I wonder if anyone has this and if they found a successful way to prevent it. After about 10 minutes of walking, doesn't matter what I'm wearing, shorts or pants, shoes, slippers or barefoot, hot or cold, legs shaved or not, what body wash/shaving gel/laundry soap I use, my legs get intensely itchy. It starts out as a warm, almost tingly feeling and progresses to an intense, burning itch. My legs start to turn pink and then I have to stop where ever I happen to be and just scratch the daylights out of my legs until I draw blood. The feeling is so intense that words cannot describe it. It just makes you want to rip your flesh off. It's from my ankles to my upper thighs. The feeling makes me want to scream and cry at the same time. Once I stop to scratch, it starts to feel better after about 5 minutes, but if I continue walking it starts up again. It's embarassing and agonizing.
I've talked to my doc about it and he said maybe anti-histamines would help if taken before walking, I'm planning to try that. Anyone have this or know anyone who does?
Here is a website about it, so I know I'm not the only one in the world with this. http://walking.about.com/cs/med/a/sensitchylegs.htm
are you pregnant? Does this happen really often? My first thought is that perhaps your legs are swelling, and the swelling is causing you to itch like that, it sounds reminiscent off the feeling i used to get as my pg belly was swelling, like horrible burning itching.
the only other thing i can think of would be heat rash or eczema. Do you see or feel bumps while scratching? do you have dry patchy skin?
Try wearing boys underware -- the kind that are shorts, only tight. I assume you are getting an itch between your legs, right on your inner thigh. It's caused, as far as I know, by your skin rubbing together and rubbing its self raw.
Make sure you're cleaning yourself gently, and try wearing clothing that covers that area (long johns in the winter, boyshorts in the summer, etc). I have also found, that when I have not been walking a lot, it happens more than when I have been.
No, I'm not pregnant. My legs have gotten itchy from running or walking since I was about 14. It starts at my ankles and ends halfway up my thighs. It happens just about every single time I try to walk for more than 10 minutes.
i get that too, my doc said it was exzema (sp?) becasue when you walk for more that 10 min, your bbody secretes moisture which can irriate exzema and cause the itchiness.
I get it when I run. I've heard it described as an "allergy to excercise"! I never tried the antihistamine thing because they make me so damn sleepy it isn't worth it, but I bet it will work!
I get that too. I thought it was somehow from my legs jiggling as I ran. But thats probably wrong.
Skylar, I've always thought that too. It doesn't happen on an elliptical exercise machine, only when the movement causes impact like running and walking. It seems that each time my foot hits the ground, the vibrations sent up my leg from the impact seem to make it get worse and worse until it's unbearable.
WOW!!! I have that too....my doctors could never figure it out though....I have low blood pressure, but they never went anywhere with that. I don't know anyone who has the same issue, either. It was a big problem for me because I was playing on a high level soccer team at the time and I couldn't just take breaks all the time.
I found antihistamines TOTALLY cleared up the problem if I took one before the game or whatever....also, sometimes if I wore sweat pants over my shorts for the first 1/2 hour and warmed up REALLY slowly it wasn't so bad.
That Icy Hot stuff, tigerbalm, and WarmupX gels all worked if I applied it about 20 mins before I ran.
Hope that works for you!!!!
Oh yeah, I found that Benadryl was the best kind of antihistamine ( didn't make me sleepy, which was good!!)
If I tried to ignore it, it would work its way up to my stomach and chest...until I couldn't stand it anymore.
To warm up slowly, try walking for two mins, then running for two mins, then walking again and on and on for about 14 mins. Then stretch. It worked for me!!
I'm definitely going to keep some Benadryl on hand if I can find a non-drowsy formula. Thanks guys! :) It's nice to know there is hope. Also, it's good to know there are other people out there who understand. I feel like a freak sometimes.
I do to, when i did cross country i told everyone and they thought I was weird, i am glad that its not just me!
If it is related to excema, could I suggest trying for a month of non dairy diet + evening primrose oil and see if this helps?
For me it's not excema, but I already pretty much have a non-dairy diet except on a cheese burger or taco type of thing. Thanks for the suggestions though, maja.
i've been thinking about this for a while, and probably what you need are new shoes that have REALLY good shock absorbtion, if indeed that's what the itchiness is coming from, which i could see as entirely possible.