Back from Holidays – a break from itching

26Apr09

Hi All – thanks for all your comments on my last topic. I’m still using the surcare washing liquid and it isn’t causing me any problems, so I’ll go on using it. I use non-bio too, but tend to stick to the surcare for my own clothes since they’re going to be in contact with my skin for longer.

The reason for the long break is I got married at the end of March, and had lots of other things on my mind! I wondered if the background stress was encouraging lots of extra dry itchy patches to appear, but having been away on holiday I’m not so sure now. 

We were very lucky, and after two years of saving, we went to Mauritius on holiday. The climate is hot and humid, but breezy, and just about suited me because I don’t do very well in extreme heat. I burn, I feel ill and I have to stick to the shade – and stick to the shade was what I did!!

We were only in Mauritius a week, but I didn’t itch or scratch while I was there, and most of my more troublesome patches started to heal up!! All I can think of was that it was a combination of: not wearing my jeans or any other heavy fabrics against my skin, constantly being warm and sweaty, having UV light on a lot more of my skin than normal, and swimming in sea-water.   Some or all of these factors helped – and it was like magic! Trouble is, I couldn’t have managed to stay in the heat for any longer than the week, but I definitely think it helped. Unfortunately, within days of being home to England, I was dry and itchy again. I have three new very annoying patches on my tummy which are waking me at night now. Meh.

I think I will try the following:

1) Try another emollient which contains urea – perhaps Eucerin as recommended by Jonat in my last post. Natural urea is found in sweat – so I wonder if it might help?

2) Buy some Piriton to take before bed. Piriton knocks me comatose if I take it in the day, but its a good anti-histamine and hopefully will help stop me waking in the night.  

3) Try to lay out in the sunshine in my swimsuit for 10 minutes if at all possible.

4) Avoid wearing Jeans. I’ve stuck to my lightweight trousers since I noticed the new patches appear.

5) I probably need to have at least one emollient bath a week, rather than relying on just a shower a day. My lower legs are incredibly dry from standing in the shower, so I should try to rehydrate them a bit. Not sure what with at this stage, but I’ll see what I can find.

Lets see how the programme goes.

How about you folks? Any tips?

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