At least I’m not chewing on my hands… yet

July 10, 2012

1.1209878040.bubble-boy — Just another fun-filled day inside the bubble.

Remember how I’ve yammered on in the past about how I’m just “this” side of living in a bubble due to allergies? That margin has grown a bit smaller. The last few summers have found me developing another intermittent and annoying allergy to “something”. The palms of my hands and between my fingers and the soles of my feet and between my toes gets intensely itchy. We’re talking touched-stinging-nettles itchy – so it burns, too. I had forgotten all about it until it started up again a couple weeks ago. I was mind my own business at the dining table when I decided to head outside into the blazing heat for some reason and didn’t put shoes on my feet. Moments after I came back inside, the itching started.

The soles of my feet started to itch. Just a little, nothing terrible, and then they started to itch more and I found myself dragging the soles of my feet back and forth over the central stretcher of the dining table. Push, pull. Push, pull. The soles of my feet were now red from the rough-treatment, but the itching had subsided. For a few moments.

bubble_boy_filtered — So they tell me that this is just the same as swimming but without that uncomfortable wet feeling. Hey, what happens if this deflates while I’m out here?

I started to notice that one or both palms would begin itching. Then it was between the fingers. Then it was the inside of the wrist. No rash, no anything, just itching and burning. Then I remembered that I went through this last summer. And the summer before that. It’s been great!

I had images of dogs coming into the vet clinic in the summer months with red and raw paws that they’d been chewing on because of summer allergies. Their licking and chewing gets so bad that they can have the skin become infected.

dog skin problem chewing paws — My feet taste like…. like…. what DO they taste like?

So, I sat there, laughing to myself for a while, thankful that I wasn’t sitting there with my foot hiked up to my teeth, chewing on my feet for all I was worth. I’m flexible, but after a while I bet my hip would give out and then where would I be?

(Aren’t you all thankful I didn’t toss up all kinds of photos of nasty, red paws?)

So, with that image in my head, I proceeded to the Interweb to do a bit of research on my itchy paws. I came up with… nothing. Oh, there are LOTS of people who suffer from the same thing… but everyone has come up empty-handed on the reasons, other than it’s seasonal. Well, at least I have that going for me. Guess it’s time to start planning for life in my bubble for whenever that time comes.

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7 responses to “At least I’m not chewing on my hands… yet”

reg711problemsabound

July 10, 2012

That sort of thing can drive you insane.I had my own itch fest a couple of months ago.I was cleaning an old fence row with chainsaw and hands.While pulling out big wads of cut brush I thought “it’s amazing how much Poison Ivy survived last years spraying”.

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1. musingsoftheamusingmuse
  
  July 10, 2012
  
  lol yeah, Poison Ivy and I now have an understanding… I see it, I grab the Round-Up (which I really detest using, but reacting to P.I. is the WORST) and spray it. I didn’t used to react to it, but I now have scars from it in a few spots. 😦
  
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mamagirlsaysitall

July 10, 2012

I currently still have discoloration and leathery patches from my most recent battle with poison ivy. And I am now convinced that a person could absolutley go insane by itch. I feel your pain, and I have the same agreement with it now. The only thing that eventually handled my poison ivy was a steroid, maybe you should try one for your hands & feet?
I have a similar rash-free reaction to elephant ear plants. It’s the weirdest thing, if I touch one my hands feel like they’re on fire.
Good luck though, itching is the WORST!

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1. musingsoftheamusingmuse
  
  July 10, 2012
  
  Thankfully, the current round of itching is only intermittent. I don’t have it every day and not all day. That is weird about the Elephant Ear Plants (Caladium? or something else?)
  
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midwestpagansmusings

July 10, 2012

For Poison Ivy we (my wife, daughters and myself) use Lavender Essential oil and it dries it right up. As a child I got shots for PI every spring, even had a bad break out in December after a Scouts camping trip. If you have already broken out with PI take as hot a shower as you can stand it will easy the itching for up to 8 hours. I learned that the last time I got poison ivy bad, I took a very hot shower before bed and was not bothered with itching through the night. The hot shower releases the histamines and it takes time for your body to produce them again, If it is congestion we make a stinging nettle tea and drink it, I add basil to give it a little less green taste to it. I know the thought of drinking tea made from something that stings you seems strange but if you do a basic search on it you will see it is full of nutrients and helps with histamines. When I don’t feel like the tea I use a tincture which tastes nasty but it is only an eye dropper full. 😉 Hope this helps!

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1. musingsoftheamusingmuse
  
  July 10, 2012
  
  Good to know! I knew nettles were edible – I haven’t eaten them yet, though.
  
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Grant W

December 10, 2022

Thanks ggreat blog

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