds, and about 28 inches long. She did start off small as a 2lb-12oz preemie born 8 weeks early.

I've never heard of baby straight-jackets, but it seems the only way to keep her from scratching the skin off her face, arms, neck, chest, hips, ankles, and behind the knees.

Why do my hands itch?

carsonb — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:27:06 -0800

Why do I have itchy bath-hands? If on occasion when I sleep with a t-shirt on, say on a friend's couch, I get sweaty around the head and neck. This is something I'm used to, so not really any problem there. But if I manage to tuck my hands up around my shoulders and sleep that way through the night, I wake up with wrinkly hands that itch like mad. The wrinkles are akin to when you spend too much time in the tub. Why do they itch? And what can I do to alleviate the itchiness?

I don't use any skin treatments currently, nor am I experiencing any skin issues aside from this occasional one.

A Per-cyst-ant Problem

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:30:19 -0800

The wonderful world of pilonidal cysts... A few years ago a pilonidal cyst developed on me. It began to drain, so I had a surgery to close it. This worked for a year, but then it began to drain again, and so another surgery was done. This one seems to have worked, as it's been 2 years and the area looks fine (I have it looked at from time to time).

However, what's driving me nuts is that ever since the beginning, the drainage from the cyst has caused my perineum to itch. Even after the surgeries, when the cyst area was packed and thus couldn't drain, it would itch.

Even now it itches, and I try not to scratch, but it gets unbearable. Sometimes I scratch to the point of bleeding, which I know is stupid, but it gives relief for a little while.

I actually went and saw a dermatologist who said that perhaps that area had become hyper-sensitive during the drainage time and now is "on" all the time. Is there anything I can do? Just use a cream of some sort every day? It doesn't seem like the cyst is draining anymore as I've said, and I'd really like to avoid another surgery if possible. Any ideas?

Can you identify these bug bites?

banished — Thu, 31 May 2007 20:03:08 -0800

Can anyone identify the insect(s) that caused these bug bites?

My Ass is Killing Me!

drleary — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 17:45:09 -0800

I've recently been afflicted with hemorrhoids. What has worked the best for you guys? I've tried the normal PreperationH routine to no avail; all it left me with was a greasy butt. My doctor has prescribed Anosol-HC, but it hasn't started working yet. Doc said to give it a few days.

What has worked the best for you guys? I know this is the type of question that would be normally asked anonymously, but I'm an open kind of guy.

Am I allergic to water?!!!

schmoo — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 03:39:33 -0800

Please help me with my itchy and painful skin after a shower - it's driving me crazy!! After a shower, (and interestingly, rarely after a bath) my skin becomes incredibly itchy and painful, usually lasting about half an hour until it subsides.
When I get out of the shower I dry my skin and apply an emollient moisturiser quickly. I get the itching regardless of whether or not I apply the moisturiser, and whether I let my skin air-dry or use a towel. The itch is all over my body, but worst on my legs. I call it an itch, but it's also very painful - it feels like someone stabbing my legs all over with pins, or sometimes as if my legs are on fire! It drives me absolutely mad - it's painful and uncomfortable, and adds about half an hour to the time it takes me to get ready in the mornings!!

I googled around a bit a few months ago, and followed some suggestions I found, including
-using a soap-free body wash
-using sensitive skin washing powder
-having cooler showers.

I do suffer from eczema, and have very sensitive skin, but have only had this particluar priblem for the last couple of years or so. I went to see my doctor about it about a year ago, and he was pretty unhelpful - he just indicated that I was an unfortunate person with sensitive skin, and prescribed some anti-histamines, which did not work.

Does anyone experience this too? Any advice/suggestions? Any ideas why it doesn't happen after a bath?! (and yes, the obvious solution would be to have baths instead of showers, but unfortunately I don't have time for that every morning!).

Thanks for your help!

