Wednesday, February 11, 2015

How to Stop Sunburn Itch

My life was almost cut short by a terminal case of surburn itch this afternoon. In my desperate state I couldn't find a good source on the internet regarding how to stop sunburn itch. Because of this (and its remote connection to the medical nature of this blog) I decided to describe my own experience and create a "comment forum" on how to possibly remedy the condition.

Before I continue, let me clarify something: this is regarding the pain-from-getting-burned-just-stopped sunburn itch, not the my-skin-is-peeling sunburn itch.

Here is the backstory:

After spending some time near the equator, I developed a whopper of a sunburn. For a few days I had some difficulty sleeping secondary to the pain the I experienced any time that I moved. Lathering up my back with aloe and other mosturizers, by Sunburn Day 3 the pain was starting to abate and I figured that I was just about out of the wood. Then the unthinkable happened.

I was minding my own business (standing on the street corner when these two guys started to make trouble...wait that's another story), sitting by the computer when out of the blue my back starts to itch.

So naturally I reach around and scratch it. And would you believe it, that didn't seem to help. I keep scraching, but I'm quickly realizing that I need something bigger as I can't scratch my entire back at once, so I run into the bathroom and start frantically grinding my back up against one of the towels that we had hanging up. All this seemed to do was create a kind of itch/pain wherever I last scratched.

This seemed to help for a few minutes, but I was quickly leaving the this-is-mildly-annoying part and entering the I'm-at-risk-for-losing-my-mind phase.

I then tried laying face up in bed and moving up and down, but of course that didn't work. Then I tried arching my back as much as possible (is that decorticate or cerebrate?) as if I was going to do a backwards cartwheel, then curling up into the fetal position--zero help whatsoever.

All the while the itchiness was coming in ever greater waves. My heart was racing and my entire body began to pulsate with each heartbeat. You may think I am exaggerating, but until you have suffered through a good case of sunburn itch, you'll never understand. There were times where I actually considered going into the emergency room, I was that concerned that something serious might be going on.

So here was the one thing that helped: put about an inch of aloe vera gel on your back. I'm assuming it is your back that got burned because, unless your a nudist, chances are you went to the beach with skin white enough to make the Amish proud and decided to spend most of the day face down. Here's the important part: lie completely still, facedown on the bed. I'm sure that after a lot of itching you will be having some involuntary back spasms with how bad the pain is, but the only way to feel better is to keep from moving the burned part.

At first, putting gel on your back is only going to make the itching worse, and you'll still have some lingering itchiness, but it will pale in comparison to how miserable you were beforehand.

Addendum: My wife couldn't believe that I was in as much agony as I was letting on--feel free to point to the comments section of this post when your friend/parent/significant doesn't believe you. Also, feel free to leave comments in the forum if you would prefer. Thanks to everyone who has posted their own stories in the comments section, they always bring a smile to my face.

If you have a second, please click on a link. Every little bit counts when you have 200k in student loans.

Update: was interviewed by the National Post regarding my experience, it would seem that sunburn itch is still very rarely described and somewhat poorly understood now 5 years after this original post. You can find the whole story here.


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943 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Do Not Touch!! Apply alcohol, internally and wait it out. Everything else make it worse.

Anonymous said...

Hello out there! Just got back from a weeks holiday where pool + beer confidence + "I'll only be out for 5 mins" resulted in some pretty bad lobster coloured burning on my chest / back and arms. I had a two day drive home in the Australian summer and I was fearing the worst. The pain of the burn never worries me as much as that dreaded itch. All goes well until the time comes that you absolutely HAVE to put a bra on - that is usually when all hell breaks loose. This time I useds good old google and my own brains and have almost beaten the itch stage. My trick you may ask? I have not let water touch my skin since the day of the burn. You may think "eeeeeewww that's nasty, does that girl stink!??" but my "say no to water campaign" does not mean I didnt sit in a shallow bath and wash the important things the last 3 days!! I have applied every few hours a brand of cream over here in Aus called Aveeno which is rich in Oatmeal - a proven product to add moisture and hydrate skin. So by not bathing the burnt bits (which have no natural oils left - hence the itch!) and maintaining the cream supply to the skin it has been fooled into submission. I still have the jolts of stab/itch which last for one or two seconds sporadically over the burn but I keep still and hold my breath or just add more cream! Very happy camper at the moment!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous chick from Australia - did that work in the end?

Anonymous said...

My husband had this insanity provoking itch as well. After the hours of constant itching and me dealing with his ability to cuss anyone within sight, I looked up remedies. We used a lukewarm bath of oatmeal. 1/4 a container of oatmeal per tub of water and he laid in it for 20 minutes maximum. It wasn't instant relief but after about 30 minutes it stopped. We also put anti-histamine cream on him which didn't help very much at all, tried baby lotion with aloe in it. The only thing that helped was oatmeal. It only lasted 24 hours for him with itching, but thank god he is not yelling about it today.

Joshua said...

Well, I feel for all of you. I recently had an appendectomy and had to have a catheter. I was under when they put it in, and then I had to have another one. This time I was awake. Worst pain I have ever felt... Until this God forsaken itch.

Sadly, this is not the first time I have experienced this itch. In fact, this has happened to me two time previously(apparently I have some mental handicap.) The first time was so bad I can't even remember the pain. The second time however, dear God.. My friends, girlfriend(ex now), and I got back from a day at the beach. I got burnt the worst of the group, just my luck. I went over to her house that evening and as we were watching "Slumdog Millionaire" I got a slight itch in my back. I asked her to run my back and it just got worse... Damn... I got to the point where i just had to go home and take a back. I asked if she had some type of oatmeal, because I thought it would moisturize my skin. I was wrong. I was laying in a warm bath for about an hour... It only got worse.

After that it was hell. I was pacing all over my house trying to contain my screams. I started spraying Solarcain on. BIG MISTAKE. It just got worse and worse.I grabbed a back scratcher and went to town on my back, begging to the sweet Lord for death.

This went on for about 2 hours? I don't remember. While pacing, I ran into my mother who had awoken. Scared the bejeebers out of me. I begged her to spray that crap on me(Solarcaine) over and over. It was not helping. She told me to take a shower to get that stuff off my skin. She also found this Aveeno moisturizing body wash.

Reluctantly, I got into the shower and began to lightly scrub away. VIOLA! It stopped. Out of nowhere it was gone, minor twitches every now and then, but finally, I was able to sleep.

Now, onto my next story. I went to play volleyball, and down in Louisiana it never gets cold. I got a minor sunburn. Nothing too bad. When I got home I rinsed off the sand which was no big deal. That night, however, I went to go play flag football. When I got back I decided to take a shower. The shower sucked. Only because taking a shower whilst sunburn sucks...

This afternoon as I was laying in my bed, my chest started to itch. I immediately began to panic. NO! I knew it was happening. I ran to the bathroom and slathered some aloe vera on it. No relief. The irony was it increased the pain tenfold! I was pacing around my room, screaming and crying in agony.

My mom boiled some tea bags and put it in a plastic tub. She filled it with ice so it was freezing! She began to put soaked washcloths on my back and chest, along with the tea-bags. I guarantee this will help! Now, it won't get rid of it immediately, in fact, it took about an hour of this before it became bearable. After that I should have put a shirt on, but I didn't.

The itching has returned but it's not bad. I am wearing a shirt right now and drinking water, and plenty of it!

Good luck everyone... Together we can make it through this.

Roady said...

well after stomping nearly crying and my family wanting to destroy my being from this uncontrolable urge to scratch the shit out of my self the only thing i found that has worked for me is reading this blog with a hot water bottle on my back and some pressure on that . I have taken some antihistamines and ibuprofen and panadol and plenty of laughs reading this blog. UNTIL YOU HAVE HAD THIS YOU CANNOT EXPLAIN THE ENDURING PAIN AND SUFFERING FROM THIS.I will have to repeat these steps very soon as i can feel it coming back so good bye for now i will update as things progress :)

Anonymous said...

Writhing in pain. Twitching like crazy. Have taken voltaren, phenergan, slathered aloe and hydro cortisone. Now considering Vaseline. It's 241am. Please god, take me now. Ps, love you guys with all my heart for sharing!

André said...

Hy everyone!
I just know the devil itch its coming right now.
I've had burned my back last sunday around midday and now is 11:11am on Tuesday here in Brazil, so she is coming...
I can already feel the little light sensation of itch. Oh GOD!
So glad to see I am not alone. This freeking pain/itch that other people could not believe and only us knows what it realy is.
Millions of knives in your back!
Like lots of suggestions above the temptation of itch will take to a worse situation. I know I can not to that.
I can remeber the last time (I think this is the fourth...) it take 24 hours to get better.
I will try to keep my mind clear and try not to think on the itch.
In the last time I used anti-inflammatory and it helps a lot.
I will try Voltaren this time as soon as the itch increase.
God save us from teh itch!

Ballistic said...

Well lli did was to help my friend clean his parents pool. But then i got a nasty sunburn, but that wasnt to bad because the pain wasnt so bad. Then 2 days later i was climing the celing with all fours. The pain was excrutiatingly bad. I didnt know wat to do with my self. But then thanks to my old rinkled grany. She told me of a very strange recipe to help. All you do is rub brown viniger on your back. It will sting like hell for 5 minutes but then all the pain just seems to subside and go away. Kt might sound strange but it works.

Ballistic said...

I feel your pain. I just decide to be a good friend and helped my brest friend clean his parents pool. But not long after i got a slite sun burn. It wasnt all to bad but the befor you know it, the itching kicked in with a vengence. I didnt know what to do with myself. I wanted to screamad shout but that just made me go mad. I wanted to climb a wall. But then my old rinkled grany told me to rub viniger on the burn. At first i thought she had lost it but i gave it a try since i couldnt get any worse. And it burned like hell but not long after the pain subsided and i was feeling much better. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

This happened to me earlier this year. I had no experience of it before and i didnt even know it was possible but let me tell you, it put me off sunbathing for life. the itch was literally unbearable. If someone had given me a gun id have used it on myself. Not exaggerating.

I was told that natural yogurt would help so i slapped that on my back continuously for a few hours...no luck, plus it smells really bad.

What did help though was a bag of frozen carrots! I sat with my back againt the back if the chair holding them in place on my lower back for around 3 hours (they were still cold). I think all it did was severely numb my back so I could finally sleep and in the morning it was gone!

Robert W said...

I swear man, this happened me the start of the summer after being out on a boat for the day. I noticed my back was itching so I went for a shower.
The very minute the water hit my back, it was uncontrollable. After a few minutes of non stop itching, I actually felt like I was going crazy, serious psychological problems! My heart was beating out of my chest, my fiends were laughing at the beginning , but realised fairly soon it was serious! I wanted them to drive me to the hospital I was in such a panic!
We put a cold wet towel on my back while my friends went down to the drugstore and got me benadryl. I lay on my chest fighting so hard the urge to scratch. I popped back a handfull of benadryll and doped myself out of it.
Finally after a few hours I had calmed down and the itching wasnt as bad. I tried to go to sleep when all of a sudden I started having these muscle spasms that would literally take my breath away they were so bad. My arms and legs would kick out uncontrollably. This lasted at LEAST 10 hours straight!!!!
I have had pneumonia before and broken bones, but this is by far the worst thing that has ever happened to me!!!!
So happy I found this forum because no one I have talked to has ever heard about this.

Anonymous said...

Wow, absolutely came out of nowhere, and it was painful! I panicked and tried aloe Vera, the fan, a shower, and contorting my body left and right. Finally, I just puton a t-shirt and laid on my back to read about the sunburn itch. Reading calmed me, and the pressure on my back from lying down did the trick. 10 minutes later I got up for some pizza, all was better.

Anonymous said...

Got burnt Sunday at Goolwa in South Australia. This is my 3rd experience with the itch - clearly didn't learn the first two times. By the far the worst thing is other people saying it's not that bad.. Drives me fucking bananas. So it's not Wednesday night/Thursday morning, have to get up for work in 4 hours. Just started a new job as well.
Been itching for around 12 hours now. I can't remember how long it went for last time. Seems the best bet is peppermint oil, everything else makes it worse. Definitely keep a top on, I find with a hairy chest that the air flow makes it worse.
All the best to whoever is reading this, it gets better, just give it chance.

Total Agony said...

My f***ing god what the hell was that. Possibly THE worst experience of my life, absolutely agonising. I'm 16 and have been sunburnt a few times before but nothing has ever been this painful, I dare say taking a blow to the nads would be preferable. So after being cruelly exposed to the New Zealand sun(there's a hole in the o-zone layer over NZ) I was badly sunburnt all over my back and shoulders. I didn't really realise how bad it was until I got home, little did I know it was going to get much, much worse. After managing to get through a couple nights through various methods, (a cloth drenched in water, vaseline etc) on the 3rd day it all started. I woke and it felt fine, the sun burn was fading and all seemed well but a couple of hours into the day and all hell started to break loose. I was twitching uncontrollably and muttering to myself like someone possessed, full on losing my mind until after trying so many different things, putting milk soaked cloth on my back and shoulders for about 10 minutes and then showering the area with cold water eased the pain and itchiness a bit. The itching still persisted so I literally begged my dad to go buy some aloe vera gel asap(i'd just started reading this post and several others which highly recommended it)The itchiness was coming and going until finally my dad came home with the aloe vera. After applying it, it only took 2-3 minutes for the pain and the itchiness to dramatically started fading away. It still itched in small amounts but was completely bearable. Unless you've gone through it, you'll never how torturous it actually is. Yours, an extremely relieved 16 year old boy from New Zealand.

Anonymous said...

I had this horrible itch about an hour ago. I ended up lying across 3 chairs, almost crying in agony and about to go insane, with someone rubbing vinegar on my back, which didn't exactly help. I had a panadol and so far it hasn't itched since.

Anonymous said...

This has happened to me before... but it's probably been three years since I've had "the itch". I can still remember the first time it happened like it was yesterday. I was a freshman in high school and it was the second day after getting a sunburn at the beach. I didn't know what to do! My mom had gone on a walk and I remember screaming out the window, yelling for her to come help me. (She wasn't anywhere near the house, but yelling made me feel a bit better.) I remember shedding all of my clothes in a frenzy because it hurt so badly! Finally after using lotions, alcohol (oops, bad choice), cool showers, oatmeal, baking soda, I put ice on it as a last resort. And that is what I have done ever since if I get "the itch".

I am so mad at myself that I got this stupid thing again! It's most common for me to get it the first time I'm in the sun after the winter. It's just my back this time but it's unfortunate because I can't really reach my back. Right now I'm at work with an ice pack stuck on my back. It's numbing it, but I don't know how long this will last. Hopefully not too much longer...

I think the reason I didn't get "the itch" in the past couple years even though I got burnt is because I would immediately begin hydrating and putting Gold Bond lotion on all throughout the day. I didn't do that this time, which is why this probably came back.

Anyways, if this dreaded itch happens to you, my advice is to numb it with ice. Especially if you can just hang around the house for the day. My itch has never lasted longer than 12 hours. It's usually 6 - 8 hours.

I'm supposed to get a haircut this evening... maybe not anymore!

Anonymous said...

I was on vacation on Canary Islands in the end of the winter, from Sweden. I came there with my pale-ass skin with the believes that I could tan without sunscreen for hours straight. I was proven wrong by ~THE ITCH~. After 2 bearable days of sunburn pain came the horror of this universe, The Itch, to attack my back.
I was literally jumping up and down hitting the floor and banging my head in the bed and sofa. I googled possible solutions for the ever lasting itch. I came across this comment section and was able to keep my mind off The Itch for almost an hour. Thanks to all of you who shared your horrible experience with everyone else, you're quite possible life-savers.

