[TaraJW]

Does your skin itch when you exercise? I just started recently and Ive noticed my skin itches in the area Im working out. If I do sit ups, my stomach itches, if I walk, my thighs itch. Does anyone else do this or know what that means? Thanks!

[yearninforsomeburnin]

yes!!!!! but only my stomach , I do 700 situps a week, and its constantly itchy after i excersize, maybe its from sweat, i have no clue!

[Mel]

The explanation that I've heard is that it in increased blood flow through all the little capillaries near and in the skin around the area that is getting the most workout. When I first started running, my thighs would itchlike crazy, especially on a cold day.

Mel

[loralee]

When I jog, my legs and arms itch for the first 15 minutes. I was wondering if ths was normal too. I was glad to read TaraJW's posting.

[mompen]

Add me to the itchy club..... lol

My legs, stomach and arms always turn red and itch....

Lotion Lotion Lotion for me....

[Ilene]

I itch too!! I just thought it was because I was starting to sweat...

[wildblue_yonder]

When I was younger I noticed this would happen to me when I was playing softball. I would start itching horribly. My sweat would make me break out in hives. At first I thought it was my soap but then I realized it didn't matter what soap I used. It continues to happen to this day when I exercise vigorously.

[FrugalChick]

Yup--I itch too! IT's horrible.

[Lisa36]

I read on another board that your skin would itch when you exercised because your metabolism was kicking in....we can all only hope that is the cause. It's rather bothersome.

[markgm]

Yep, same thing here, especially if it is cold out.

[beachgal]

I know...this is going to sound like a major whine...but I love exercising, and have been vigorously going to the gym, going to classes, and doing tapes at home for over four months now. Just some background.

Help! I am having a heck of a time with itching while exercising...when I was younger this happened whenever I went for walks in wet, cold weather. My legs would itch ferociously, easing as soon as I rested in a warm place.

In the last week, it's been happening again! I was fine on Wednesday while doing 45 mins of strength training, but when I hopped on the elliptical for a quick workout, I found that my legs, my belly, my shoulders all itched painfully. I had to end early because it was so painful! On Saturday, we took a long walk with the dog at a local park. It had just rained and was rather cold. About 3/4 of the way through, my legs started itching...it was actually painful, it itched so much. We had to stop after only one lap.

This morning, I did my strength training and then hopped on the elliptical. After only a couple minutes, there was the itching again. It seemed to start in my belly (the areas with fat...maybe they get less circulation?), then move to my shoulders and my legs. I had to stop halfway through because the itching was so intense. I was fine in the locker room, but as soon as I stepped outside, my knees started itching and then my whole legs. By the time I got to my car, I was almost crying and totally nauseous because it was so itchy it was painful. Like an overload of sensations.

Maybe I'm not dressing warmly enough...but I would really like to know if anyone else is having this problem? I don't want to stop exercising!

[NicoleNYC]

I wish I could be more specific, but I'm fairly sure this is common. I think if you google it, you'll find a lot of people have the same issue (I know I've seen posts on it before and I wish I could remember some answers for you). Sorry I couldn't be more help, just thought I'd suggest googling for faster answers.

If you look just a little further down the page, someone has asked a similar question. HTH!

[annie175]

Laurie,

Don't know the reason, maybe because we are moving nerve endings that normally don't move. I, too, have itching after walking, and also twitching of my legs. Weird.

Annie

[MichelleRae]

Annie, I love the leg twitching after a good workout!! I never had that before until I really started working out, it made me feel good, so when I was walking if I didn't feel the twitch when I was done then I knew I wasn't working hard enough.

Michele

[beachgal]

Yup, I love the twitching too, Michelle...it's like the "ticking" of a car after you turn it off and the engine is cooling down. It's a good thing.

The itching, on the other hand is not. I did some research online today and found a couple things. There is an exercise allergy (which I would have welcomed a year ago, but now the thought of it makes me sad!) that is brought on by heat. Those who have it are worse it extreme heat and humidity. Unfortunately, I'm better in heat, so that's not me. The other condition I found is Cold induced Urticaria...basically hives that come from cold. This one is caused by cold, not necessarily by exercise. They say that if you have it, you get actual hives (I don't, unless they are too small to see), and that you can test it by putting an ice cube on your skin. Within five minutes, you should get a hive. These people get them whenever they are cold. I am fine when it is cold...most of the time. If I'm doing major movement to where I get flushed, then I get itchy.

Anyways, couldn't figure it out from this info, so I put a call in to my doctor. I hope she has some ideas!