Itchy skin and weals with photo - exercise related?
Posted , 4 users are following.
4 days ago I started getting skin weals which were incredibly itchy. These only occur in the late evening and night - start to get bad around 10.00pm and ease off around 04:00am. The only thing that has changed in my lifestyle is that 4 weeks ago I started exercising regularly and dieting to lose weight (down from 87kg to 81kg). I usually exercise around 5.00pm every day.
The weals are limited to the trunk area (including buttocks), although I also get itching around the groin and palms of the hands.
It may be some form of "jock itch" but I shower after each gym session and make sure I am thoroughly dry, it doesn't look fungal to me. If it is exercise-related why did it suddenly start, several weeks after I began exercising?
The weals and itchyness completely dissappear during the course of the night, leaving no blemishes.
I am not on any regular medication, although I have had a bad toothache that started at a similar time and have been taking paracetamol (recommended doses only) because of that.
Picture attached.
Any ideas?
0 likes, 11 replies
nakb
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janice10721 nakb
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nakb janice10721
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janice10721 nakb
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nakb janice10721
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janice10721 nakb
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Kitty1992 nakb
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TXOAP nakb
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In any case, if this continues much longer, you should see a dermatologist. The welts look really itchy and uncomfortable, and if you cannot pinpoint what is causing them, you need professional input to help you get it sorted. Good luck.
nakb
Posted
Thanks for the various responses. I think I have identified the cause of the outbreak, which may be helpful to others.
The two odd things were that it started suddenly, about a week ago, and that the outbreaks only occurred in the late evening and cleared up before morning.
I had eliminated environmental factors (e.g. heat or cold, presence of animals, etc) and allergies to washing powders because nothing had suddenly changed.
The only thing that had changed about the time the outbreaks started was that I had a severe toothache and started taking paracetamol and ibuprofen painkillers.
The only three things that happen regularly each evening are that I exercise in the gym, have a shower and eat dinner. I eliminated the shower because I have not changed my shower gel recently, and I eliminated a food allergy from dinner as my diet has also not changed. That just left the exercise.
The exercise on its own could not be the issue as I had been doing the same amount of exercise for several weeks without problem before the outbreak.
Similarly the toothache and/or painkillers on their own could not be the problem as they would not explain why the outbreaks only happened in the late evening, and in any event I have had toothaches and taken painkillers before without problems.
I can therefore only assume that exercise makes me susceptible to an outbreak, but it requires a second factor to actually trigger it, and either the toothache or the painkillers provided that second factor.
Last week I visited the dentist and he confirmed I had a gum infection. This cleared up a couple of days ago and I stopped taking the painkillers and re-started exercising. For 2 days now I have been back on my original routine (exercise, shower, dinner) and have had absolutely no problems at all.
Odd that a gum infection (or painkillers) could work together with exercise to cause such an extreme skin reaction, but that seems to be the only explanation.
TXOAP nakb
Posted
Please, see your dentist every six months to have your teeth cleaned and checked. Also, although it is a headache I know, please brush and floss after each meal and snack. Personally, I manually brush, floss, Water Pik, then electrically toothbrush followed by Listerine mouthwash after my one meal a day. I do not snack. As a much younger person, I adhered to this routine after all three meals per day, and if I snacked, I adhered to it after a snack. Is it a lot of extra aggravation? Yes, no doubt. Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely! It is worth more than I can possibly express. As the slogan says, "just do it."
Good luck and stay well, nakb in the upcoming year.
nakb TXOAP
Posted
Not sure I can identify any cause for the outbreaks other than the exercise (variant of Jock Itch?) coupled with either the gum infection or the painkillers. It was a dramatic skin complaint that only occurred when those two factors combined and has not recurred since (yet!).