Itchy Legs!

Katie3784

I usually do cardio on my elliptical, but every now and then I like to get out and jog with my son in the stroller. I have great endurance and could keep at a pretty steady pace for a while if it were not for my damn legs becoming incredibly itchy about 5 minutes into my jog. It is so frustrating and I just don't know what causes it or what I can do about it. I have to stop every couple of minutes to scratch, and usually within 20 minutes, it calms down. I'm sure I look pretty silly standing on the side of the road scratching myself like I've got chicken pox. Does this happen to anyone else, and what do you do about it?

SweetHoliday

The only I can think of is if you are shaving your legs, don't. It will make them itch.

megz4987

YES. and all I do about it is complain! No one's been able to give me answers only suggestions as to why it could be happening. "It could be the fabric rubbing on your skin" hould I exercise naked? "It could be the cold air on hot legs" Not something I can control. I have no idea... it's happened for as long as I can remember.

durikaj

Does this happen when you work out indoors? If not, it's likely some sort of environmental allergy that's affecting your skin, and particularly your legs since you are signifcantly increasing the circulation in your legs (as compared to the rest of your body).

kmeekhof

The only I can think of is if you are shaving your legs, don't. It will make them itch.

I would rather deal with occasional itchy legs than not shave!!!!

MrsSmith1112

Ooh! This happens to me too! So annoying!

amandavictoria80

The only I can think of is if you are shaving your legs, don't. It will make them itch.

I totally get itchy if I don't shave my legs. I have to shave them every single day, every day of the year. It really sucks sometimes. LOL

MarieNevada

lol it's caused by increased blood flow. i used to get it all the time too. that's all it is. not an allergy, just your body pumping blood where it needs to go.

bregalad5

Same. My arms as well, but it's mostly my legs. I hate it, but you have no idea how relieved I am to know I'm not the only one!!!!!

kmeekhof

Does it happen when you run indoors on the treadmill? It only happens to me when I run outside in the winter...... never knew why. Curious as to what people say.

tkacomet

not trying to be an alarmist, but check in with your doc. that can be a sign of neurological issues. if you eliminate external issues, go tell your doctor.

amandavictoria80

The only I can think of is if you are shaving your legs, don't. It will make them itch.

I would rather deal with occasional itchy legs than not shave!!!!

Yup! I second that. I thought every woman shaved their legs all the time. But I am finding out recently that it's not true. So strange.

UpEarly

It's actually a pretty common runner's problem:
http://running.about.com/od/illnessesandrunning/ss/embarrassing_5.htm

CakeFit21

Google it. I just did, there are tons of answers and none of them have anything to do with shaving your legs.

SweetHoliday

The only I can think of is if you are shaving your legs, don't. It will make them itch.

I totally get itchy if I don't shave my legs. I have to shave them every single day, every day of the year. It really sucks sometimes. LOL

It is itchy initially, but once you have given shaving a break just for like a week or two, it doesn't itch anymore. I only know this because I was refraining from shaving until my trip to a friends wedding this Thursday. I want my legs to be smoother than ever, so I let the hair grow, but I have noticed my legs don't itch anymore. I am not saying stop shaving altogether, but I would guess that is the itching problem. I will not stop shaving, but that was my two cents on the subject.

becca92562

read this on another site:

That itching is caused by an increased blood flow through the capillaries in the skin. You are actually feeling your body expand your circulatory system.

abahzee

I can absolutely identify. It happens to me every time I exercise. Sometimes it's not just my legs either, but my arms and hands. It's crazy and makes exercising really uncomfortable. At first I thought it was something new in my diet - whey protein in the shakes or something in the protein bars, but eventually I eliminated those items and it all came down to exercise. I don't know if it's circulatory or what. I've read a lot of internet postings of others who have it too. Seems to be a lot of herbal remedy/vitamin suggestions, but I have never followed up on any of them. I often come home and take benadryl to stop the itching, but honestly, I'm not sure if it actually stops the itching, or just puts me to sleep so that I don't notice it. I just keep hoping that someday it will go away. Wish you luck as it's not fun!