It's now two weeks since The Itch was attacking me, so... How did I supress it all? I put on an Aloe Vera (enough so it wasn't ajust a thich layer, but could more or less sink in to the body, but not become dry) and endured the extreme pain for 20 minutes. Then I put on a t-shirt and pulled it very hard forward so that it was extremely tight on my back, and then I proceeded to lay down on the bed with a hard pillow on my upper back and my hand ready to put alot of pressure on any itch coming to my lower back. That really helped, and after only about 5-10 minutes The Itch was no more. The key is to apply alot of pressure to any itch coming, so if it's on your front The Itch is attacking find a way to apply pressure there. And wear a t-shirt!
The downside of this is that you can't move from the spot, but much rather that than The Itch.

Also, VERY important: DRINK LOADS AND LOADS OF WATER!!! Don't stop drinking when you're not thirsty anymore, drink until you really feel like you don't want to drink more! This is VERY important.

Hope I helped someone in atleast some way. And remember, we've all survived it, and it ends. Lasted not even 24 hours for me thanks to the pressure-method. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I fell asleep in the sun and woke up with a mild sun burn. I was in Miami with my fraternity so to get threw the initial sunburn I drank copious amounts of alcohol. I get back to MD and on the cab ride home the itch starts. I have broken my arm and ankle and torn my ACL, and this itch was comparable to those injuries. When it started it was so intense it was as if I was on fire with the mind set of jumping in a pool. I took a cold shower for about 3 hours which now I have learned made it worse. I got out took 6 benedryl and smeared hydrocortizone and aloe all over. Wrapped my self in a towel and laid on my bed. The itch subsided only after I smoked about 2 grams of pot. I know this is not for everybody but it really took my mind of the itch and more towards the bag of cheetos next to me. Two days later my skin is reallly sensitive, I get goosebumps just wearing a shirt. I still have minor itch sensations and have not takin a shower because im fearful of drying my skin out. This shit is terrible

Anonymous said...

I have this currently. My solution; take 7 Benadryl over the span of 5-7 hours. I put aloe on, but all it did was intensify. I took a lukewarm shower, which kinda made it better. When I got out I immediately iced it, then the Benadryl knocked me out cold and I slept 5 hours.

Anonymous said...

I just got back from south padre island and I had a pretty nice sunburn... The itching didn't occur until a day after I got back. I didn't know what the hell was going on. I quickly grabbed calamine lotion and put it everywhere on my back. Then proceeded to follow that with Saran Wrap so I could keep the air off my back as I thought that was a factor in the itchiness. 24 hours later, I feel better. I still have that dried calamine lotion on my back that I put on before I went to bed. I don't know if I should take a shower or what because I don't want that itchiness to come back. Ever. Lesson learned!

Motorman writhes said...

I'm an idiot, so it's happened a few times to me. This works to stop crazy sunburn itch fast:

1. You will itch like crazy no instant fix, so just breath deep and regular, suck it up, and wait for the next steps to work. 15 minutes.

2. Quick shower or rinse the itchy area, don't dry it, just leave it wet.

3. Use any pure oil you have - coconut works awesome,, olive oil. Drench your itch area with it, and massage it in deep, dont scratch,press it in, drench your self some more. Keep breathing, whooo whooo

4. Put on a tight cotton tshirt. It'll soak up and retain a lot of the oil. Let it. Twitch a bit, growl, fight it.

5. Don't scratch, lay down and let the itch area face upwards. Breathe, breathe, count the seconds, don't scratch, twitch a bit, and.... Relief.

Unknown said...

I live on a subtropical island, I went on a picnic on Saturday and got in the water there. Little did I know the result of what that fatal day brought me. Sunburn on the face, neck, chest, shoulders and back!! Saturday it wasn't that bad, Sunday it was perfectly fine.... Monday (today) I AM GOING INSANE!!! The only thing that I've read that really works is booze. Well.... I'm 12. I've tried almost everything! The thing that is really helping me is reading these hysterical comments and writing one! I've been laughing my face off for the last 20 minutes!
30 minutes ago I was on my kitchen counter crying my head off and playing plants vs. zombies so I could take my mind off the insufferable itching! I have an aloe that I have been putting on it just so happens to have alcohol in it. ANNOYINGNESS!!!!!!!! How long with will this agony be I'd like to know? Well, if it keeps on going I'm going to go jump off a bridge and party with Jesus!! But for now I'm going to eat French Silk Pie and Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. For all you who are reading this and are in as much pain as I am, we can get though this and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Or cripples you for life!

Unknown said...

Take it from a GINGER:

I have had this itch FOUR TIMES. You would think I would learn to put on sunscreen, instead I learned the cure.

AFTER Sunburn:
put on UNSCENTED Lotion (get the stuff for babies) at least once a day. Also take oatmeal baths (Aveeno makes a decent one). These things will help you later on.
You can expect the itch to come 2.5 - 3 days after the burn occurred. I would advise taking ibuprofen or Aleve preemptively.

ONCE ITCHING STARTS:
NO more lotion and try not to scratch. Ibuprofen. Get a bag of ice and lay it over the itching spot for 15 minutes. This will numb the pain, thought it will take a few excrutiating minutes. WORTH IT! Another little tip that took me some time to figure out is a towel. Pull a towel tight over your back or push it into your chest and lay on it. This makes the nerves send signals of pressure to the brain rather than the itch. Once you start doing this you will need to stay with the towel for a couple hours because (as you will see) if you pull the towel off the itch will instantly come back. Do not scratch with the towel, just move your hands and apply pressure. The itch will come and go and in between bouts I like to take oatmeal baths.
Sleeping pills are also not a bad idea, though I have yet to try them.

Anonymous said...

I woke up this morning after burning my whole back two days ago. Right when I get in the shower my back starts itching and a stinging like I have never felt before. I can defense relate to everyone on here. I goto work anyways, and only made it a few hours and had to go home. My girlfriend found this site and tried the aloe vera gel. Its green gel in a clear bottle and its rite aid brand. It also says after sun on it. Took a cold shower, got out and was itching like absolute craziness. She put this all over my back and it stopped itching within 15 minutes and going on an hour now of minimal itching. Seriously go get this stuff if you want the itch to end!!!!!!! It works! Wearing a t shirt after the lotion dries helps a lot too.

Karina said...

The exact same thing happened to me. I went to an army air show and when I came back, my arms, and neck were as red as they could get. I was in pain but that didn't bother me as much as the brutal itching I got two days after. The feeling is horrible. I scratched myself so much that I thought I was going to scratch me skin off. Today is my 4th day and thankfully I found this anti-itch cream that I got at my nearest pharmacy. Thanks to this cream, I didn't shoot myself. The name is Gold Bond Anti-Itching Cream Maximum Relief.
It was the only thing that worked after taking cold showers, using ice, vinegar, benadryl creme, Noxzema, and other over the affected areas, I even took aspirins. Seriously, I tried almost everything. Nothing worked like the Gold Bond.
I still get itchy when the cream rubs off but it's bearable.
I would never imagine this could happen to anyone until it happened to me and I did my online research. My husband didn't believe it was so bad until he saw me in tears making myself bleed in some areas with all the scratching. It's one of the worst feelings ever.

listen up said...

Okay, if you're in the same state in in, you don't have time to read lengthy posts, as you might commit suicide from this unprecedented hell.
Here us what you should do right away:

1. Put on a coco butter lotion or poison ivy cream. It will itch even worse, yes. Just do it.

2. Put a cotton shirt asap.

3. Get an ice pack, cold water bottle, etc and put it on your itching area.

4. Get fifty bottles of water and start chugging.

5. Take Advil of some sort.

6. Lay down with ice pack.

7. Relax. Take about twenty minutes.

8. Go supply aloe. It'll it like CRAZY. Just lay down, remain calm. Water, ice pack.

That's as far as I've gotten. I go to work in two hours. I'll update you.

Here's what I did that you DON'T do:

1. Took a hot shower. Switched to cold because I heard it was better. DON'T DO EITHER!

2. Put on aloe, then coco butter lotion, then poison ivy cream because the itch was getting worse. Freaked out. Jumped back in the hot shower. The heat is the only thing that relieves the pain. I DON'T CARE! DON'T DO IT!

3. Twitching, shaking, crying. That's all that will result.

Unknown said...

It's funny that some pharma company hasn't figured this one out yet - as it is OBVIOUSLY very common. I love the descriptions some of you have come up with to describe the unbearable itch - searing, electric, like insects are crawling through under your skin, etc... HORRIBLE. I will agree with a few things here: anything topical seems to make it worse, merely based on the fact that contact to the skin will infuriate the itching. Showers, water, etc...great during the shower, even worse after, because as the skin dries topically, it tightens and further enhances the activity underneath. The pressure/covering of a light shirt or even a tight-wrapped towel works because simple pressure tends to numb the itch, much like pressure numbs minor pain. But the itch will return as soon as the pressure fades or air hits. It really does make you feel like the world is ending, realizing there may be no relief, and you are in for hours of agony regardless of what you try. So, I resigned myself to a plain simple "solution", which I will get to shortly. But first, stay home - call in to work. Screw it - it is a worse feeling than almost anything else we experience in life. Period. And I'm sure most of you will agree. No boss or job is more important than your physical comfort or state of mind. Stay calm, accept the itch as an insufferable reality. It's gonna be there, so get used to it - this helps with your mental state, and helps to calm you down a bit. Seriously. Second - drinking water will ALWAYS be good for you, and may shorten the length of time you go through this. Ibuprophen and Benedryl will help to a certain extent, the former to dull nerve ending, the latter to dull everything. Which brings me to the best I can recommend: if you can, knock yourself out. Sedate sedate sedate. This is a natural process that's going on, and it sucks, but it has to do it for the cells to heal. There may be a little relief in some of the stuff mentioned, but the bottom line is none of it will really help like we want it to, and trust me - I've tried it all. The one thing that ends up working is to deaden and sedate. Ibuprophen to start, and then, if you're not totally against it - shots of hard liquor until you just don't care. You won't feel much, and if you do, it won't take over your entire being. Deaden and sedate. If you don't want to drink, Benedryl until it knocks you out. I have chemical treatment of any kind, but I hate this effing itch WAY more. You can detox and re-hydrate after the itch storm is over. Good luck, my friends. And remember, you aren't alone, and it will go away...

Jaffo said...

Suddenly this is all really hilarious to me - what we humans go through because we wanted to enjoy a few hours of fun in the sun. Obviously we were meant to be subterranean-dwelling creatures. I just posted several minutes ago ("It's funny that a pharma company hasn't..."), and I will update you all - Earlier when the itch became unbearable, I swore like an angry transvestite sailor and paced around the house looking for a baby to punch. I lathered some kind of "vitamin E enhanced emergency healing" B.S. lotion on all the burn areas I could reach, and it just made it worse. Instead of babies, I wanted to punch buses and horses. But of course none of those are in the apartment. So, to take my mind off it all, I read all of the posts in this thread, and posted my own as well. Now, an hour and 600mg of Ibuprophen and two full shots of Segrams Seven whiskey later, the angry itch has subsided to a nagging discomfort and a warming sense of humor. Seriously, if you get to a point of resolve that allows you to take it all less seriously, you will feel better. The itch sucks, and will continue to, but it will go away. Realize you are experiencing one of the most irritating and agonizing sensations in human life... AND YOU ARE SURVIVING IT. You are a bad ass. I'm sorry it sucks so bad, but you certainly don't. Calm down, and sedate. Have a shot, and I will be the first to cheers you (). We'll get through this. ;)

- Jaffo (another goofy AZ ginger with bad judgement in the sun, and an attitude that will beat it...)

Anonymous said...

Hey all i had this before and my wife who is Hungarian comes up with a lot of crazy ideas and home remedies....Well she told me to put sour cream on my sunburn.This works good for the first part of the sunburn.As fa as the itchy part i was told Noxzima is suppose to help never tried that though.I just got burnt yesterday at the pool. Now i am reading all this and hoping i dont get the itch that i had before.I will be getting some peppermint oil to see how it will work.

Anonymous said...

Run around in circles, yell really loud, stop drop and roll, then rip your hair out!

Anonymous said...

Plain and simple. Cover the area with aloe that's burned/itching. Then cover it with a shirt. Preferably one that's stretchy. As soon as I did this I had instant relief. Still a little itchy but most definitely bearable.

Tim

Anonymous said...

My burn happened on a Saturday and the itch started on Monday after I got home form work and changed clothes. I tried some of the Aloe Vera gel with Lidocaine but all it did was intensify the itch. I thought I had become allergic to it, so I rinsed off in a luke warm shower which seemed to help until the water stopped and I dried off. Then it became worse. I tried some After Sun lotion with Aloe and Vitamin E but it seemed to also make it worse. I started pacing like a mad man, tensing up like I was having convulsions and crying. I honestly thought I had to got to the ER for treatment because I had never itched so much in my life. I called a friend of mine who is a nurse and she told me to take 2 Benadryl and try to remain calm. By this time I had grabbed a towel and was holding it against my chest which seemed to keep me warm and control the itch. She also said to take a hot bath (yes, hot) because it would kill the itch although it would cause the burn to hurt. If neither worked and I started to run a fever, she said I would have needed to go to the ER. Luckily, the Benadryl and the holding the towel tightly to my chest to keep me warm worked, I was not looking forward to a hot bath or ER visit.

Anonymous said...

I know exactly how you all feel. It sucks. Like most of you said the "Hell itch" starts around 2 days after the sunburn. Let me tell you.
I felt like ripping of my skin. My skin was itching like crazy!
I tried everything.
When I got home I was applying some after the sun gel. That flared up my skin. I started freaking out and kept twitching. My sister was laughing at me cause I looked funny. I wish she could experience that horrible itch.
So then my mom told me to lay in a bath tub full of Aveeno. So I laid in there for a few minutes and my chest and shoulders started itching uncontrollably. I got out screaming. My mom ran in and put some Vaseline on it and then I put on a cotton shirt. She gave me some Tylenol and Bendrayl. By then I was tired. I went to my bed and was still twitching. I had to lay on my hands to keep from itching last night. So I woke up and thought the itch would be gone. I went in to the bathroom, turned on the shower, got in and started washing myself. BIG MISTAKE. DO NOT TAKE A SHOWER. Not even a hot one. It came back so I got out and put some of this other stuff on my shoulders that was Benadyrl for skin itching. Then I put another shirt on. I went down stairs to twitching. I ate breakfast miserably. Then I went up stairs and laid back down and got on my laptop. Here I am. With this horrible itchy sunburn. I never had this before. I just want it to go away. The Benadyrl helped a little bit. I'm also a really pale person, and this was the first sunburn of the year.. so I don't know if that had anything to do with it but Yeah.

Anonymous said...

I have NEVER been in so much pain in my life and I had a difficult birth, almost died while having my daughter...and I'd rather go through that 10fold than deal with this...

Anonymous said...

ahhh the only thing that helps right now is spray on sunscreen...every time you feel an itch coming on, spray the crap out of it. Also, take benadryl every 4 hrs, even at night. The continuous use of benadryl keeps the itch at bay, but if you don't keep it up you will itch until the benadryl kicks in. Which is why I'm using my spray on sunscreen. Yes, I'm an idiot. *goes off to set a timer on my benadryl*

Anonymous said...

I know I'm late to this hellish party, but I've brought my two cents along. I was planning on a date this weekend and so I went tanning Thursday night. Thinking that since its only been 6 months since I was spending my days in the Texas sun I could handle it, I hopped into a level 2 bed for 10 minutes with a great tanning lotion that helps get a nice bronze glow. It's now Sunday and I woke up at 5:30 with THE ITCH. Seriously is this sent by Satan himself? I cried, screamed, rocked in the fetal position, cursed, cried some more, cried again, rubbed my back on every corner I could, and did I mention I CRIED?

