Severe Skin Sensitivity or Allergic Reaction??

When I was young I was told by an Allergy and Asthma specialist that I have both. Lots of allergies and asthma as well as Eczema and Sensitive Skin. I have had Eczema breakouts all my life. For the past 5 1/2 years I have been having this really irritating issue with my skin. Any time ANYTHING touches my skin, that area that was touched (usually scratched but sometimes bumped) becomes very red and bumped (hived??) up within minutes. I could play Tic Tac Toe on my arm like that if I wanted to. One time my boyfriend and I bumped heads, and the area on my forehead he hit with his, was red and swollen within a minute.

Some days I feel like I'm covered in itching powder. When I scratch the itches, it then gets red and bumped up and hot. Which then causes more itching in the same area. My family doctor said it was something called Dermophagia (spelling??) sounded like Dermo-fayshza when pronounced. She couldn't tell me what was causing it (and that was after a year or two of it). So now here's my question. Is this a more extreme skin sensitivity to something or an allergic reaction to something airborne or environmental? I lived in this area for about 2 years before this started. I cannot think of anything consistent in the past couple years that would still be affecting my skin. I have moved a few times since then, but in the same general area. Different towns, but these are very small towns in the mountains.

I'd love to stop having people ask me, "What happened to your ... (neck or face)" because I had an itch and scratched it. It looks terrible when I have to go out in public with long, red, bumped up scratches on my face, neck or clavicle area (if I have a shirt on with a collar lower than a t-shirt collar). If I take a Claritin (Loratidine) 10mg daily I don't itch as much, but still get some of the irritation if I scratch something. Also, as a little more background information, the only jewelry I can wear is 14k gold or higher. Cannot be gold plated, it has to be 14k gold straight through. "Hypoallergenic" Sterling Silver,Nickel, regular silver or even 10k gold forget it. Therefore, I don't have much jewelry other than the pair of earrings I just recently started wearing. So it's nothing that's being worn in that sense.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I'd love to get this issue finally taken care of once and for all...Hopefully.

Thanks!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it looks like dermatographism. Dermatographism can be caused by stress, tight or abrasive clothing, watches, glasses, energetic kissing, heat, cold, or anything that causes stress to the skin.
It can be treated by antihistamines or cromoglicate and sometimes steroids, as they prevent the histamine from causing the reaction. As the underlying cause of dermographism is not known, it can last for many years without relief.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.