Walking more, and my legs itch!

  • I started walking/jogging again and noticed my legs itch really really bad! Does anyone know what causes this? Is it because it's cold outside? Will it go away?

    Thanks!

    Heidi
  • That happens to me every single winter. For me it's dry skin and it took my a long time to figure that out b/c it never really looks visibly dry. As long I keep it well moisturized it's fine. When I forget to moisturize I'm ripping my flesh to shreds...seriously, until I bleed. Ouch. Get a really good moisturizer and see if that helps.
  • I also get the itchies when I gain or lose weight - the skin stretching makes me itchy. Try Aveeno lotion with oatmeal, I swear by that during wintertime!
  • I used to get itchy skin when I hadn't done anything for awhile - it felt as though a million little ants where crawling under my skin. The itch was never on my skin it was underneath it and I felt like I had to scratch the skin off to just GET to the itch lol.

    I would mostly get it on my legs behind my knees or the tops of my thighs or my stomach.

    After a few days back into the walking or running it would go away.
  • I've had a simular problem but mine occured everytime I went from sloth mode to fit active babe. My legs, belly, back would itch incessantly. I wanted to pull my skin off! It was terrible.

    So after doing a bit of research this is what I had found... amazingly enough right here at 3FC.

    Quote:
    "Itchy skin usually occurs during exercise performed after a long period of inactivity. The itching is not on the skin, it's inside the actual limbs. There are millions of tiny capillaries and arteries inside our muscles which expand rapidly due to the demand for more blood that is brought on by exercise. When fit, these capillaries remain open allowing maximum blood passage, but when unfit and inactive they tend to collapse, allowing only minimal blood passage (which is sufficient for a sedentary person however). The rapid expansion of these vessels causes adjacent nerves to send impulses back to the brain which are interpreted as an itch. That's why after a few sessions the sensation tends to go away. Just another indication of increasing fitness levels."

    Source: Maximus from the John Stone Fitness Forum on 02/09/04 (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/a...php/t-830.html)
  • My legs used to itch when I was actually walking (back when I first started). I seemed to remember it would be like that after long periods of inactivity.