My first instinct was to scratch. Bad idea. Since I just got a tattoo I have some aquaphor on my nightstand. That helped for a few seconds till it started absorbing. I took a cool shower, used one of those loofah straps and some moisturizing body wash, and it just itched just as bad. While I was still wet, I slathered baby oil all over my back. Then more aveeno, and I sat perfectly still while it all soaked in. It seems to have brought the itch back to tolerable levels. As soon as I'm sure it's managed I'll run to the store to pick up some aloe or something.

Anonymous said...

I am a 16 year old guy who has been cursed with the palest skin that ever graced this green earth. I spent a day at the beach in CA with a friend I had not seen in a while. We rolled in the sand and chatted it up, and prior to this my mom made an attempt to douse me in sunburn, which I didn't take seriously. I hadn't had a sunburn in the longest time, I assumed today was like all other days. The wind played a factor in my demise. Despite best efforts to spray me with sunblock, most of it was lost in the wind while it was attempting to reach my skin. A day later, I was lit up, and in streaks and splotches rather than a full body burn, as a bit of the sunblock had managed to protect me. I shrugged the intense pain off and even went to school on Monday, showing off my "scars" of flame damaged skin. I got home to an annoying itch in my chest that refused to go away. It eased off as I applied lotion and solarcaine after a few minutes, but the pain persisted in my side not to long after. Same routine, and I went to sleep not knowing what would come later. I woke up at 2 a.m. WRITHING in my bed! I hadn't experienced a pain so gruesome, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. I leaped from my bed and itched like a stark-raving lunatic, thinking I had been eaten alive in my sleep by some mosquitoes. I looked to the mirror to find that it was none other than my damaged skin, a light shade of purple and deep red. I began to break down, and dashed about my house in a frenzy, slurring and sputtering to myself as the itch only got worse, I grabbed the lotion I had used and applied it generously, but had no aid. I searched the internet for a quick-fix on this dire issue. I came across here and scanned by people's stories with a vengeance. Suddenly, someone suggested Solarcaine, a product I had within possession. I yanked it from a top shelf, sprayed more on than the sunblock I use normally, and stood in front of a fan on high. The itching began to intensify, as if it weren't enough already! I ran for a high dose concentration of Ibuprofen, one last pill, and downed it quickly. I needed to kill time until the meds kicked in, so I did what my natural instinct told me to do. Get. In. The. Shower. I jumped in the rapidly warming water, concentrated the blast on my itching, and it soon subsided as heat took over. I stood in the shower, afraid to leave the spray of temporary relief for fear of a returning itch that would make me claw my skin off. At 3:00 I didn't have much choice but to get out. I had used a good 30 minutes already, so I used a shampoo with the words "soothes itchy sca-" and cared less for what it was for. As long as I could trick myself into thinking it would help my itch. I got out, wrapped a towel around me, and returned to chronicle this tale. As I read the posts, I quickly grabbed for a shirt, taking all precautions to make sure the itch didn't come back, at least as bad as it did. Its 3:42, and I feel it consciously, but have noticed a lack of insanity driven itching. That's a small battle won. I don't know if my method was luck, or a creative combo on the fly, but I'm just glad the itch has died down for now. I share the pain off a lot of you here, and I now know a lesson on protecting myself from the sun, least the Flames of Hell come to lick at my tormented skin. This blog really helped me, both in relieving pain and distracting me from it. Glad to know other people share my feelings about sunburn itch.

Anonymous said...

Im suffering through this for the second time in 10 years now, youd think I would have learned the first time... Ive been awake since 1am and it is now 5. Topical reliefs never worked for me. Also, as others have said, dont shower. . Ive found that it helps to sweat. Do a quick little workoit. Since its 5am i just did as many squats, lunges, and pushups as i could. It made me feel 100% better than i did. I still have a dull itch but its bearable now.

Anonymous said...

i know this sounds nuts, but when my skin started crawling I jumped in the shower and put the water near to scolding and just let it run on my chest for about ten minutes. when i say the water was hot, i mean that i almost felt my skin melting through the first 30 seconds. but afterwards if you dont rub it, your skin will be pretty numb and the itching goes on at a very minimal until it dissipates. that along with some benadryl takes it out pretty quickly in my experiences (4 to date)

pietje said...

A few years ago i was in Spain. I rented a cabriolet and was driving along the coast, great time.

The stupid me tought how it would be nice to drive without a shirt and with the wind of cruising in the car i never felt the warm sun.

So that night i got sunburn. I knew that it was heavy but hey just keep cool and out of the sun and in a few days it wil be allright.

After 3 days i got home, i was asleep and woke up of an itch. i started scratching, now the hell begins. The itch was so strong that it was drivingh me crazy, i run acrosed te room in circles, went outside without a shirt to stand in the cold nuthing helped.

At one time after a few hours i was going crazy and losing my mind, i just didnt know what to do anymore and so i went to the hospital. They gave me an cooling creme but it really didnt help. I took some sleepingspills went to sleep woke up and most of the itch was gone.

I sometimes still have nightmares of the itch haha. Never ever again im going to get a sunburn.

Anonymous said...

I pomise this works.

Oatmeal.

Takes 5 mins to make

Anonymous said...

Hi all solders in this war :)
I have cheap solution to help you stop itch. U have to use Sour Milk (if don't have it use Yogurt) then wash that and use fluocinolonacetonid that is universal name for cream and after rubbing that cream rub VINEGARd and take some sleeping pills if itch is unbearable.

stay strong friends :)

Anonymous said...

I am up with my 12 yr old daughter who got a sunburn 2 days ago. My husband just thought she was being a drama queen till I showed him this web site so Thank you!!!!! I did find a trick a gave her a benadril but also used peppermint oil on her burn do not use the peppermint extract make sure it is the peppermint oil within 20 min she said her back no longer itched & is sleeping beautifally good luck to all of you my heart goes out to you!

Anonymous said...

Ha! This is my 5th or 6th time with "hell itch". You think I'd learn, but no. Every spring when the weather is nice I go out to garden and presto...sunburn. I'll wear sunblock for the rest of the summer but I always start the season with a burn. And in upper Canada we still get snow the first weekend in May...no one's thinking sunblock unless we're packing for Cuba!

So 2 days ago I'm out trimming the hedge thinking the temperature is nice and comfortable. That night, ouch! I'm a little red, but not that bad..I've had worse burns. Fast forward to this evening. Skin feels warm, but not stinging. I have the dishes done, lunch packed, and thinking after a crazy day of work I'm gonna grab my book and relax in a nice hot bubble bath. Ahhhh...very relaxing. Then I start drying off and I feel a prickle on my chest. I give a quick scratch, and then, OMG...it starts. I'm dancing, hopping, begging, crying, praying...I grab a shirt and run for the kitchen.

The first time it happened I was a teenager and my mother had to call the hospital because I was positively freaking out! They said to soak in a bath of baking soda and vinegar, and after a few minutes it worked...itch was gone. I've used this remedy ever since.

Back to present....my cupboards are now empty because I have everything flung to the floor....no baking soda. My cats are following me with interest wondering what kind of new game I'm playing now. I had thought to just be tough and ignore it and it'll go away....but no...I'm pretty much a blubbering mess now. I grab my iPad and google "sunburn itch" and found a suggestion to put regular white vinegar in a spray bottle and spray the area. YES! I picked up both yesterday to mix up a window washing solution. I grab them and head to the bathroom and spray generously and let air dry.

Right now I am calmly sitting on the couch typing this little anecdote. I smell like a fish-&-chip place, but I don't itch. And as a bonus my sinuses feel very clear. As a downside, the cats tried to cuddle but think the chairs on the other side of the room smell nicer. But I don't itch.

Don't know if I'll face work tomorrow or not...If I make it through the night I'll just chance it. Or else use the vinegar and keep my office door closed. Sigh. On the other hand if I stay home I can restock the cupboards...it's still spread over the kitchen floor.

The really, really sad thing...I'll probably do the same thing next year. I mean, it's May 6...I didn't even BUY sunblock yet.

Lindsey said...

Ok thank god for this blog first of all!..I got a really bad sunburn on my chest and back in like 75 degree weather..LOL Yes I am a total white girl who burns in 70 degree weather..so sad..I didn't start getting the "itch" until day 2 and OMG..I about went crazy I am a stay at home mom with 2 toddlers ages 3 and almost 2 and trying to deal with my kids and an itch I thought I was gonna go crazzzzy!..I called my mom yes I am 31 like a big baby crying and saying it wont stop what do I do?? you know our parents have been there and done it so my mom must have an answer..which she did and it totally helped..Putting ice packs on my body and using a cold wet towel I put in the freezer..It took the itch away..drinking tons of water..which sucked only because I had to pee every 5 minutes..and I got this tip from another commenter using GOLD BOND RAPID RELIEF ANTI-ITCH OMG GO BUY THIS!!! The Aloe in it and the menthol I was like in HEAVEN!..Benadryl every 4 hours also...THIS STUFF WORKS FORGET ANY OTHER CREAM! THANK YOU GOLD BOND SLEPT LIKE A BABY! I also wore my strapless top wearing a TSHIRT didn't help me...Good luck to you all and god bless!

Sandra said...

I am suffering from this now!! ! Seems like I have some relief from Ivy-Dry super..... For poison ivy.... Keep shirt on.. Have someone lightly rub open hand over area to help with itch....... Definitely helped... Still itching but it is now bearable!!

Anonymous said...

i salute you all. you dont come back out of sunburn itch without my eternal respect. i am currently on the mend from this sensation from hell. i doubt anyone will read the 654th comment on this haha but i am currently itch free, having been in agony an hour ago.my secret: calamine lotion. please know, it will make it about 50% worse for about 5 mins, but once it kicks in, you will feel like a new man/ woman.
a great method is to utterly soak your hands dripping with calamine, rub it good and thick on your burn, and scratch the resulting itches until it kicks in a few minutes later. you will feel like you are fighting the devil for your sanity, but it will be completely gone. now DONT LET IT COME BACK! reapply every thirty minutes,i dont actually know how long it works for real, because once i found something that works, i dang well didnt wait for it to come back to find out.

Scott Barclay said...

I get a Sunburn on Saturday working in the yard. My whole back is burned. Saturday night, pain but no big deal, just sunburn pain, you know, the kind where you can't roll over when you sleep. Then Monday is a day of sunburn pain. Then Tuesday it is starting to feel better. Until Tuesday afternoon when I get home from work. I get in the shower. The water hits my back for about 30 seconds and all of the sudden it hits. Itching that feels like it is coming from my spinal column itself. Fingering out to every inch of my back. As Tom Burgandy would describe "the deep pain" I start twitching like crazy because itching will not sooth it. It is too deep of an itch for itching. I turn the water to as cold as it gets. I might be freezing but I try. It takes the edge off for about 10 seconds and then it is like the itch evolves and learns to itch through the cold. I jump out of the shower. I fall on the carpet in the next room and lay on my back. I start to push myself across the carpet on my back with my feet. DO NO DO THAT! It made it so much worse. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse. So, I am growling and screaming like a 3 year old toddler fit. I am about to punch a hole in every wall in the house. My wife get home and immediately starts researching on the computer. I am hyperventilating from the itch and sweating like a pig. She finds to use aloe. We have a big aloe plant. She cuts a bunch of leaves and smothers my back in it. At first it made it so bad that I got so light headed I literally passed out for about 15 seconds. She calls my neighbor who is a doctor. He said that if it doesn't at least lighten up in an hour I should go to the E.R. I think "AN HOUR? I will be dead in an hour." After smothering me with aloe. She covers my back with a towel to trap the moisture and then goes to the freezer and pulls everything out of the freezer that she needs until she covers my back with it. (on top of the towel) She then tells me (because of her internet research) to hold completely still as the twitching I am doing will only make it worse. So I take a belt and I put it between my teeth so I can bite down through the worse episodes. I hold as still as I can for about 30 minutes of this. Almost in tears the whole time. Sure enough, after about 30 minutes of this misery it died down to a regular itch. An itch that I can tolerate without wanting to stab every inch of my back. An itch you get from a mosquito bite like itch. The 45 minutes that this ordeal lasted will forever be ingrained in my mind. I will do whatever I can to never have a sunburn again.

Pura EnergĂ­a said...

Wow...so many comments. At 48, my face got burned and 3 months later it still itches - can only use hydrocortisone for no more than 2 weeks. Sometimes it goes away for awhile, but if I drink beers, the itchiness returns, so it must be something to do with histamines. Anti-histamines work great at night and I sleep better, but I stay clear from the sun (zero tolerance now!) and wear a hat and long sleeves. In my next life, I am coming back dark-skinned (no more of this melanin-challenged skin!).

Unknown said...

I am dealing with this for the last two days and having nothing avaiable to me but vinegar...that seemed to make it worse..then I was desperatly searching for something and came across petroleum jelly omg I feel 90% better and can actually relax now...best of luck

Anonymous said...

It is horrible the worst thing ever I would say pain but it isn't pain its so hard to describe. I had sunburn from Saturday and Sunday and had the usual pain which i helped by applying cream and cold flannels onto to ease the pain but then today the itch arrived. I tried to resist it until it got unbearable earlier tonight when I started applying cream to soothe it this soothed it only for a few seconds really before I had to apply more so I decided to soothe it with a wet flannel. Worst decision ever as it caused it to get 100 times worse and I was running round my bedroom wanting to tear my skin off I then jumped in the shower (cold) which helped and after reading this decided to put on a shirt which has actually helped it is not half as bad as it was and I can now relax so I would advise a cold shower and putting a top or shirt to cover your burn (providing it is on your back of course) basically cover it so the air does not dry it out. Will try aloe Vera tomorrow if it persists as a lot of people have advised that. And for gods sake don't itch t that makes it a lot worse. Hope this helped

Anonymous said...

I got my sunburn all on my back on wednesday, and then on friday is when the itch started. Totally unbearable. My wife was at work and i was stuck at work as well. When i finally got home we looked up what to do and found out that the cure is very similar to getting a tattoo. Here is what i did.

First, i had my wife wash my back with orange dial soap. It has no alcohol in it or anything just plain jane. Then she rubbed AQUAPHOR on my back. It has not alcohol or anything that would dry out your skin, you have to keep your skin moist and let it heal. She also put on CORTISONE-10 on as well to help with the itch. Im also taking ibprofen and benadryl to help with sleep and pain. It doesn't make the itch totally go away, but it helps make it more endurable since i still have to work. Hope this helps

Unknown said...

This is exactly right. It's 1:15 in the morning and I've been up for three hours fighting the itch. The more calm I have become, the better it feels. Sit and read. Let yourself get into a calm place and tough out the stupid urges while you're reading. Good luck! This is the second time for me - easily the worst thing I've gone through in a long time

Anonymous said...

I feel for all of you!!!

