On 9/17/2015 6:29 AM, micky wrote:
Actually, i never got any good results from calamine lotion. I use an
aerosol anesthtic, I think with lydocaine. Spraying it on means I don't
have to touch the skin and make the itching start up again. I used to
use rHuli-Spray, but they don't make that anymore.

I was "lucky" enough (frown) to "catch" chicken pox for a second time
a few years back (I now am leary of which OTHER of those childhood
diseases can "strike twice"?! I had assumed NONE of them were worth
my attention as I'd had -- or been innoculated against -- all of them,
already!). The calamine lotion (also caladryl) only provides the very
*briefest* relief.

The trick I've used over the years for mosquito bites and other persisitent
iches is to run the afflicted area under very hot water (i.e., almost to
the point of inflicting damage!) for as long as you can tolerate.

Of course, this burns while you are doing it. But, it seems to
overwhelm the "itch receptors" -- at least as long as any topical
lotion would! So, as long as you don't "stimulate" that are
(by scratching at it), you have some relief.

[Apparently, "itch" is conducted via different nerve pathways than "pain".
I guess evolution decided that some threats needed to be treated via
a different mechanism]

In my case, my hands were afflicted. Ever try to "scratch" your palms??
Or, the sides of your fingers? The webbing between them? frown

OTOH, 10 or 20 seconds under hot water gave me instant relief.
Impossible to describe how *great* that heat felt! SWMBO thought I was
having an "affair" with the kitchen faucet! :-/

[The skin on your palms is so thick that it took a full four
weeks for the "blisters" to reach the top surface. By then,
the disease had long since run its course and the blisters
were already "drained" when they appeared.]

Cortisone cream/ointment is nowhere near as effective (esp
on the palms... doesn't "absorb" well). Benadryl cream
seems to be a good alternative (for other areas). I keep a
tube of it in the car for just that reason.