Back Scratch

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Just for fun and advice, what's the most relaxing way to scratch your back? How do you quickly soothe an itch without letting it jump around? Do other people give you back scratches and if so, do they help reduce stress and itching? What about lightly scratching your tummy at night or after a big meal?

Use a hairbrush.

Hairbrushes never seem to work well for me. They're a little too prickly and it's hard to reach every spot with them.
I've also tried a ruler which is okay but still one side barely scrapes it and the other just pokes it with its metal end. Plus my arms get tired fast trying to scratch it like a contortionist so I usually just give up and try to forget about it and fall asleep anyway.

Generally I use a back scratcher made out of bamboo. It has a long handle and will reach down my back. Fairly inexpensive.

Yeah that's a good idea. I should consider investing in one of those. I feel like there's ultimately nothing better than human hands, but when there's no one around, it's better than nothing or making yourself exhausted trying to be a contortionist.

I feel like I’m weird for just using my fingernails I’m pretty flexible and have long fingers, which combined means I can reach my entire back for a good, proper scratch without using anything to extend my reach. Haven’t found a solution for the “chase the itch” game yet, though.

Anyone else who tries to touch my back will be lucky if I’m gentle enough to just swat their hand away. No back scritches for me. Not my tummy, either, I will become like a cat who doesn’t want a belly rub and doesn’t hesitate at all about making that clear.

ditto

I use a fine-toothed comb instead of a hairbrush.

I have a metal telescoping back scratcher that I carry around at work. It is very useful in a pinch. At my apartment, I use a bamboo one.

Perhaps I should look into getting one because a brush just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't reach very good, especially under pajamas if I'm laying down. Plus it's prickly, and usually (like last night for instance) doesn't alleviate the itch. I scraped my back with the brush and the itch came right back in the same spot. I tried just ignoring it at first thinking it would just go away if I layed there long enough but then it intensified in the same spot until I was at the point of needing to scratch it. Eventually though, I just sort of gave up because it wasn't as bad as it was and it was too tiring trying to scrape the brush under the pajamas and reach the spot thoroughly enough. I should really keep something near the bed because you never know when you'll be trying to fall asleep and "the impossible itch" pops out of nowhere.

i just put on lotion and it soothes it.
coconut milk is good as a quick fix l, as is yogurt, if you wash it off after (like u can put it on after a shower then rinse)

my dad had a back scratcher--
with a carved and painted mandrake duck (with a glossy enamel coat on top which i could look at and feel the smoothness over it for hours and my family found me just staring at the duck for ages, totally tuned out, many times) - as a birthday gift from my mom. haha

Very succinctly put, I never knew there was a name for that thing where you scratch one itch and the skin around it starts itching. I've tried taking a bath and scrubbing all over with a suitably stiff brush, but even that doesn't always work 100%. As I said in another thread, heat cream (menthol and salicylate) works quite well for me, but I've never dared to apply it to my whole body - that amount of salicylate might be dangerous. But it's at least possible to cover the main problem areas without any obvious harm.

Not long ago I saw they'd discovered some human protein that's responsible for itching (at least I think it was a protein). It seems some people produce less of it than others. Maybe they've developed an anti-itch potion from that research, something that inhibits the production of the stuff? Not that I like to use pharmaceuticals except in dire emergencies when they're time-tested and known to be fairly safe. And those topical "anti-itch" lotions don't seem to work on me at all. They're nothing like as effective as heat cream.

Lotions are a good solution as long as you have a way to apply them yourself. The only thing is when you have a sudden itch, there's not enough time to apply lotion. You just have to find something and scratch. My newest adventure has been a what I think is a hell of a canker sore in my cheek. My cheek has been constantly throbbing for the past 2 days. Today I ate soup all day because I didn't have to chew anything. Last night I took 2 acetaminophen pills and rinsed my mouth with salt water hoping that would ease the pain. I also iced it for awhile before bed. When I woke up this morning I just wanted to stay and bed because I felt better when I had it rested on the pillow with my mouth closed and relaxed but I had a virtual meeting today so I had to get up and yep, sure enough the constant aching is here again although, I think I'm actually starting to get used to the pain a little but I've been massaging my face on and off all day. I'm not going to take any more pain pills since that doesn't help. I'm trying to eat ice cream now to see if the cold helps at all.I read canker sores clear up in 5-7 days. We'll see what happens.

Sounds horrendous, but if that's what it is, then it's very likely to get better in a few days.

Yeah that's what I figure. It's already feeling much better than yesterday but to be honest, the only time there's no pain is when I'm fully asleep. I'm thinking though that it should be cleared up by tomorrow or Monday the latest. I'll just use some ice if it gets worse tonight like after dinner and pray for total relief by morning.
Summer of 2020 just keeps getting better and better.