I got sunburned pretty badly (very very red, not to the point of blistering though, probably bad enough to peel in a day or so)from surfing in Hawaii. The burn occurred about 58 hours ago. At about 56 hours, all of a sudden, an insane itching urge came upon me (it happened soon after a shower, but that may or may not be coincidence). At first it was just a normal itch, and I thought nothing of scratching it. Then it became insane. The itch was the only thought on my mind (I think I now have an inkling of understanding on how addicts feel during withdrawals, I hope we all will have empathy for them as well, and anyone else in any type of pain). I tried getting in a pool (I don't know if clorine exacerbates the issue). I tried raw aloe vera plant. I tried a bag of frozen peas (only for a few seconds because I feel like it was making it worse). I tried Noxema brand cream. I tried 1% hydrocortisone cream. I took a shower and tried icy cold water, cool water, and slightly warm water. I started feeling better after the cool shower (still residual itching, but nothing like the insanity before). If you do decide to take a shower, maybe turn the fan off and close the door and let it steam (I FEEL like the "humidity" helps). It is hard to say if it was really the shower that helped, or if it was just that 30 or 40 or so minutes had passed, it is hard to tease that out. I put the Noxema, aloe, hydrocortisone on various parts of my burn after my shower as an experiment to see what worked best. But all areas seem to be the same (but to be fair, that was after my shower, so interpret that as you may). To anyone who has a significant other/friend/etc. who doesn't believe how bad the itch is, just have them read these posts. I find it really interesting that showers have seemed to trigger it for multiple forum posters (and then paradoxically seemed to sometimes help). Also, some people have mentioned allergies, we throw that term out a lot when it often isn't an allergic reaction to a drug. Also, please avoid tanning beds. They do NOT make you look attractive, in fact, they make your skin AGE. I used the raw aloe vera plant, which MAY (speculation) be preferable to aloe product, as aloe product sometimes (not always) has alcohol in it. I didn't try marijuana, but that sometimes helps my other pains, sometimes doesn't. It seems like it could be a better idea than alcohol as alcohol dehydrates you. NEVER scratch, gently rubbing relieves the itch without the skin damage (although some have said even rubbing/touching makes it worse, up to you). I have never been a whiner, but even considering that, my family didn't seem to understand how a sunburn could be that bad...they thought I was going crazy haha.

My degree is in neuroscience and I'm starting medical school in a couple months (I only say that because nothing I learned prepared me to really deal with this, you only touch on the itch mechanism in neuro class, but theoretically benedryl and other antihistamines can reduce itch and help you sleep, and of course pain killers. To those who have been burned many times and you are in your 40's or above, you REALLY should see a dermatologist frequently, as you are at a high risk of deadly skin cancers.) Everyone mentions use sunscreen, which is of course very good advice, but few mention hats and shirts, which are SPF 1000. If you do use aloe, put it in the fridge or freezer for a bit, the cooling feels good. If you voted for marijuana to remain illegal, I would hope this experience of searching for anything and everything you can to help stop the pain and itch will change your mind. Theoretically, sweating can exacerbate it, but at the same time, exercise releases endorphins, so do whatever works for you.

Again, sorry for the long post, but writing is cathartic and keeping my mind off the itch, and reading is likewise. If it helps one person it is worth it!

Anonymous said...

Serious I just had it im okay now Just remain calm have a lukewarm shower and just sit in the bathroom till you dry then use rescue oil and then put a loose t-shirt and joggers on Im 13 IT WORKS!!!

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

My Hispanic girlfriend and I went to the lake for the first time together to "tan." So of course trying to show off, I decided to use the SPF 4 that she used on my wonderfully pale skin.

STUPID STUPID STUPID

I fell asleep out there for about 4 hours and I can honestly say this is the worst I've ever been burnt in my life.

But the worst came 2 days after.

I decided to take a cold bath to take some of the heat away and so I laid face down in my bath tub ( I was burnt on my stomach) and it felt great. The sting subsided and life was good.... Until I got out.

The worst pain I've ever felt in my life. It's like I itch but its underneath the skin. Like someone is poking needles on my stomach and I can't scratch them.

1) Do NOT I repeat do NOT take a cold bath. It will dry you out and making things worse.

2) Aloe with all the fancy ingredients and garbage in it does not help.

3) Ibuprofen took some of the sting away

4) Try to live with it. It's honestly the worst thing ever and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Anonymous said...

Last night we were at a barbeque and I had just got back from walking the dog... so I went to go take my shirt off because I had gotten sunburned on Saturday 2 days before... I left the room and came out into my living room.... put some water on an itchy spot on my sunburn.... then went completely INSANE!! I was in tears scratching my arms and rubbing my back on the couch... didn't help, my mom thought I was just throwing a fit over some sort of burn but soon realized that it was far worse.

My sister told me to go take a cold shower... TO ABSOLUTELY NO AVAIL! Once out of the shower I was drying off and fell to my knees and scratched like I was nuts, then I wrapped my towel up tightly around my body and was sobbing, thinking WHATS WRONG WITH ME... IM GONNA DIE HELP ME! then I started hyperventilating and my mom went pass the door and looked inside and just said this.. STOP, Put your clothes on and come into my room. stay there until you stop throwing a fit. So I tried but when I got up to get dressed I couldn't do more than stand up and go nuts, I had literally 1 second to put my pants on before going ballistic. sooner or later I did, got into her room and she put vinegar on... stung like crazy, put some weird spray stuff on me, made me go nuts.. I looked like a zombie! anyways all that's helped is tightly wrapping a rough course towel around me and rolling around so the towel scratches and waiting it out. Benadryl tends to work after 2 medium sips from the bottle, then I wait 20 minutes before passing out from the Benadryl. it tends to help for 4 hours. then just roll in the towel.

Anonymous said...

I am fair skinned and have had this happen to me MANY times!!! Plain Yogurt is an instant help!!! Its cold and relieves the heat and itch all at once.

Martina said...

It's 1:21 AM... my back occasionally has spasms but other than that it's really annoying. Around 10:40 I was in the bathtub crying. I seriously wanted to die in that moment. I would never wish this on anybody. I think I will carry sunscreen with me all the time now.

I'm so glad tomorrow my mom isn't letting me go to school or else I would have failed my end of grade test. >_<

Anonymous said...

I have had this happen to me twice. The second time I was fortunate to have a bottle of wine laying around. It took about 10 seconds for me to down the entire thing. When I woke it was better.
I have found something that actually does seem to help with this, at least it has for me over the last few years.
I once read that this condition is from skin not seeing the sun for a LONG time. I used to be a bit overweight and was embarrassed to take my shirt off. Once I lost some weight I was back to my childhood normal.... until this happened.
Now every spring I go and buy 5-10 tans from a tanning salon. I hate going to these places as I really don't have any feminine qualities and don't like being in the same place that teenage girls frequent.
But simple controlled exposure has seemed to correct this for me.
I dread the day I find out otherwise, but so far so good.
Last year I did this and then even tested it during an outing at the pool with the kids. I was in the sun and shade for hours with no protection (I normally don't think about it, even though I spray my kids down). And to my surprise I was fine. No more wrenching in pain and moaning, no more drinking myself into a stupor, no more seeing if my wife will smack me in the back of the head with a 2x4 in attempts to knock me out.
I think one of the worst things about it in the end is that there is very little about it on the web. Not only that but you get looked at as a pussy since you complain SOOOOOO much about a simple sunburn.
___________________________________
To reiterate in case someone is just skimming:
GENTLY EXPOSE YOURSELF TO UV RAYS IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT PRIOR TO GETTING IN THE SUN IF YOU INSIST ON GOING WITH NO PROTECTION!

Anonymous said...

This is one of the most fascinating, unusual corners of the internet I have ever stumbled upon. I'm on vaca in Hawaii with my GF and her family, got a sunburn on my back a few days ago, quite red all over my back but totally tolerable. This morning we got up early to go snorkeling, and the second I got out of the water, the itching started. Luckily we were close to the house, so my GF and I book it homewards, and I jump into the shower, thinking it might help. As has been mentioned ad nauseum, shower made things worse. About an hour of excruciating itching went by, and I have found some relief from the following:
1) Ibuprofen and TONS of water
2) A combination slather of aloe and moisturizing lotion (and a small bit of anti-itch cream)
3) T-shirt and lying on my front, reading this blog

We will get through this.

Anonymous said...

Pro-tips! Inbound! I'll make this quick as you are probably dying from the itch right now and just want some answers quick. Use peppermint oil diluted with grapeseed oil. This will cost you 15$ at GNC and I guarantee that when combined with a fan the itch almost instantaneously goes away. I was stuck behind an old couple going 25 in a 45 on the way to the GNC and I thought I was going to have an aneurysm

Unknown said...

Goldbond, or even a generic form from a dollar store surprisingly cut this maddening living hell almost in half.

Anonymous said...

The thing that worked well for me is to put vinegar in a spray bottle them spray it on the sun burn it will smell bad for about 30 mins but it helps a lot. Trust me, I ran around my house rubbing my back across any edge that I could and on door knobs it doesn't help. It just makes the sunburn hurt and itch more.
Don't put any lotion with green tea in it on the sunburn it will make the itch unbearable. For the best result with the vingear take a shower for only about 10 mins then spray the vinager in the bottle on the sunburn and let it air dry (DON'T RUB IT IN), if you don't have a spray bottle put some on a pick of cloth then pat it on, after the vinegar air drys there will be some little itches once in a while but not as bad and they go away as soon as they come. Although to warn you the itching gets worst for about a min or two then goes away completly. If you cover the sunburn with a shirt after it stops it from itching again after the vinegar is dry.

Anonymous said...

my itch is so bad that I can't focus at work... this... is... hell...

Anonymous said...

My back is itching like crazy. Two hours ago i was in the Im gonna die/kill somebody phase. The itching attack i had was brought on by aloe. The only way i got it to subside was by soaking a towel in cold water, draping it over my shoulders, and lightly rubbing my back against a wall. After it subsided a bit, i did the same thing with a dry towel and then put a sweatshirt on. I did some things around the house to get my mind off of it. Finally I ate some 90%Cocoa chocolate and drank a lot of water. The chocolate releases all kinds of endorphins in the brain and the water hydrates the body. It has definitely helped a lot.

Anonymous said...

Let me just start off with.....USE COCONUT OIL!!!!! Mine started off as a little sunburn. Two days later the insane itching/stinging started. I had been using aloe gel with lidocaine. I also made a baking soda paste and covered it with a cold washcloth. I decided to rinse it off in a lukewarm bath. Big mistake! That's when the crazy itching started. I tried benadryl tablets and solarcaine spray. It didn't help. I didn't sleep that night. Went to the doctor and he gave me a prescription for a steriod pack and told me to use coconut oil. It was the only thing that helped me. I hsd the itch for 3 days before I tried it.

Anonymous said...

I get one solid vacation a year and the first day in the sun I got pretty burned. No big deal, until 2 days later when the itch started. My wife and kids thought I was insane and with the severity of the itch I kind of thought maybe I was too. Staying on the 14th floor with the pool below, at one point I thought a belly flop from this high would have to take care of the itch.

Thank you so much for this blog!! Peppermint oil is the key but putting it on straight is a little painful. The second time the itch hit I mixed the peppermint oil with vitamin e oil. I have to say that I almost seem cured. My vacation has been worthless but the lesson has been learned. I will never ever be burned like that again!!

Anonymous said...

i am so glad that i found this blog i tried everything and couldnt find any relief finally i rubbed what felt like an entire bottle of aloe on it and put a shirt on layed in bed and listened to music finally after 2 hours of god forsaken itch i am actually able to function and move about thank you all

Anonymous said...

Amazing that these comments are still going today, but I must say this happened to me this morning...after showering. I've been burned dozens of times before, but never experiences the torture itch until today. My husband was about to take me to the ER as all I could do after trying every lotion, aloe, calogen, vinegar, baking soda bath...crying...everything....was howl in agony. Peppermint oil and an anti-histamine saved my life. Tip - buy a tiny spray bottle. Dilute the peppermint oil (as essential oils are very strong to the skin) with water...makes it easy to spray on the itch. Stay strong, my pale friends.

Anonymous said...

I had a form of extreme irritation, stinginess I could not stand sitting in the same place for more than 2 minutes without moving around (jumping inside). After hours and hours of research and consulting doctors trying to find a solution for this misery ..I tried basically everything that is suggested online pretty much.. vinegar, calamine, 100% aloe vera, fenistil, fucicort, and none worked. It seemed that they were just a one minute reliever and it got worse to the point I couldn't sleep the entire night cause of the overall irritation. But then luckily I came across a suggestion from a doctor whom I highly respect and appreciate. THE SOLUTION for me that worked 100% was

*BABY POWDER*, I cant even begin to describe the magic this wonderful powder did on my back.
The moment I had the powder on my back all the itchiness and stinginess was history!! It's a crazy feeling but I almost forgot what it feels like. I highly recommend it folks, the moment I had the baby power made by jhonson & jhonson I was able to sleep for 16 hours straight:)

if the baby powder on its own doesn't stop the irritation for you take a pain killer, i took prior to using the powder a Voltaren injection and it helped ease the pain from irritation by quite a bit. But you can use voltaren or cataflam pills or any other strong pain killer if you don't have access to a doctor.



I cant stress enough how the baby powder works miracles on sun burns. good luck and btw the feeling started on the second day for me (48 hrs from sun exposure) and was about 95% gone the next day. so it only lasts one day, thank god! its such a horrible feeling to have without the proper treatment. Good luck to all of you I really feel your pain, it was a nightmare.

Anonymous said...

This Blog is old now, but i honestly do not care. Frantically scouring the web for any form of solution to this itch. Havnt slept a wink in 2 days. If i apply moisturiser or any form of cream i enter the "good god someone put me out my my misery" phase and start running around frantically trying to scratch my back. People keep telling me "it means it's healing" or "just try and relax" but they do not fathom how unbearable it actually is. Cant sit still for more than ten seconds. And the only solution ive found is a warm shower, which only releases me from the itchy torture for a few minutes. Apparently allergy tablets help, and lots of water. I know if i make it through the day i can make it through anything. This is the worst. Ever.

Robbie and Lindsay said...

My Husband thinks I've gone crazy!! I'm glad I'm not the only one, I decided that a sunburn on your back is the worst possible place to get sunburned, I had my feet burn a few weeks ago and it is nothing compared to this!!! I'm hoping it will pass soon and I can get on with my day!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh my god, I know that feeling. I could not convince anyone how bad the itch was. It was literally consuming every waking second, on par with any pain I have ever experienced.

I tried virtually every over the counter product since it was a weekend. I was on the verge of going to the ER myself. My brother went out to grab some benadryl since he had used this to good effect in the past.

While he was out, I smoked a bowl of weed, hopefully to take my mind off of it. One hour of video games later and I literally didn't even notice it any longer. Honestly, I am not some huge pot proponent as I don't even smoke anymore, but that seriously worked for me. If anyone has that option (legal in my state of Washington now), TRY IT!!

Clay said...

I just had a cruise to the Bahamas, I got a pretty bad burn on the second day. Being the idiot I am I went swimming the next day with my family because my grandma had already bought my ticket over to the Atlantis hotel. So After the swim I decided to wear (yet again being an idiot) a Sleeveless t-shirt. I didn't think anything of the burns cause I had put sunscreen on and had worn a shirt while i was swimming,which turned out not to be 'sun proof' or something of that sort. SO after an uncomfortable nights sleep We made it home I was fine for several hours, until I noticed a small itch I told my dad and he said my skin was dehydrated SO I decided to take a shower. To my despair it made it worse. So I put on aloe and to some Ibuprofen and hoped it would go away but after trying to sleep it didnt. so after screaming in my head for along time slathering my self in ALoe which didnt work my dad put some pink liquid on my arms (only part that was itching due to wearing that sleeveless shirt i believe.)I curled up in a towel and my dad asked if that made it better I said yes and he decided it was probably the air conditioning that was bugging my skin so I went and threw a hoodie on and so far that's working. I'm going to try and distract my self because I don't imagine I'll be getting any sleep tonight. I'll figure out what the pink stuffs name was and post it.

Anonymous said...

IM GOING TO LOSE MY MIND SOMEONE PLEASE KILL ME OH GOD HELP ME CHRIST ALMIGHTY

Unknown said...

This is the first time i have had sunburn itch and let me tell you i am now NEVER goin in the sun ever again, i would rather be castrated than go theough this unbeatable insane itch, have tried vinegar and aloe vera and only now after 2 hours has the itch died down, i have 2 holes in the doors of my house from punching them and at one point was ready to razor blade my chest to get the top layer of skin off my tormented body
I feel your torment people

Iris The Virus said...