To treat or not to treat (a potential yeast infection)?

tastybrains — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 15:42:57 -0800

Should I use an OTC yeast infection treatment? I'd prefer answers from women who aren't going to scare the crap out of me with worst case scenarios...if you think you can help, check out the Will the world end if I use an OTC yeast infection treatment even though I am not 100% positive that I have a yeast infection? The box has scary warnings not to...but I have reasons to believe it should be ok.

First and foremost, it's Presidents Day Weekend and I can't see my doctor until Tuesday at the earliest. So if I do have something else, I'm not going to postpone treatment by using the OTC stuff.

Second, I went to my gyno in late December. She said it looked like I had a little yeast and that if it didn't bother me I didn't have to do anything, but if it itched to get an OTC treatment.

I have never had a yeast infection before, and while I itched a little back around the time of my dr's appointment, it wasn't bad and I just ignored it. I've increasingly got itchier since then. I've had very little discharge and it's really no color whatsoever with no odor whatsoever.

Is it safe to assume that this is just a progression of the yeast my doctor saw in late December and that it's ok to use the OTC treatment I bought?

I'm a little nervous because I'm really anxious about health problems - if you tell me it might be cancer or rabies or bird flu, I am going to jump to the worst case scenario. So after reading on the box that a vaginal infection can cause permanent damage to your ability to have children - well, I'm freaking the hell out right now.

Would appreciate some advice!

Why for the oranges make me itchy, daddy?

antifuse — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 01:46:05 -0800

Why do oranges make my throat itchy? Why is it, that when I eat oranges (well, specifically the little mandarin-type oranges as opposed to full-sized oranges), for a good hour or two afterwards I get an itch right at the back of my throat? It's inside my throat, it's not like I break out in hives on my neck or anything... is this a sign of some allergy? I've been eating them for years, and never really thought anything about it until a friend pointed out that they have an anaphalactic (sp?) allergy to and they had the same symptoms when eating said food. I'm worried because I've heard that anaphalactic reactions get worse every time you are exposed to the allergen, but I love my mandarins! Anybody have any idea?

BBQ chips = itchy throat?

clh — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 01:50:03 -0800

Why do BBQ-flavor potato chips make my throat itch? When I eat barbecue potato chips, of any brand, my throat feels itchy and tingly. A little irritated, but not swollen. It goes away after an hour or so, but it bothers me enough that I avoid barbecue chips. No other chip flavor or food does this to me. I have no other food allergies, but several garden-variety, hayfever-causing airborne ones. Any ideas what this is?

Bumps on my foot

sbutler — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 01:48:19 -0800

FootFilter: about a month ago I noticed two small, itchy red dots [JPG] on my foot. At the time I passed them off as an insect bite and promptly forgot about it. Well... they're still there. Because of a change of footwear (summer time sandles) I started noticing that these two red bumps are still there. They don't usually itch until something irritates the area, and then it feels like any mosquito bite. They haven't changed size or color since I first noticed them. And I haven't noticed any bumps elsewhere.

I know, I know.. "see a doctor". I'll probably see my dermatologist within the next two months, but I was wondering if these bumps might require more immediate attention. I quick Google search turns up information on athlete's foot, but these don't look like the pictures I've seen. Anyone out there had/seen these before?

... and the lower one is more agrivated because I'd accidently been itching it this evening

Going from Very Cold to Warm, My Butt's and Ankles' Skin Gets Nastily Itchy

stray — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 16:15:39 -0800

If I go outside in very cold temperatures, then enter a warm environment, the skin on my buttocks and ankles often becomes intolerably itchy. My sister has a similar problem with the skin on her thighs. What might this be? The skin isn't particularly dry, nor do I have any skin conditions that I know of. It's even worse if my pants become a little damp, but that's not necessary. My sister says her skin has been so itchy that it has brought tears to her eyes. Could this be a cold allergy? Is there something that can be done about it?

I should add that it only really happens if I've been walking in the cold for a while...say, at least 10-20 minutes.