Wow, glad I found this sub. I have extremely fair skin and have gotten sunburns all my life, especially as a kid. However, I never got Hell’s Itch… until 2013, and I’ll never forget it.

I was on vacation and got my first burn of the year (typically around the time I get Hell’s Itch). Well, that night I knew I was burned, but I’ve had bad burns before. The next day, again, I knew I was burned pretty bad and definitely felt it, but I’ve been through that before.

Then, it came. About 36 hours after the initial burned occurred, this utterly unbearable itch came. People aren’t kidding when they say it will drive you mad, literally. It’s what I imagine a potential torture method would be like. It’s the fire ants under your skin, the incredibly sharp pins and needles poking, the little razor blade swipes… and dare you itch, not only does it hurt, but it makes them come back stronger.

It’s the most irritating, uncomfortable, flat out most excruciating experience I have ever had to endure. No one understands, as no one in my family (all in the medical field) nor anyone they know is aware of. The way I acted was as if I was a drug addict that was going through severe withdrawal. The random jutting movements when a pin struck or the constant stroking of my chest or shoulders when the ants started to sting.

It’s honestly unlike any type or pain or discomfort I have ever experienced, a type of discomfort that words can’t describe unless you are one of the few individuals that has been unfortunate enough to be predisposed to this torturous condition.

Back in 2013, I almost went to the hospital because I was about to lose my sanity. People almost laugh at this as did my parents when I said “I actually about to mentally break down.” To them, it was like “I don’t know whether to laugh or be extremely worried.” I mean, it got to the point where I was in tears and no fight left. They didn’t know what to do. I didn’t either.

Aloe doesn’t help, lotion certainly doesn’t and both make it worse. Advil, Tylenol, Benadryl - nothing helped. NOTHING. Then I found ice packs, if constantly applied, would provide relief.

Well, at a certain point it got so bad, I was about to leave to go to the hospital. But I was in such a dismal state, it was as if I wanted to burn it out of me. So I took a scalding hot shower that probably burnt other areas of my body and I just let it burn for about 10 minutes. Somehow, someway… It was a cure and gave me a couple hours of relief before I had to do it again.

There should honestly be some type of medical review of this as I’ve read suicidal-level stories, people actually developing psychological harm from this. Sure, it’s only around for about 48 hours, but it will surely be the worst 48 hours of your life.

Today is my third time dealing with it, and I must say… it’s a constant reminder to use SPF 70 whenever I get a large amount of exposure to the sun.

When I first got it, I could only find one little blog post after searching for hours on the internet. Now, there are many article and this sub that speak on it, thankfully. If it wasn’t for the that blog, I officially would have lost my mind and I’d assume no one at the hospital would know what to do either (don’t we have modern medicine?!)

Anyone find any relief that wasn’t a boiling hot shower?