I was at a theme park all day waiting in line for roller coasters on an overcast day. It even rained, so I didn't notice how bad I was burning. Now I have the worst itch on my chest where I got burned. My husband is giving me funny looks as I lightly slap my chest over and over as if it were a mosquito bite. It seems to be the only thing relieving it for now. I tried some after-burn gel but it seems to only make it worse and leave my skin sticky. Reading other's stories seems to take my mind off the itch for a little bit and I'll be trying some of your tips.

Anonymous said...

This is horrible! I thought I was going to rip my skin off. I found relief by placing a bag of frozen vegtables on my back :(

Anonymous said...

Noxema. Yes the face cleanser. Take a 5 minute cold shower. Pat dry and apply a layer. Almost instant itch relief.

Anonymous said...

I have had this happen twice now (the last time being a few days ago).

It drove me to the realms of insanity this week and I will share what I found to be best at keeping it at bay.

I took antihisthamines, ibuprophen and applied peppermint oil. These did not work to rid me of the itch, although I think the ibuprophen probably reduced the intensity a bit. Also the peppermint oil gave a nice tingling / cooling sensation for a while after application. Other pharmaceuticals ad oinkments might be better, I don't know. If it ever happens to me again I think I might try Ibuprophen cream...

Medicins aside one of the keys I found was not to scratch, rub or apply excessive pressure. This is easier said than done but any pressure / scratching really seems to make it intensify.

The other thing I found was that it was better when covered with a shirt (something like a light cotton fabric) rather than being bare. This doesn't really make sense given that I say to touch it as little as possible but having fabric lightly touching the skin is different to applying pressure. I found that when left bare / uncovered the slightest breeze or change in airflow would aggitate it and cause me to spasm.

Yet again, easier said than done, but the last thing I will say is try not to think about it. If you focus on the fact it's freaking itchy it only seems to get worse. Anything you can do to take your mind off it helps. Go walking, shopping, do a puzzle, etc...

My advice might not seem radical but if it helps someone get through this hell then I'm glad I've shared.

Rob

Anonymous said...

Putting anything on it only makes it worse. Scratching multiplies the agony. The only thing that has worked for me is exercise, and DO NOT TOUCH IT no matter how much it itches. I prefer to play DDR, but jogging or doing some other fairly strenuous work should distract you long enough that you stop scratching. If you can manage not to touch it for at least fifteen minutes (harder than it sounds) it will subside. The adrenaline from exercise really calms the feeling. I also suggest taking a couple of ibuprofen.

Anonymous said...

In my expiriance only shower with very hot water works{i guess hot water killing the cells which trying to regenerate}
Pain from showering with hot water is nothing...

Anonymous said...

Day 3 of sunburn...from mowing the lawn as a surprise for my man...Itching started today...tried Banana Boat After Sun, Aveeno Skin Relief lotion, lots of water, aspirin, Benadryl...the only thing that worked for me was to put Noxema on it and just take Benadryl and wait it out. So glad this blog is here as NO ONE believes me that it's as awful as it is.

Anonymous said...

I am going through this right now and this is my second time. what helped me the first time was lotion or aloe vera and wrap yourself tight, very very tight with a blanket or maybe plastic wrap. I am having it right now and im kinda just manning up and toughening through it

Anonymous said...

Iv been in the bathtub for 3 hours straight. Its the only thing that stops the itch for a while.

Unknown said...

Well I survived. After going bat shit crazy and having muscles spasming uncontrollable its gone. My cure was 3 benadryl 25mg, 2 ibuprofen, cool shower, and Ocean Potion aloe with lidocaine. Apply aloe generously and put on a soft shirt and try to sleep. Thanks to this site I made it.

Anonymous said...

The thing i did to stop itching was putting peppermint oil all over my back. it might feel like your burning or just warm. if you feel like its burning you, put some coconut oil on it too.

Anonymous said...

I have just used cortizone cool relieving gel and it made it worse so I tried putting ice on it and it helped a little now I am jogging back and forth while watching TV which works pretty well while I wait for the gel to work

Anonymous said...

SOMEBODY. HELP. ME. I'm 16 and have a crazy itch on my head. I went to a football camp in Pueblo Colorado, and my head got burnt pretty badly. I can't sleep because of this itch and it's driving me crazy. I have some aloe, but am clueless to know if that will be of any use...

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I'm not the only who experiences this (not that I'm glad you all have, but nobody seems to get how awful it is). But... mine is a tiny bit different. I was in the sun for 10 minutes on a hazy day last Saturday, a week ago yesterday. The next day I had red blotches on my chest between the top of my scoop neck T up to my throat. They were big, red, welty, and ITCHY. I tried everything, nothing worked. Unfortunately I scratched and that made it worse plus now I have little dotty scars. It's 8 days later, I'm still itching like mad, although the welts are gone. FYI, all of this started after I took migraine medicine 5 years ago. Before that I never ever had negative reactions to the sun other than a sunburn when I was stupid. So be mindful if you start taking a new medication-it can have really bizarre, permanent effects. Good luck to you all. You're bad ass.

Shannon said...

Thank you Original Poster of this site. As a mom of a sunburned boy with a mad itch, I am so grateful for all the advice. The earliest posts, from 2009, have lots of good suggestions. Luckily for me, I had stuff in the house that helped a lot.

Recently I developed itchy eyelids (believe it or not) and the pharmacist recommended Claritin-type meds for daytime, Benadryl-type meds for nighttime, and Aveeno (non-fragrance type) lotion to use topically. All of this helped dramatically with the itchy eyelids.

Odd or God? that tonight when Dear Boy stood there spasming with itching pain, from a sunburn that happened when I was at work and didn't even know he had gone to the beach, I had the eyelid stuff on hand:

2 Benadryl
2 Ibuprofen
Aveeno lotion patted on thickly

I also miraculously had a bottle of Tiger Balm liniment that I bought like five years ago in Chinatown. Like a poster from 2010 said about the miracle of Peppermint Oil, it appears that the menthol in Tiger Balm has that same cooling, analgesic quality that fools the skin into calming down...or actually "opens the pores to let heat escape from the nerve endings" or some such hocus-pocus--but whatever works, right?

Now he's blissfully calm and happy on Facebook and I'm a grateful mom. I love my boy and it grieves me to see him in pain.

Just like when he was a baby, I'm going to anticipate the next dosage by half an hour, a piece of advice a nurse gave me when he was an infant, i.e., "every four hours" means every 3 1/2 hours.

Anonymous said...

1:13 am staring at the clock in disbeliefe that its only been 2 hrs ... feels like ive been having convulsions forever now i'm exhausted, have to be at work in 4hrs where the temp is 108 on average and should do wonders for my severely sunburned back and legs... anyways if its not too late already DO NOT SHOWER it dries out your skin and makes the itch start right away and it gets INTENSE. also movement seems to agitate mine, moving my arms up to my face or curling my back to stretch. the itch is pretty intense and impossible to completely ignore but until you twist yourself up and make that first (what you think will be the best scratch any itch has ever had, ever..) you have no idea what your in for.. im on my 3rd time dealing with this.. come to terms with the fact that its my own fault.. knew better. but reguardless here i am again having what looks like a cesure on my living room floor begging my girlfriend to wake up and "put more of this stuff on me" I'm using pure Aloe with Lidocaine, tylonol 500's, motrin 800's and just recently added a few shots out of some liquid benadryl, i found from my daughters allergies earlier in the year and Bacardi 151... the way i see it if all this stuff doesnt mix and something terrible happens it will possibly take a small amout of attention off of this excruciating itching... best way i can describe this other than hell is if there were a million small bugs just hatched under my skin eating there way out to freedom... good luck people.. ill see you next year, smh

Anonymous said...

I'm a 35 year old guy. I'm going through this awful itch and burning now. It really, no joke, is near suicide inducing. Seriously. I've had sunburns before but never this. I took Benedryl and tried hydrocortisone cream to no avail. I actually broke down in front of my 7 year old son and my Mother crying like a baby. I then found the God send.....Codeine. My doc had prescribed codeine with Tylenol for me a year ago for a sore throat. Taking the codeine stopped the horrible itch without about 30 minutes. The problem was, the itch was back in full force hours later. So, I went to urgent car figuring that they would write me another script for codeine. The physician assistant just looked at me like I was overreacting and prescribed me prednisone pills. I took those and got no relief. So, I tore my medicine cabinet apart and found a few more codeine pills. The itch is at bay, but I fear it will come back in a few hours and I only have one more codeine pill. I'm going to try to see my regular doctor tomorrow. : (

Anonymous said...

Okay, first off. DO NOT TAKE A SHOWER. IT SUCKS. I got out and was going crazy itching everything that was itchable. My sun burn is on my shoulders and back, which of course are hard to reach :/ But anyway, Sit here get calm and read this. I have a damp towel wrapped around me...because that was my back scratcher for the past 2 hours as I went crazy. I was literally crying and screaming for help, but I was the only one home. I've been itching lightly when it becomes unbearable, and then it simmers down for like 10 minutes. I feel like air irritates it. But Everything I did after the shower is pretty stupid but I was going insane crying and everything so I literally spray vinegar onto myself. And then that hurt and made it itch more, so I rubbed ice cubes on myself, which made it worse and itch more...literally everything made it itch more. Except sitting here not moving reading this thread. So do that. and stay calm.

Anonymous said...

35 year old guy here again. I went to my normal doctor today and told him what happened. I explained to him how horrific the itch and pain was. I felt like I was being burned alive. He, like the urgent care folks, didn't have much to say accept that it was a sunburn. He did, however, prescribe Hydrocodone, an opioid painkiller like Codeine. I think the key verbiage to use when talking to the doctor is to say that it is too painful to sleep. Seriously folks, I think the only way to fight this horrific itch is with opioid painkillers. I'm still a little itchy but nothing like the horror last night. Keep the good fight alive fellow itchers and don't do anything drastic. Get to the Emergency Room, Urgent Care or your own doctor.

Anonymous said...

well i have the gun in the closet and it is a very tempting option right now

Anonymous said...

2 Benadryl tabs and 4 Motrins seemed to help. You do have to wait for them to kick in though.

Anonymous said...

I suffered with this for weeks. topicals didn't work, nor did antihistamines.
There are two keys to nirvana..
1) the low road.. get an ice bag, when an itch fires off apply ice, it will stop and quell the compounding itch explosions.

2) The high road.. a small amount of psilocybin mushrooms.

Anonymous said...

I'm not kidding
Shrooms completely evaporated the itch.. zero threat or anxiety of the itch starting again.

Unknown said...

My Forehead,Chest,Shoulders and my whole back is slightly burnt.....the first night I slept good on my side....but today as soon as I lay down the itchy-ness kicks in at 100%....its now 2:45am and I cant go to sleep....crap man worst thing ever....not losing my mind but I'm tired of staying up....This never happened to me before I use to be in the pool for hours with no problem.....1 visit to the beach and this happens never knew something like this could happen

Anonymous said...

So im "part Ginger" Brown hair red beard freckles from my shoulders down to my shirt sleeves, with very fair skin, im also a 23 yr ol 220 lb 6'1 man who works on a mushroom farm and does intensive labor.

Long story short ive gotten MANY A Sunburn, im talking blisters oozing the whole lot but i have never EVER experianced a itchy sunburn such as this.

So i went to Seaside Oregon on Saturday which is a nice beach since it was about 100 Degrees in my small town so Road trip why not? Well i spent about 8 hours shirtless on the boardwalk and on the beach (From 10 am to 8 PM) Thinking i was just gonna get burned and throw some lotion on itll get a little tan after a horrid brun and ill be good.

OH dear fucking god was i wrong, late last night i took a shower after work ad as i get out of the shoer (This is monday night) i get a little itchy so naturally i scrath a little bit and ask my Girlfriend to put aloe on my back and chest, after about 5 minutes insanity hits, im freaking the fuck out slapping my chest and my arms and back because it itches so bad... i rub myself with some aloe lotion and it seemed to help enough for me to pass out for 3 hours till i went to work at 2AM

Its now 8.30 almost, i woke up got to work around 3 and started to gweat at 3.45 and thats when the itching started again. My co Workers were looking at me like i was insane as i was cussing and screaming and dancing around. I took the air compressor house ripped my shirt off and was BLASTING my chest and back to where it was indenting my skin it hurt so bad.

630 rolls around i cant take it anymore i have to leave work, im outside shirtless crying and slapping my chest and arms it itches so bad. I want to at this point put a bullet in my skull.

Drive home Freaking out the whole way screaming and yelling, almost get into a head on because im spasming so bad. Oh yea mind you im still Red as FUCK so this is all excruciatingly painful.

7.00 get ing the bathtub, start spraying cold water on myself, and try to take a bath, it calms it a little but slowly it starts creeping up again WHILE im in the bath, i hop out and im freaking out by now, Fetal position on the bathroom floor rocking back and forth with no idea what to do, praying to whatever god can hear me.

8.00 have tried Goldbond, baking soda bath, Vinger, Cold compress, Ibuprofin, Freaking Vitamins to no avail. have punched one hole in the wall.

I have broken my Humerous, i have had a temp of 107.8 core from pneumonia i have split my head open and needed 29 stitches, AND NOTHING HAS EVER COMPARED TO THIS, i would GLADLY TAKE ALL OF THOSE OVER THIS FUCKING ITCH.

8.15 Find website look threw a few posts,rip off the cupboard medicine cabinet door looking for calamine lotion (you know those magnetic locks? yea couldn't find the magnet key thing) Stood in the bathroom and literally sprayed it all over my chest and back just went crazy with it

8.35 i feel a little better itching has subsided some now just horrific back spasms and chest spams, i also threw on a super tight thermal which the pressure from it seems to help.

My father comes upstairs and calls me a bitch for leaving work, i tell him hes a *unt and go fuck himself because there has never been such torture as this that i am enduring

Planning on grabbing some pepperment oil to see if it will help more.

So far whats worked for me is, TIGHT FITTING CLOTHES
ALOTA CALAMINE LOTION

but ersiously folks this is insanity wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy

Anonymous said...

Mind you i put aloe vera ont he first time and it was a HUGE NONO

Aloe Lotion seemed to do alright but im not risking it since the calamine is doing the trick

Gray Williams said...

Wet a t-shirt, wear it.

Unknown said...

Baby powder and 4 extra strenth tylenol worked for me. For a while at least.

Anonymous said...

DAAAAAAAYYYYYUUUUM I HAVE IT RIGHT NOW IT SUCKS I THINK IT MAY BE THE SWEATING AND OPENING OF THE PORES OF YOUR SKIN. VINIGAR MAKES IT WORSE FOR ME I MEAN IT HAS IT'S UPS AND DOWNS. REALLY DON'T HAVE A SHOWER JUST LAY ON YOUR FRONT (BECAUSE I HAD IT ON MY BACK)

Trust you just have to wait it out you have my sympathy

nykotron said...

I hoped I could count on the internet to provide some sort of support group for this. Are you freckled?

People rarely have taken me seriously when i'm going insane over sunburn itch. It's probably happened about 3 times...

And right now I feel a storm brewing on my back. This might not be pretty...

I've read 2 comments here with the keyword "sweat".. I'm supposed to climb a mountain today and i'm concerned whether or not the sweat will drive me mad or make it worse! Thoughts?

MordeaniisChaos said...

GLad I'm not just crazy. I've had a collapsed lung and I honestly can say I'd rather have that pain back and get rid of this itch. And it's just my arms. I can't imagine any more, dear god. Hell of a way to ruin my 4th of July. Came out of nowhere and took about 30 seconds to ramp up to the point of driving me nuts. I probably looked like a junky trying to keep sane through the fireworks and getting back to my car.

Unknown said...

