burning itch below skin on forearm

[subcan]

I read the following post in this forum.  This is exactly the type of itch I get.  It is not always present.  I have actually gone for about two months with no itching at all.  Now I am awake at 4:30am with such intense burning itch just under my skin.  I cannot itch it better, but this is what my skin screams for.  I feel like I could take a knife and cut off the top of my skin so that I can get to the actual itch.  
I wonder if it is stress related in any way.  I don't have any "known" stresses at this moment, but maybe there is something.  It has been about one hour now and the burning is subsiding a bit.  
Any help on this would be great.

by peepot, Jan 23, 2004 12:00AM
help!!!  FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS I HAVE HAD AN ITCHY RASH ON MY FOREARMS. ONLY ON FOREARMS.  IT BEGINS AS AN INTENSE STINGING AND BURNING ITCH ALMOST AS IF SOMETHING IS DEEP DOWN UNDER SKIN AND IS EATING OR STINGING ME.  IT JUMPS BACK AND FORTH FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ARM OFF AND ON.  NO CREAMS OR OINTMENTS RELIEVE ITCH. THE ONLY THING THAT ARRESTS THE ITCH IS AN ICE PACK.  THE ITCH IS ALMOST ALWAYS WORSE LATE IN THE DAY AND AT NIGHT. I WORK FOR A PHYSICIAN AND SOMETIMES (no joke) A DIFFICULT PATIENT  OR STRESSFULL SITUATION WILL START THE BURNING ITCH. I HAVE A SCABBY FOREARM RIGHT NOW FROM SCRATCHING SEVERELY 2 DAYS AGO DURING THE EXAMINATION OF A VERY DIFFICULT PATIENT.  I HAVE BEEN TO A DERMATOLOGIST AND TRIED VARIOUS OINTMENTS AND CREAMS.  IS THIS A FORM OF ECZEMA OR SOMETHING PSYCHOLOGICAL?? i NEED HELP, I AM SCARRING UP MY FOREARMS.  PLEASE SOMEONE RESPOND.



This discussion is related to Burning and painful skin.

[Qfop]

Have the exact same symptoms which started a couple of years ago.  Doesn't just occur after sun exposure.  Like all others here I tried all sorts of creams and sprays. A combination of Benadryl and Zantac works for me, plus massaging in some Monistat cream (yes, THAT Monistat cream). My son who's in med school says it could very possibly be related to a pinched nerve in the back. Good luck to all with remedies.

[NeicyS]

I have had this condition for about four years now and it is almost unbearable at times making me scratch until my arms bleed. It feels like something is stinging my forearms and upper arms sometimes even going to my shoulders but nowhere else. I have tried every anti-itch medication on the market, cream for psoriasis, antihistamines and even went so far as to wash my arms in water with a splash of bleach (thinking that maybe I had picked up some weird bacterial infection overseas). Nothing worked! My doctor gave me a cream for scabies and in hopeful desperation, I tried it too. No help! Finally I ran across a site online where someone talked about having the same infuriating itch. The solution he recommended was using Capzasin Cream, an ointment usually used for muscle aches that contains capsaicin (an extra of hot peppers). I tried it and within a minute or two my arms started feeling warm (like I had a slight sunburn) and the itch went away. I was able to sleep all night with no itch and reapplying the Capzasin the next day gave me a full day of no itching! It was glorious! I know just how frustrating this condition can be and it seems that few doctors know what causes it (although it does have a name Brachioradial Pruritus) and even if diagnosed with the disease, there are few medications that can relieve the intense itching. The Capzasin was the answer for me. I hope that this helps someone else and can give you relief! I apply the Capzasin with a cotton ball so that it doesn’t get on my hands (where you can transfer the pepper heat to anything else that you touch, like your eyes) and then put on a long sleeve shirt so that the cream on my arms doesn’t transfer to my sheets and pillow.

[Dasage]

It's a pinched nerve in the back up high in the shoulder blades.  Dig in with you hand hard and ice it. Ice your arm for relief and stretch. I know it's horrible like a thousand ants biting your foreams...

[pab52]

Am I the only one here who has been diagnosed with Lupus in her skin, who also has this itchy arm problem..?  I also have eczema.  I just assumed the itchy arms were something to do with the Lupus..  guess not.  

[Steck1919]

I started getting this intense, burning itch on my neck and arms about 30 years ago following a summer in the Red Rock area of New Mexico during my post grad work. The burning was so intense that I would bang my arms against the wall in an attempt to alter my perception of the pain....yea, stupid idea. No topical ointments have ever worked. I have not had this itch for almost 15 years....and then, bam ! It hit yesterday, first week of agust. Only relief is from ice packs.....wakes me up at night, so I get a Baggie of ice and wait for the numbing....and hopefully, asleep by that time. As a working pianist, can be very difficult to focus at times. Ice is my only friend...well, and my wife, of course. Seems to hit most often in August.....rather strange. I have not found any organism that has this type of dormancy cycle. Dermatologists ? Better luck with a Deep South doctor lady shaking a bag of bones....

[Sal1948]

WOW...i had the exact same experience....it's multi-grain breads, and cookies that cause my forearm itch...also certain breads from restaurants trigger it. But YEAH, folks, the problem comes from certain breads and cookies...I get the problem bad with Kashi multi-grain low calory cookies!!