Burn patients suffer many things on their way to recovery. One of the most vexing things that happens is that as your skin heals it will itch. The doctors say that's a good sign when you start itching, but it can drive you nuts. In Daniel's case the itching began a few days ago and today it seemed to reach its peak.
All day today Daniel has been uncomfortable. He didn't sleep well last night. The nurses observed that he was itching so they tried Benadryl in the middle of the night, but I think that it made him anxious AND didn't help with the itch. There are other medications that work and our doctor set it up so that he could try it out. This medication is Atarax and in this situation is reduces the histamine that is normally being produced by the body that is causing the itching sensation. So far it seems like it was working well so we'll see if that trend continues through the rest of the day.
When Daniel is uncomfortable it's going to be a tough day for all of us. He's been unwilling to eat much, drink or want to get up and walk. While we stuffed him yesterday and he seemed to eat really well, today it's not going so well.
We've all tried to help keep him comfortable, but nothing seems to be helping so we've really backed off on the activities for today hoping tomorrow will be a better day and that he feels like doing more.
Here's a few memorable characters offering up a few solutions to the "itch" problem:
I've been reading up on the cause of the itching and that it can be said that it's a altered form of pain. The same nerve receptors that "feel" pain in burn patients are triggered with this new sensation of itching. There's more to it than that, but it's got to be really intense with the itching coming from all over his body at different intensities. Have you ever had an itch that is so intense you can't seem to satisfy it? Was it from a burn or poison ivy or something else? If you found something that worked write it down in a comment for this post please!
Source burn resource OSU: https://patienteducation.osumc.edu/Pages/search.aspx?k=burn
Calendula (marigold) lotion is used for the burns and itching caused by radiation treatment.I wonder if it would help to soothe Daniel's type of itching? They sell it at stores that carry natural products.
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