Went to my moms pool on a overcast day. Didn't think I needed sunblock since the sun was behind the clouds. not!!!!!!!
Two days later I start itching extremely bad. I start to rub the itch and now I am digging the itch and blisters. I am nauseas. I have tried aloe, after sun lotion, calamine lotion, solarcaine, took two baths and a shower. Nothing will stop it. I feel like I want to die! The good part About the itch is that I know my skin is trying to heal. But the hell with sun and being fair skinned. I don't know what to do. Nothing is working. I'm thinking I need to drink a bottle of zzquil and knock myself out....

Unknown said...

2 years later here I am lying in bed playing Xbox when the ignorable itching slowly turns into this death-desiring, under-the-skin, unscratchable itch. I go insane. I apply aloe lotion and jump into the cold shower. It seemed to dull at the time but as soon as I turned the shower off it became 100x worse. I immediately put lotion on and a white cotton tshirt while pacing and gently rubbing my arms and shoulders. It was a good thing it was only 4 in the morning and nobody else was awake to irritate me or I would have ripped their head off. So after. Enduring this for a couple hours here I am laying back in bed with my burn not itching as bad as it was. I just hope I can get through the day.

Anonymous said...

Whatever you do, DO NOT TRY PEPPERMINT OIL. I had developed the maddening itch after taking a shower this morning and the first thing i read online said use pepper mint oil. So i went to GNC and picked some up.

HUGE MISTAKE

I put about 3 drops on my skin and my brain almost exploded. The itch became so unbearable that I was running around my house like a mad man laughing in pain. I jumped in the shower and washed it off asap.

Along with the oil, tea bags did not work, aloe made it worse, and showers dry you out.

Im still itchy, but reading these help. Drinking water definitely helps. A LOT. And moisturizer helps. Don't bother using any other products that claim to soothe the itch. Adding more products to your skin will irritate it more.

Your body knows how to heal itself!

Just remember - it is itchy because your skin cells are regenerating. YOU ARE HEALING :)

Anonymous said...

I just recovered from the horrible itching. I tried everything ont his blog and really the only thing that helped me was a scorching hot shower. For about 15 seconds its the worst thing in the world. Its really painful and you're going to want to jump right out. If you're disciplined and determined for that 15 seconds, then the next half hour (at least) will be a thousand times better. Stay in for as long as you can bear, but no shorter than 15 seconds. I remember laughing hysterically once I was out, so relieved that I wasn't itchy anymore. I took about 8 uncomfortably hot shower yesterday, but besides that I felt great all day.

Anonymous said...

I leapt off of a bus this evening, practically bucking and convulsing. This was the most visceral, immediate discomfort I have ever been in. I applied my aloe vera/lavender cooling spray, jumped in the shower, applied shea butter, baby powder, all while circling the drain of true insanity. Finally, based upon a suggestion here I sprayed my back with vinegar and I'm sitting in front of a column fan practicing cleansing breathing. The discomfort is now merely Very, Very unpleasnt.

Specialk said...

Well I'll be damned, I am not alone! I received a heck of a burn from the sun on my upper back on Saturday but didn't experience anything like this! It is now 2 am and I started feeling this unbearable gates of hell itching sensation a few hours ago after making the idiotic decision to dry out my skin with a hot shower. This has got to be the most annoying pain because it is non stop pinching all over my upper back. Christ help me! The best thing I can tell you after pacing around my room in fits of agony is to remain calm and ignore the itch if possible. I put aloe on the effected area and it has helped after it dried but the itching has not entirely subsided. Best of luck to everyone and thanks for all these posts as they have kept me within the brink of sanity.

Unknown said...

Hot shower 1/3rds the horrifying itch!
Most peoples itch start after having a shower....usually quite a cold one. Its the burn being cold and reacting to the warmer air that causes most of the itch.

TAKE A WARM SHOWER! After the burn is warm again the itch is banished from within...mostly

Thank god!

mechtrx said...

Tried to get rid of my v-necked Farmer's (sustained from golfing) by wearing minimal blockage. Stupid decision. IGto fried. t's now Tuesday and the hell-on-earth, I-want-to-chemically-burn-my-skin-off itch has started to set in.

I've had it once before so I knew enough not to take a shower. Presently, it's not as bad as that time but it's starting to worsen by the minute and I'm anticipating the suicidal-thoughts-inducing itching. I think I may go insane. I'm drinking a glass of water every 2 minutes, praying it stays within bearability.

Reading this blog has helped though. We fair-skinned folk will get through this tortorous affliction together.

Christopher said...

Just got this after the weekend of the 4th of July. I was out haveing a good time like many others enjoying the beach soaking in the rays, but when I got to work two days later, I realized my back really started to itch. It started out as a itch here and then an itch there, but as the day progressed foward, it became so bad I started to do the bear scratch just to releave the uncomfortable itching sensation. I was literly rubbing my back like a bear on anything I could find just to make it stop. What I didnt realize was that I was only making it worse. I also realized that using skin lotions and aloe gels dont do anything to cure it.

Unknown said...

3:00am - I can barely type right now due to the visceral frenzied incessant rubour itching. What can I do, I am flailing like a burning bucking supine endoplasmic invertebrate jelly.

4.00am - Vinegar did nothing

4.30am - aloe vera....nothing

10.00am - been in the shower for 6 hours, my skin is raw and pussing, welting from my deranged rabid fervour of scratching. My clefted torso is indescribable, the itch manifests itself in wave upon wave of meat cleaver acupuncture.
what do I do....WHAT DO I DO!!!

14.00pm - in hospital, frostbite in feet and hands from 2 hours rocking fetally in the walk-in freezer in Wallmart Bozeman. A mere trifle compared to the raging fire ant pincer army infestation that rapes my torso.

1.00am - I have scratched through the wall, my fingers are stubby blood carrots.

4.00am - There is nothing I can do

5.00am - I have given up, lying on the floor fetally weeping like an onion.

7.00am - Throwing up blood from the pain, pounding migraine

9.00am - writhed upstairs to dads bedroom after potato peeler offered limited relief. His gun is pressed against my forehead, the itch is forcing my finger ever tighter on the trigger.

9.06am - The itch has utterly overcome my sould. The only way to exorcise this deamon itch is clear. AT LEAST I WILL TAKE THE CURSED DEVIL ITCH WITH ME. farewell x

Bryan S said...

I know from experience. I was on the cusp of insanity. These things helped me:

+ Calamine lotion, specifically "Ivarest Maximum Strength"

+ pure Peppermint oil

+ White vinegar

+ lidocaine spray (no aloe vera)

These things did not help me, but made it worse:

- Aloe vera plant gel
- Lotion
- Soap

Also, definitely take drugs like benedryll, ibuprofin (available at a store), or vicodin (hospital gave it to me). I'm sorry you have it and good luck!

Becky said...

Years later this is still the #3 google search result for "itchy sunburn." While I'm lying here, naked under the fan, trying not to scratch my lobster-red stomach, the only thing that truly distracted me from the painful outcome of drinking in the sun without protection was your blog. I even watched a holocaust movie to trivialize the fact that I just sun-tattooed a white bikini to my body. Will try vinegar in the morning. Thanks!

Miles T said...

Please, shoot me in the itchy place. Oh, that would be you shooting my entire back off! Arg! Seriously losing my mind with itch. Must. Be. Positive.

Anonymous said...

This is not pain, is itch that causes agony. so far ive only got it to go away for couple hours then come back,is 335 am and I havent been able to go to sleep, cold sensatioms help but this is so far my research.the fan dont work for me. I take a shower n let it dry on my back, try to avoid the chills!

Anonymous said...

my first burn like this happen 3 years ago I was at the pool I didnt have any sunscreen and when I got home but it was terrible I couldn't stand itso I did what you did scratching it and it did not help at all it only made the problem worse ever since I got that every one of my sunburns have itched I have had one every year now for the this is my third sunbur like this and it hurts very bad I did not think I was going to have one I went to being in a creek with my friends and I forgot to put sunscreen on again but I thought that it was not at this time when I got home it hurt the next day did not it at all the second day that I had to burn it itched not like you cannot believe I am now I'm a third day of the itchy burn I can still feel the tingling of all the itching that I did why while it hurt and I took some benadryl to help the itching I took that at 10 o'clock I thought I'd be knocked out until morning I woke up at 12 and I cannot believe how bad it was starting up again so I went and I got my itching spray I price prayed that on our way back to lay down on my stomach so I can sleep but that itching to not stop I went into complete panic mode itching my back went downstairs to the shower and all I did was make it worse I finally fell asleep and when I woke up the itching seem to be gone but one I want to my own bed after laying on the couch I woke up after sleeping a couple hours in my own bed and when I woke up to go get breakfast my back still hurts a little and I can still feel the tingling of how of my back itched I have definitely learned my lesson I'm not going to go swimming or anywhere else unless I put sunscreen on my body.

Anonymous said...

11 days ago, after an 8 hour tubing trip in the river, I received a wicked sunburn. This was by far the worst I've had or seen in person. It was everywhere, but the worst parts were the backs of my knees and my back. I could barely walk, turn, move, sleep, think. I should have gone to the doctor. This lasted for a week, barely improving day to day. On the 8th day after, my entire back peeled like a snake skin, but I still had some slight pain and itch.

NOW THE ITCH. For the past couple days my back has itched something fierce. I couldn't sleep last night do to it, and I'm going crazy at work today. I'll need to try a few of these things, but who woulda thought it could be this bad after 11 days have already passed!!! STOP THE ITCH!!!

Anonymous said...

2 nights after getting upper chest sunburn I get a case of Satan's own torcherous itch, it starts very mild and soon becomes something indescribable feeling like each toy hair on my chest is a needle in me slowly injecting acid. I have sufferd pain before, I had a gangrenous appendicitis for 2 whole days over the weekend I was in hell unable to find any comfort what so ever waiting for the doctors to open on Monday and literally crawled my way there. This itch isn't as bad but it's the closest I've experienced to that. The only thing I found that works is to take a hot bath yes it will be painfull but it will only last seconds and then you can relax in the bath or shower if you have no bath. The itch will temporarily be gone and you may even be able to get some sleep. Good luck

Morgan said...

I find it interesting how similar this hellish itch is for so many people. Just like many others, the first two days was just ordinary sunburn pain that I could tolerate. Third day, and I found myself twitching and clutching at pillows, desperately trying to tough it out.

Most of the treatments mentioned during the 2009-2010 period I found really useful; I stopped reading after that. It's incredible how many people go through this.

This will certainly be my last sunburn if I can help it. For me, applying aloe lotion, toughing it out for 10 minutes, and then putting on a shirt really helped. The lotion dries and the shirt sticks to the burn, leaving only mild itches here and there.

I hope I'm not one of the people who has to deal with this for more than a few days. I can't say I felt like killing myself, but I certainly wished someone would knock me unconscious at first. Seems to have, at least temporarily, subsided, however.

Best of luck. It does end.

Anonymous said...

I was so thankful to come across these tips. My 15 year old son spent the last day of sports camp on the beach and came back with sunburn so bad he has blisters on his back. Then, about 3 AM he woke me up and it was clear he was in agony...but it was from the itch not the burn. I used most of the tips on this blog- ice cube, solarcaire, wet towel, aloe, calamine lotion, Benadryl, ibuprofen. Most of these topical remedies provided a few minutes of relief after being applied, but the itch always came back. The final thing that worked was a cold bath. I don't know if it's just that the other stuff finally kicked in by the time he got in the bath or it just passed by then. By this time it was 5:30 AM. The remain calm advice is really important...if I hadn't read some of these comments when trying to find a remedy I think I might have panicked. Never seen him like this- pacing in circles, rocking back and forth when he sat, banging his head on the wall when the lotion was applied- completely miserable. Awful!!

Anonymous said...

This is the 2nd time this has happend. The last time the only thing that worked was cortizone cream. This time not so much. I am just running around cussing out my girlfriend like a crazy man as she trys things that has not helped because this is not my first go round. Hopefully this is the only day this go round that it happens because i cant be like this at work!

Anonymous said...

unbelievable this blog has been going for so long. I just read for two hours or so. Helped take my mind of my own itch for a while. I just fear going to work tomorrow...90+ degrees and ill be sweating like mad. I work in an animal shelter so i may just have to dip into our topical drawer. Biggest pain is the fact that know one seems to know how shitty this is. Just need to get though 2 more days...wish me luck.

oh and I will never be taking my shirt off outside again, so not worth it.

gl all.

CEC said...

i just had this exactly. arms and shoulders burnt, and no itch until i took shower. My girlfriend said put aloe on it. BIG MISTAKE.

made it much worse, unbearable. washed off aloe with a wet cloth, and began massaging the burn - this is what works - massage it.

kneed it like doe with afew finger, penetrate the deep tissue, and keep massaging burnt area for about 20 miniutes. it will go away.

CEC said...

just massage itch area for about 20 minutes. penetrate the muscle tissue. It will go away.

Yes very unpleasant, but this works.

kneed it like doe, and work up and down the area, all around the itchy burnt skin.

Anonymous said...

I posted before on July 11th, 2013. ?Nearly a week has gone by and my itch is still here. On Friday the 12th, I went to the doctor, and she gave me a shot of steroids (Prednisone I believe). It may have helped a bit, but still didn't get into bed until about 5:00 AM due to the itching.

I was in okay, but not great shape on Saturday during the day. I went golfing and drank quite a few beers, so I slept fine Saturday night.

I was hurting Sunday night, but was able to get some sleep due to my extreme lack of sleep and fatigue. Monday sucked, so I went back to the doctor, and she prescribed me with Atarax. I took some that night, and got a decent night of sleep. When I woke up on Tuesday (yesterday), I was itchy, but it was bearable. I wasn't having the uncontrolable spasm itches. I made it through the day until about 6:30 PM, then more uncontrollable itching started! I took my Atarax again at about 7:30 PM, but it didn't knock me out or subside the itching. I was scratching and twitching uncontrollably until about 5:00 AM when I fell asleep. I of course had to wake up at 6:30 AM for work.

It's been 2.5 weeks since my sunburn, and I've had the bad itch for a week now! Will it ever stop!!!!!! I'll be calling my doctor today to give her the update, and I'll keep you all updated as well.

May God have mercy on all of us reading this thread.

-Alex

Anonymous said...

Well I have to say I am dam relieved I'm not the only one who has gone through this... Its the third day after a fairly horrific sun burn and I decided to take a nice long cool bath. Afterwards I felt better and decided to reapply the aftersun I'd been frequently using and that's when it started... An uncontrollable need to itch has take over and it is truly driving me crazy, i've been shouting 'TWAT' and punching the bathroom wall to try and stop myself but to no avail, I ran into the bathroom and washed off the aftersun and luckily since then its only been the odd itch every 30 seconds but its still going on as I type.... I would do anything to make it stop.... ANYTHING!!!!

Unknown said...

Omg i went to the beach on sunday with some friends and i got burnt pretty bad. Everything was fine until yesterday when i decided to take a shower. I dont know if it was the water or the soap but out of nowhere this itch from hell attacked me. I can honestly say that it was the worst experience of my life. The only thing that has generally worked for me was taking a like-warm shower for about 10 minutes and then applying a thick layer of anti-itch moisturizer and then a thick layer of aloe vera. Also i was takin alergy meds to help me fall asleep. And today i woke up and the itch was still there but it was no where near as bad. I also find that putting on a tight t-shirt after you apply the aloe vera and sitting up against something to keep pressure on the burned area helps a lot too. reading through this blog has helped me get through this unbearable, mind melting, someone-please-kill-me-now pain. Im never letting myself get sunburn again.

Anonymous said...