SweetHoliday

The only I can think of is if you are shaving your legs, don't. It will make them itch.

I would rather deal with occasional itchy legs than not shave!!!!

Yup! I second that. I thought every woman shaved their legs all the time. But I am finding out recently that it's not true. So strange.

I just want to clear something up lol I ALWAYS shave my legs. I am just going out of town and my legs had been getting irritated from shaving so I was giving them a break for a couple weeks so they wouldn't look irritated at the wedding I'm going to this coming weekend. I noticed my legs don't itch since I've given my legs a shaving break. I will resume shaving this Thursday, but I was just pointing it out that I think it could be from shaving. I normally shave all the time, just wanted to be clear on that.

sirabe

Its called exercise urticaria. It is a kind of allergy to exercising. It is not dangerous and sometimes goes away on its own. But you can take antihistamines in the meantime.

There is not much you can do about it but exercise regularly and endure it until it goes away.

I had the same problem as well and it took mine about 3-4 weeks to go away, but taking the antihistamines before exercising does help a lot.

And it comes back if I have been sedentary for a while like from an injury. Sorry but this may give you a starting point

here is an article on it :
http://www.livestrong.com/article/422027-my-body-itches-while-im-running/

neva4saken

If you have not been running or exercising much lately, the capillaries in your legs collapse slightly. However, once you begin exercising again, your legs require an increased supply of blood. As the flow of circulation to this area increases, the capillaries in your legs must expand to allow for more blood flow. As these capillaries expand, the nerves surrounding them send "itchy signals" to the brain. Fortunately, these symptoms typically stop after a few days of regular running.

abahzee

Here's another interesting article that describes many of the symptoms I have experienced....

http://allergies.about.com/od/anaphylaxis/a/eia.htm

kunibob

read this on another site:

That itching is caused by an increased blood flow through the capillaries in the skin. You are actually feeling your body expand your circulatory system.

This is what I was going to suggest, as that was my problem, so I'm going to 2nd this!

I have this problem, though it has faded away somewhat in recent years. I did notice that the type of fabric I'm wearing on my legs makes a noticeable difference. Wearing short, baggy shorts seems less distracting than longer or heavier fabrics. I guess that when the fabric rubs against the already itchy skin, it makes it even more noticeable for me.

The exercise urticaria that sirabe mentioned above might also be a possibility.

For me, it seems worse when I'm on an elliptical or something stationary. Stopping and really shaking out my legs and using my hands to jiggle my quads/calves seems to help a bit. Scratching usually makes it worse for me, as it irritates everything even more.

Katie3784

If you have not been running or exercising much lately, the capillaries in your legs collapse slightly. However, once you begin exercising again, your legs require an increased supply of blood. As the flow of circulation to this area increases, the capillaries in your legs must expand to allow for more blood flow. As these capillaries expand, the nerves surrounding them send "itchy signals" to the brain. Fortunately, these symptoms typically stop after a few days of regular running.

I actually do the elliptical 6 days a week, and this never happens with that. I think I might try compression shorts.

hopebuck

OMG...this used to be me. I would get it just WALKING to school when I was a kid and i would be in tears I was itching soo badly. Wasn't til about 5 years ago a dr told me to try claritin. I have since taken one claritin a day and I do NOT have this problem anymore. I just remember NO ONE being able to tell me waht to do about it and i wanted to run.... Now I CAN!!!! I'm not in to taking much medicine, but I swear by my generic claritin!!!!

good luck!

Blondie2400

I have had this problem for years and tried just about everything that has been suggested - allergy meds, benadryl, lotions, etc etc. This week I started drinking about 10 glasses of water a day to help fight a cold...well my itching disappeared!! I keep drinking lots of water and I have yet to have any itching! I think the itching was caused from the salt in my sweat and drinking water helped dilute it. I could not be happier to be free from the horrible, horrible, torture of itchy legs!!!!!!!!! please try this!!!

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arewethereyet

Thanks for all the great responses, very helpful. I too have this issue with walking, running or using the ellip.