![]() ![]() In more severe cases of chronic itch, the same logic has even prompted sufferers to take lighters to their skin. Steinhoff, because it activates the skin’s pain nerves, shutting down the itch. Online, the community of Hell Itch sufferers has agreed on only one surefire treatment: A constant regimen of boiling hot showers until the itch subsides. When patients complained of itch, they were not really taken seriously,” he said. “A couple of years ago, itch was rather a neglected subject in medicine. Steinhoff said medicine in general has only recently woken up to the idea itching can be a crippling disorder. As one Canadian dermatologist told the National Post, by the time a referral has been made, the effects of sunburn have usually worn off.Įuropean dermatologists are better prepared to make emergency calls, but Dr. ![]() Steinhoff and others have some idea of how the Hell Itch is created, “on the molecular level, we don’t understand it as yet.”Īt least in North America, the very idea of the Hell Itch remains almost completely foreign to doctors, who usually recommend ineffective treatments like lotion or an antihistamine such as Benadryl.ĭermatologists, meanwhile, hardly ever see it at all. There are several chemical “pathways” used by an itch, he explains. And although it may feel like an allergic reaction, he said it cannot be treated by antihistamines. He estimates the Hell Itch strikes 5% to 10% of sunburn sufferers, who may or may not be genetically predisposed to it. For upward of two days, the patients are completely consumed by the itch, unable to work or even think straight. Steinhoff said it can be a completely debilitating condition. ![]() Referring to the Hell Itch as acute sunburn itch, Dr. Steinhoff is fittingly based at University College Dublin in Ireland, a country where pale skin and a general unfamiliarity with sunny weather have conspired to make locals particularly susceptible to sunburns. “They say it is the worst itch they can imagine, which leaves them pretty much dysfunctional,” he said in a phone call from Barcelona.ĭr. Martin Steinhoff, one of the world’s leading sunburn researchers, has encountered many patients in the throes of a Hell Itch. Stewart, sufferers were often surrounded by friends and family who believed they were over-reacting to a mild case of sunburn itch.ĭr. The sensation has been described as “fiery sandpaper with knives” and “a thousand bugs under your skin biting you over and over.” And, as with Dr. “As a former marine I am embarrassed that this causes me so much utter agony, I just want to go insane,” adds yet another. “It was a maddening, body twitching, hands shaking, insatiable itch that literally had me in tears,” says another. “I’ve literally been begging my 13-year-old sister to knock me out because I can’t take it anymore,” reads one example. All across the Internet, blogs, web forums and comment sections are similarly littered with panicked cries for relief from Hell Itch victims. ![]()
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