I can only beg other itch sufferers to take care when applying remedies. I had a sever case of the itch and applied aloe gel to my entire back. Within minutes my whole back erupted into such pain that i cannot even describe it. I was reduced to a sub-coherent state and almost went into clinical shock the pain was so bad. Long story short, I ended up in an emergency room where i was given an IV of Dilaudid (which is an opioid pain medication more powerful than morphine), the only thing that finally brought me back to reality. I've been on some prescription anti-inflammatories and Percocet since. The moral of the story is please test out anything you're applying to your itch on a small area and make sure it won't reduce you to a whimpering heap of sub-human pain, before going for it full scale.

Anonymous said...

Yep suffering right now, not as bad as some who have posted but jeez this is so frustrating. As is the incomprehension of my wife who is trying to help but I am in no mood to take advice. It could lead to divorce at this rate. Currently taking ibuprofen and paracetamol and listening to hypnosis tape that apparently helps me "heal my body". I mean people have operated on themselves under hypnosis right? Right now I will do anything to fix this.

If you are suffering you have my understanding and sympathy

Anonymous said...

omg, this is the first time i have experienced this itch from hell, i have never even heard of it till i started googling for help before i go crazy. i have none of the products mentioned and i aint putting clothes on to leave the house in this state (twitching and pacing like a lion)

i think im going to get drunk as hell, n take some cocaine. will let you know how that works out

Anonymous said...

omg, this is the first time i have experienced this itch from hell, i have never even heard of it till i started googling for help before i go crazy. i have none of the products mentioned and i aint putting clothes on to leave the house in this state (twitching and pacing like a lion)

i think im going to get drunk as hell, n take some cocaine. will let you know how that works out


i ended up just getting hammered, no other drugs required, i know it not suitable for all, but seriously, if you are feeling this hell, get a sdrunk as you can and by the time you sober, itch is gone!!

whoever said...

Nobody understands the pain. You itch and jerk uncontrollably. You jump in and out of the shower six or seven times your wife tells you your over reacting but she doesn't know how it feels. She tries to put on some cream on your back but as she touches it you flinch with a spasm. You wanna go hospital but you know they wont know. You start to slap the itches. It only stops ehen you run out of energy and stop caring about whether you live or die. People give you remedies but that scarescthe hell out of you because you feel it will make it worse. Please show this to someone who does not understand.

Anonymous said...

my friend I am going through the very same of which you speak of here right now ! its madness ! Equator radition is no joke. I'm glad to know I'm not crazy.

Anonymous said...

Yikes, this is the third time in my life that this has happened to me. Makes me wanna blow my brains out. It's 4am and I've been itching since around noon yesterday. Tight shirts help. I've found that it's super important to not put jack sh** on the itch. Even solarcaine makes it worse. I once got my toe de-gloved, like where there was just bone left. This is certainly just as obnoxious. I took a double adult dose of nyquil and have been wide-awake all night. Just took some benadryl and am hopeful. But my kids will be up in a couple of hours, so no sleep tonight probably. Reading the comments here has helped. One hour of mowing the lawn shirtless, that's all it took. Damn the sun, damn my skin.

Anonymous said...

ok weird the itch has gone on for about an hour then i sneezed and it went away for a minute or so, coincidence? i dont know but what i do know is me grammer has gone to shit from my constant screajing and crying i can barly type ughhh the pain its back.

Richard said...

If any of the products like Aloe Vera, vinegar etc don't work, or you don't have any, then just get a towel and very lightly rub the itch (specially your back) repeatedly, just like you were drying your back. It will relieve the itch but only if you keep it up, after a while (for me it was 30-40 minutes) the itch should subside enough to sleep or stop screaming and going crazy like you want to kill yourself.

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone, so this has helped me so much. Just know your not crazy or being dramatic! As a lot of these tips work some of them don't. My advice if you have sensitive skin don't take a shower ever couple hours it may feel amazing at first but it won't when you get out. I've been taking ibuprofen every 4 hours, it can help if you breath! It's very important to breath, if you keep focusing on the itch all it does is itch more! Drink plenty of water, breathe, take ibuprofen, only take a bath if the bath has oatmeal in it, I've tried every lotion known to man some help some dont. Look for something for sensitive skin something with cooling power. I've tried gold bond anti- itch lotion it doesn't feel like its helping at first but put a s*** ton of it on and put clothing on. Breath,drink water,ibuprofen, oatmeal bath, and you can try gold bond. But seriously if you have sensitive skin take extra pro caution. Good luck you will live through this!

Anonymous said...

AGH!! This itch is driving me insane!!

I have very (VERY) pale skin, and combined with my dark hair and light brown eyes people are inclined to compare me to a vampire. I've been trying to tan all summer, but I haven't gotten the results that I wanted, so I decided to go ahead and hang out by the pool, SANS sunscreen. I knew I would regret it, but I didn't know that it would be this horrible!! I actually didn't get burned that badly, it's not very noticeable, but my sensitive english skin had a huge reaction. I'm rehearsing for a musical all day every day, and it's really hard to run to the bathroom to apply lotion between scenes. This is only day one and I'm already driving myself insane. Calendula has worked mildly, and so does baby cream. It's not so bad that I can't distract myself, so I've been trying to keep my mind off of it. Also moving around helps. Itching makes it so much worse. GOOD LUCK, FELLOW ITCHIANS.

Joe said...

The comments on this blog were so helpful, thank you! At minimum it helped to understand so many other people have gone through this horrible thing. I had this yesterday and the night before. I still itch today, but only very mildly by comparison.

What worked:
- BurnJel (Lidocaine cream)
- Dermoplast (pain relieving spray)
- Benadryl (take more than recommended)
- Ibuprofen
- Wearing a loose shirt but keeping it from contacting the affected area (important). Someone mentioned they thought air was irritating the skin, and this helped a ton. But anytime the shirt gently contacted the area, pain returned. It's a delicate balance.
- Time. The things listed above are the last things that I tried, so it's possible that enough time had passed that my body healed enough... but I really think these treatments helped.

What provided some relief, but much less than the above:
- A+D ointment
- CVS Instant cooling itch relief intensive therapy spray (with Hydrocortisone)
- Cold/wet cloth/anything gently applied
- Scotch (whiskey) (probably a very bad idea given everything else I was taking)

What did not work:
- Shower/bath (either hot or cold); provided momentary relief, but then the itch came back with a vengeance.
- Solarcaine spray
- Sarna anti-itch lotion
- Aloe vera gel

Some of the best advice I found online was to keep calm, breathe, and know that many others have gone through this and that you'll get through it, you are healing.

Good luck fellow sufferers. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Unknown said...

okay so i suffered from this same thing today and i went through the works trying to make it stop! put on cream.. vinegar.. i tried all the tips everyone was saying to try and nothing worked. So i resorted to rubbing my burn/itchy part in IcyHot. now let me tell you at first the burn is going to hurt pretty bad. but the burn masked the itch and when the icyhot wore off i have not had any issues. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

This pain is so unbearable and yet no one believes me this is absolutely ridiculous

Unknown said...

I am currently feeling these pains and noone understands me. I am in the worst pain I have EVER felt.
I am prettu convinced that I can spnd the rest of my life inside to prevent this from happening again. The only thing helping is being in front of an ac. All of you people saying heat helps have to be out of your damn mind. I have this itching sensation on every inch of my back and chest including nipples. Slight scratches on my back with a damp cold towell are helping here and there, but other than that nothing else works. I just want to sleep but this fucking itch won't let me.

Anonymous said...

I literally lost my mind for 2 hours. Screaming and crying in despair. Then I jumper into a warm shower and stayed there for about 3 hours, that worked, kinda.
most important thing is to not scratch.

Unknown said...

First of all , I am sorry for anyone going through this. I am in the same boat at the moment .some of the stuff I just read
Worked , some not.this is what got me to a point of functioning to close normal human level.
Don't take shower , doesn't work and makes it worse.
Thats what triggered my itch after 3 days of burn , I was ready to take on a Grizzly or Tiger barehanded.wash away only lotion or ointment you put on .take 1000 mg of vitamin C every 5 hours .it helps regenerate /heal skin .drink lots of water .i took an ibuprofen 600 mg.and what I think that helped is just Plain Old BABY OIL .its designed for baby , so it's very mild and keeps you moisture .i put an under armor shirt on , with long sleeve .the kind that compresses and keeps your body temperature cool .so far I am ok in a manner .
Good luck , guys I really feel your pain .

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Unknown said...

This is Ridiculous i can stand it anymore AHHHHHHHHHHHH~ about 3 hours and im just about to punch a whole in the wall. IF WE CAN SEND A MAN TO THE MOON WHY CANT WE FIND A REAL CURE FOR SUNBURN AND SUNBURN ITCH AAAAA~

Leantath said...

I was seriously thinking on skinning myself to get to the core of the itch and scratch it to death, as I had no lotions or alcohol to soothe the pain.

I took a cold shower for the first time in my life (can't stand cold water) and the itching lessened, but I had to remain semi-naked and perfectly still in my room with the towel I used around my neck to keep myself from ripping and tearing my skin apart.

I have endured the whole process with no other remedy on hand, reading posts from four years ago to keep myself entertained from this eldritch horror.

Next time I go swimming, I'll dip myself in thick sunscreen and wear a full body wetsuit. It's something I don't want to experience twice.

@patricklismore said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
@patricklismore said...

ok, WTF is this itch

Never in my 30 years on this planet have I never experienced anything like this.

I have been sunburnt many times over the years, blistered an all but never heard of sun burn itch until tonight.

I am traveling home to Ireland stopping of in NYC from Florida. Took a shower in the hotel and Boom! the incredible, unrelenting itch.

It quickly became unbearable to the point of wanting to throw myself from the hotels 7th floor window. I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something, the soap, sheets something.

I quickly got online looking for a remedy and a 24hr pharmacy in NYC.

Thankfully some higher power put a CVS a few blocks down.

I picked up some Cortizone 10, picked it because it specifically said "sunburn itch"

Got back to the hotel quickly plastered it all over my back and shoulders.

Itch is still there, im now saying wtf am i going to do this is a f'ing nightmare, how am i going to sit on a plane for 8hrs with this itch.

I noticed that when I went to CVS the itching calmed a little. So I put a t-shirt on after I applied the Cortizone and for the most part it has calmed the itch, I do get a little bit here and there but bearable.

Feels like the itch is starting to spread to other areas that haven't had the cortizone applied.

I don't know anyone who has had this sunburn itch. We don't really get that much hot weather in Ireland.

The clothing against the skin seems to help as long as there is not to much rubbing against the skin. Seems like open contact with the air makes it worse. The guy who suggested the plastic wrap had a good idea. Keep the air away.

If I lay on my back after applying the cortizone and putting a t-shirt on. The itch is almost gone. You get the odd itch now and again but nothing like before.

This has to be one of the most horrible feelings I have had the pleasure of feeling. The pain and discomfort is ridiculous.

Listening to everyone elses pain and suffering helped.

As of writing this the itch has now started on the opposite side of my back from where it 1st began. Straight in with the Cortizone before it really kicks.

No idea how this night will turn out, its 2:55am as of writing this.

regards

Pat

Anonymous said...

Moisturize and put a soft t-shirt on, I then went for a walk. Only thing that has eased it

Anonymous said...

WORST PAIN OF MY LIFE, THE ONLY WAY TO STOP IT!

1. BENEDRYL
2. APPLY CALAMINE LOTION
3. DRINK A LOT OF WATER


DO NOT APPLY ANY ALCOHOL PRODUCTS
DO NOT SHOWER HOT OR COLD
DO NOT SCRATCH

Johan said...

Hi, I had mine the second time last night still have a little itch here and there but its bearable... What really works is antihestamine or celstamine. The itch is caused by a hestimine break out. Next get some cream that is used when a bug bit you are if you have a allergic reaction to a bite. The cream stops the itch in minutes. This really helps together with ibrufen and Gen-Payne. All this stopped the itch for me. It will make you tired but will work forsure!!

Anonymous said...

I’m recovering from a sunburn too and, really, the itch that came on the 2nd day — which was yesterday — I cannot properly describe. It’s an absolute agony.

I tried moisturizing, hot- and cold-showering, Bengay, and lidocaine. Nothing worked. I then ran to the pharmacy (1 AM) and the physical activity improved it a lot. I got some polaramine and applied it. I also rubbed some Vick’s Vaporub (really) and finally managed to sleep.

The next day everything seemed fine until I had a shower. My back started itching again, but not as fiercely as the night before. I applied polaramine and Vaporub and it settled down a bit. There’s an infirmary where I work and I got a prescription for Allegra (120 mg once a day for 5 days). I’m finally free from the itching.

Kam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kam said...

I was both horrified and grateful to have stumbled upon this blog entry. Horrified to know that so many people have suffered from this torture, called , "sunburn itch". I am currently laying in bed, drugged up with saran wrap and Lidocaine stuck to my back all the while smelling like vinegar. I felt the need to write a post, because I have undoubtedly found a cure for the sunburn itch. Basically, I took everyone's advice and combined them all. Here are the steps I took to find relief:
1.) pray to God and tell him you will never burn your skin again if you make it out of this alive, (yes, this still applies if you are atheist or agnostic)j.
2.) take a shower, rinse off. I never attempted to use hot water to shower, I didn't have the bagonga's to do it.
3.) take vinegar and spray the burn, let it dry, and redo a minimum of three times. I honestly have no clue if this helped, but this is what I did.
4.) Start applying Lidocaine and cortozone as thick as possible on burn. I recently had a tattoo removed, otherwise I wouldn't have had this. THANK GOD!!! If not, Cortisone will probably work too. Use both if you have it though.
5.) take saran wrap and put it over any area that you've used the Lidocaine/cortisone. This will prevent your clothes from sticking to it and I think it's doing something else, like trapping heat.
6.) I popped 3-4 ib profin AND Benadryl.
7.) drink plenty of water.
8.) Finally, thank God for drugs because it's the only thing that will see you through this trying time.

Also, i've heard peppermint oil helps, but who the hell has this in the cupboard?? Everything else you can get at your local walgreens. Lidocaine is key though… can't feel my back.

Hope this post helps someone!!!

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Anonymous said...

So today I woke up feeling just a slight burn pain but nothing big so I didn't worry. About noon today in my chemistry class it just freaking hit me like a ton of bricks. I just was itching and the more I itched the worse it began to feel. I looked like a psychopath from shaking just to not start scratching my brains out. After class I sprinted out and yelled at the top of my lungs some things my mother would have beaten me for. THIS SUCKS!

Anonymous said...

You cannot understand this itch until you have experienced it yourself. I am NEVER getting sunburnt again, I don't care if I have to spend my life indoors haha. I'll add another post later but for now I just will repeat what others have said; drink water, avoid showering (it provides temporary relief but the itching is so much worse after), aloe vera applied to me really helped after five minutes, WEAR A TSHIRT, don't scratch the itchy parts, and importantly TRY distract yourself with tv or youtube. take an antihistamine, it can't hurt, and TRY AND GO TO BED as soon as you have noticeable relief. also stock up on supplies like water so if you wake up in the middle of the night you don't have to endure the pain of stumbling around with the itch. oh and a wet towel can provide relief too. YOU'RE NOT ALONE OUT THERE! I know the pain and it's the worst but I'm positive we can get through it. Of course, worst comes to worst, call the ER. There is no shame in that - 700 responses to this blog points to how horrible and memorable this pain is! GOOD LUCK! Now take a drink of water!

Anonymous said...

OMGosh just got passed my first round of sunburn itch from hell.......aloe w/lidocaine didnt really help but lathering my back with after sun cool lime lotioned seems to be helping. I laid completly still on my tummy drooling on the floor with the ceiling fan on high and read these posts and the hellish nightmare seems to be subsiding........never will I EVER NOT apply sunblock.

Anonymous said...

this is my second time to experience this and the only thing ive found that works is don't scratch because it just leads to more itching. the lotion and stuff help some but for a short while. also having the blisters make it hard to scratch without busting one. if your able to wear a shirt don't take it off the itching will start immediately the cold shower will feel good but when u finish it will begin itching again moral of the story is there is no fix but drink lots of water sun burns dehydrate you so the more water the faster you heal

Anonymous said...

On this moment im laying on my bed with a ice pack on my back and stomach! My parents dont blelieve me and they think im over reacting! I dont have those lotions to use, any advice??

Unknown said...

This is my 20 + time having the he'll on earth, shot me in the face itch from a sunburn healing. Never fails 2 days after a sunburn the itch begins. I use peppermint oil 100 % oil..... it takes about 10 min or so for me but it does work. It makes you feel cold but It seems to work for me. I have tried everything I mean everything and this is by far the best. IV even drank till I couldn't walk and that did no good lol. I keep 3 bottles of peppermint oil at my house and truck and never leave home without it. Hope we find a way to stop it completely but till then I'll keep the local natural medical store in business. Lol

Anonymous said...

vicks vapor rub helps. the menthol cools.... i applied it after almost pulling my hair out from insanity and then took a look warm bath. the warm water burnt at first but as soon as ur out the cold from the rub was twice as intense being its oil based it doesnt wear off in the water... grab a beer that helped to

Anonymous said...

I rubbed skin cream and calamine lotion on my skin for nearly 2 hours (yes, rubbing the whole time). I'm not sure whether this had any effect on my itch going away, but my itch went away after I wiped the lotion off, put on a t-shirt, and laid down under a thick blanket. I then went to sleep, exhausted, and woke up with most of the itchiness gone. Keeping the blanket on seems to keep the itch away.

Anonymous said...

My teenage son had this itch and felt like he was crawing out of his skin. Thank you for posting the remedy a trip to the natural food store with colloidal silver and pepermint oil saved the day.

Anonymous said...

I was out fishing and then went swimming the first two days were okay but day three today was painful I felt like butchering my skin off with a knife

Anonymous said...

Scary enough, one of the best things that I found once the itch starts is to take a hot shower, and as hot as your burnt skin can take it. I know it seems absurd, but it usually gives me enough relief so that i can relax or sleep. Only down side is that the relief only lasts so long, so I recommend also taking ibuprofen or tylenol to help ward off the insane itch. It's probably the worst thing ever, and NO ONE understands until they have it!

Anonymous said...

***DO NOT TAKE HOT SHOWERS AS THEY INCREASE THE ITCH. TAKE COLD SHOWERS, TOWELS SOAKED WITH MILK, BENEDRyL***

Unknown said...

Use a heating pad. I'm using one now and it makes things much better.

Anonymous said...

I burnt my left shoulder and arm driving from Phoenix to San Diego with my arm out the window. 30 years ago! YES, HELL ITCH for 30 years! I have never found anything that really relieves the itching. I got about 15 minutes of sun the other day (heaven forbid) and my arm is pissed! OMG it's driving me nuts. SO much so, that 30 years after my sunburn I'm on the internet looking for something I haven't tried yet.

Note to self: Don't to that again!

Anonymous said...

right now i have a horrible itch on my chest. what i did was mix some cold aloe vera (from the fridge) with anti itch body powder. just keep massaging the area until the mixture has been absorbed into your skin. keep repeating. also, drink a lot of cold water. i hope i helped. good luck!

Anonymous said...

How long does the itch last? Its like itch-scratch-pain-BURN and again and again! My kids what to hug mommy but AAAAggghhh! Dont touch! It feeld like fiberglass under skin. Nothing helps more than a few minutes! EVEN BENADRYL.

Anonymous said...

How long does the itch last? Its like itch-scratch-pain-BURN and again and again! My kids what to hug mommy but AAAAggghhh! Dont touch! It feels like fiberglass under skin. Nothing helps more than a few minutes! EVEN BENADRYL doesn't help.

Anonymous said...

Literally the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. I was about to consider scraping my skin off with a butter knife. Then I tried rubbing a good layer of tea tree oil into the affected area. It really eased the itch. It still itches a bit but it's bearable and I can finally function normally.

Anonymous said...

Had this for the 2nd or 3rd time last night. Only pain I've had that has come close to this is a kidney stone... In either case you want to just end things it hurts so bad. I had my wife put on coco butter lotion (all we had in the house) and I took Hydrocodone, which I had left over from when I had a kidney stone. This seems to help, or at least reduce the pain to a bearable level. Also remaining still and not moving seems to help. Many good remedies in this blog post hope any of this helps!

Anonymous said...

Feel like I might die, but this blog post and its many, many comments has at least made me feel like I'm not going through this alone. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

7 days of ntense iitching and scratching.. Used Arrid Extra Dry Deodorant. all over my big red (previously white) thighs, legs, and forearms --- INSTANT RELIEF!!! We keep it for poison oak itch. Found as I was searching and using multiple products for the worst debilitating itch ever. Yes I scratched, Sunburned 7 days ago! had to watch grandkids in ocean. Of course I sprayed them down with sunscreen - no burns, I "wanted some sun" I hate myself. I, nor husband have slept until I slathered on the Arrid Extra Dry Deodorant. - active ingredient: Aluminum Zirconium. Don't care, worry about Alzheimer's later. Had to have relief, this is the only and total relief I've gotten, my scalp still itching like a son of a b! Can't put deodorant in my hair. Got to go off.
Took2 Tylenol, got some sleep. Benadryl helped for sleep.

Jake said...

I know how all of you guys feel. I was at my grandmothers this past weekend to swim both of my parents used sun screen, I, of course did not! When I got home, I felt the burn and I also felt shivery and sick, a day later I blistered on my shoulders and I was at the computer when suddenly I felt an itch then 30 minutes later the itch was UNBEARBLE! I tried warm and cold showers, did nothing, oatmeal bath, did nothing, finally I did what seemed to be the impossible, laid on the bed and refused to itch, I bit down on a pillow and took deep breaths through my nose, as I did it I know, I couldn't stop but to think to itch. But TRUST ME, you have to fight it, or it will get worse, much much worse. Then my mom did the knock-out-punch, she rubbed advacado on me, after 20 minutes or so I got on here to tell you it ended fine and you'll survive, it definitely might not feel like it though. This is one of thee worst things in the world, but this is what worked for me.

Anonymous said...

I would like to thank you all for your advice. I currently am going through this which surprises me when I didn't think I got burnt all that bad. I have been burnt worse on accident before and never iched like this. It did unfortunately get worse after a shower, so I wish I could take that back. I just took 2 Benadryl and have an ice pack on my chest which is helping some. I'm trying my best not to think about it. I hope this only lasts a day cause it's hard to do anything with out wanting to scratch. All lotions for me either didn't work, or made it worse. Best of luck to anyone going through this..cause I'm right there with you. Sunscreen for sure will be lathered all over by body next time

Unknown said...

So the best thing I have tried and believe me does work, all u need to do is find a really rich thick moisturizing cream, vasaline cocoa butter deep moisturizing- 4 bucks at Walmart. It keeps the skin moisturized and keeps the itching down

Anonymous said...

This has been really helpful, not because of the advice because, well, who the hell has peppermint oil just laying around? Besides that fact, I thought I was losing my mind. I was watching some TV before bed and felt a small itch on my back. I scratched it and it went away. I thought nothing of it. I went to bed and it popped back up. I thought the sheets were just scratchy and it was something I never noticed before, but now that I have I'd never be able to stop thinking about it. I switched the sheets and lied back down. No sooner had I closed my eyes than it came back. I scratched, and it went away, but other spots started to itch. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't even hold still without writhing from the tremendous amounts of itchy discomfort. I figured it had something to do with the burn and researched. Along the way I read this blog. That was 26 hours ago. I had a 16 hour shift at the restaurant where I work, and was screaming in pain (in my head it hink) as I went to every table, and ran to the back to scratch in between going to each table. Try carrying a tray when your whole back is lighting up like a fireworks display of itchy explosions. I wanted to scar my skin so bad that all I felt was pain. I can handle pain. I've felt plenty, but this.... This took the cake of cakes. It was never ending. It died down about a half an hour ago now, I haven't slept in almost two days, I've watched way more TV than my brain can rightly handle. Hoping for some sleep now. I can't do this anymore. The only semi-solution I found was mixing Aloe Vera with gold bonds medicated lotion, slathering it on thick (very thick) and covering it in a shirt tighter than I'm comfortable enough with my body for. Lay down in a giant blanket so u start heating up almost to the point of heat stroke, and that will get u to the point where as long as u have something to distract urself, u should be able to stave off insanity long enough for it to go away. Be patient. From everything I've heard on here, u, like me, will be waiting a while. Good luck, and may the gods of itch fighting be with u...

Gabe said...

2 days after at 3am is when it happened to me... I actually found this blog before I took the shower but didn't read anything because I was sooo itchy I had to try something. I later learned after getting out I shouldn't have. I didn't have aloe but I had kids 50spf sunscreen which I think I will start using after this terrible experience. So I applied the sunscreen which seemed to actually help for a few minutes then the itch got worseeee. So I took ibuprofen and I laid in bed shirtless holding a pillow against my itching chest trying my best not to touch it and finally after reading multiple experiences it's finally calming down. So the best advice I can give you is to lay shirtless, don't move(try your best lol), don't touch it at allllll, take ibuprofen, and read others stories to attempt to get it off your mind.

Anonymous said...

I just went through 5 hours of this hell. It finally eased up enough to safely drive to the drug store. I tried aloe and lotions and vaseline and a LOT of showers. 15 minutes in 5 minutes out for a good 4 hours. Everything I put on seemed to piss off the itch even more. I was on the verge of running around the neighborhood naked and screaming. It seems to be manageable now. Spent $50 on all kinds of random stuff mentioned in previous comments I read while in the shower lol. Im now going to try it all at once in case it comes back. Never felt anything like this in my life!

Unknown said...

My husband is currently going through this he got the sun burn 3 days ago all over his back, but the intense itching started last night. He spent the whole night pacing the room and having me put aloe vera on his back I thought maybe he was going crazy until I looked up Sunburn Itch. Poor guy, but honestly it is teaching him a lesson he should have put sunblock on Mr. I don't get burned. Before he left to work this morning I rubbed some hydrocortisone cream on him hopefully it helps. Glad I came across this page I'm going to have him try some of the remedies/creams mentioned.

Anonymous said...

Use LANACANE Anti-Bacterial first aid spray maximum strength. Works wonders, I was running around my house yelling like a mad man because my itch was UNBEARABLE. But this stuff made it feel so much better.

Anonymous said...

I understand the pain the so much, I had it for about 12 hours now and it's in my legs and arms, I have had to get out of bed and move downstairs just to stop myself from waking the whole house up.

The itching is not fun but I found that cold water is a short term help. If you just get kitchen towel or something like that and put an ice cube or cold water in the towel and then put it on your skin the itching goes so quickly.

I've been up since 3:00 and am itching so bad and as a 16 year old I am really struggling thanks for all the help

Anonymous said...

I know first and foremost anyone with hell's itch is not going to scroll this far to read my post but for the sake of something to keep my mind busy, hands occupied and sanity in check here it goes. This is my 5th time and i always think it is going to be different. Went to the beach 2 days ago (tioing sucks it is always 48 to 72 hours later) and had a wonderful time! Kids complaining, husband cranky, grill not working and couldn't stop thinking we spent 2 hours in a car for this. I went about trying to appease my family, bent over trying to light a grill or block wind (back problem) or facing the sun explaining to the kids who just complained that next time we go to a beach (sand means beach) that we should find one with no sand. (belly problem) Now this being my second time down to the beach this year and feeling confident in my tanning ability (I do not know why, maybe just busy, but I am fare skinned no confidence beats the sun) did not use sunscreen. It was a cool day if i can use that for my reasoning. (even though i know it is bs because i got sunburn once snowboarding in vermont) At any rate, this is helping. After only three looong hours exposed i noticed i was a little pink and covered up. Turns out by the tome i got home 5 hours after that my covered up little pink sunburn was lobster red. My smart self said no worries mon! And pulled out my banana boat after sun lotion that being burnt but not BURNT i swear saves me from hell's itch and applied generously after a cool shower. With no pain went to bed. Applied generously in the morning and peaceful day at work. Went home went to bed woke up and repeated, however not the same story. Hslf way through the day i hear my dark complexion husband ask if i was really googling remedies for sunburns and a friend say sunburn doesnt hurt like that just ignore it. Makes me want to wish this hopelessly upon them! They have no idea. No matter what ypu do your mind cant be pulled away from the itch. Today i tried my damnedest and did well. Being a female lobster the itch started with my cleavage area first and 10hours later it is the rest of me. I kept myself busy around the house earlier but now have nothing to do and its getting worse.
I found a remedy that i plan to try tomorrow in which guarentees sunburn is gone in 1 day, however it takes hell's itch before it is beneficial. I do not know if it works however if your like me and tryong to keep ypur mind busy and read this here you go: raw apple cider vinegar ( it is not pasturized so holds more of the enzmyes needed to help your body. Google it, it has a million different uses. I googled it and regoogled it before thinking about using it) after wiping your sunburn with that apply organic coconut oil mixed with lavender oil (needs to be lavendula augistifolio to work most generics are lavedin which lacks the active ingredient to work. Google this also it is to be better the calamine lotion and an anti itch for everything). Mix them together and they should heal your sunburn. I will be tryong this tomorrow because it is night time and these oils are known to stain. So now that i think i can sleep thank you first for letting me know i am not crazy. Good luck to you and they are right do not walk circles or pace sweat makes it worse.

Anonymous said...


Long story shot = nation youhurt
Shade
Rest
Try and keep as still as possible
Fan /air con
NO SHOWERS AT ALL
Try and think of something els ( I know it is hard)

I am sat here now in Spain rocking forward and back with natural yoghurt on my back with the air con on btw it stinks !!! Haha well anyway 2 days ago now I was on the beach with my family first time abroad. I had factor 50 on but still managed to burn don't ask me how but I did. It was all fine till now , yes , I had sunburn but now I have got the sun burn itch and it hurts more than getting kicked in the balls (sorry lads) after a day out with the family all covered up I got back to the caravan and put some after sun on but it hurt like hell so I ran to the nearest shower to get it off it was all fine whilst I was in the shower it felt so much better !! But then I stared to get dressed and there we go again the pain starts again so I ran back home crying the pain was so back it is hard to explain it was like 100000 wasps stinging you at once over and over again my brother then went to the shop and got me some yoghurt helps the pain but does not take all the pain away but if you have nothing els just keep applying as much as you need and hope for the best tomorrow I am going to get some alover jell as that is meant to really help so here I am at 10:30 at night rocking my self to sleep in a lot of pain
I feel for everyone that gets this but just try soo hard not to scratch as it will make it Worse

Unknown said...

I now know what Crucio curse from Harry Potterfeels like. I had Atarax on had for anxiety so I took double the dose and it seems to have stopped it(ish). I was in the shower so long under cold water that I nearly turned blue. I was also in there so long that I was texting my friend with my back turned toward the shower head. I tried the whole tea thing and it made it worse also ruined a towel. I was crying and freaking out for a few minutes then I pulled myself together and looked up what was going on and possible treatments. After I downed the atarx I laid on the floor in the kitchen with my back pressed hard against the floor until it went away. I could see why someone could go mad from this.

Unknown said...

I am currently experiencing one of the worst pains of my life. I have a very bad sunburn on my chest and I'm laying on my bed sobbing. It hurts so much, I don't know what to do. I don't have any of the things people say help and the remain calm isn't working since the pain is so bad. I don't know what else to do. I spent an hour sobbing in the shower trying to bring the setting even colder. It feels like my chest is burning

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