Published on 12, July, 2020
I have quite an extreme problem with hypersensitivity to clothing. if I wear things often then I sensitise to those. For example, underwear or the same length dress brushing against my knee in the same place.
I also sensitise to things I haven’t worn recently (that could be just a couple of days) or at all.
I have tried many times the traditional approach of desensitisation (gradually increasing the amount of time you wear things, desensitisation to touch using gentle brushing and then increasing to more strong touch et cetera) with multiple occupational therapists and other people throughout the years, this never works. Please don’t suggest these techniques.
I am currently wearing things on a three day rotation, but this does not solve the problem just slows it down slightly and of course there’s nothing I can do about seasonal clothing.
It begins with a strong sensation of the clothing washing against my skin, which then turns into an irritation and sometimes a prickling and itching then becomes an inflammatory pain spreading out across the area and leading to spasms.
By the evening and over the next day this will be chronic pain and spasms with a buzzing prickling feeling throughout, like an electric current, and usually a headache and a migraine all of which will last a couple of days.
I would love to know if
1. Anyone else has experienced hypersensitivity to touch like this?
2. someone could explain to me the biological process by which it happens
3. anyone has advice on how to manage it.
This might sound a bit odd, but it works for me. Have you tried using antihistamines?
I get that prickling sensation too (have it right now in fact) and the only solutions I’ve found are not wearing anything (which is apparently frowned on when I’m out) or using antihistamines, which seem to reduce the sensitivity.
Thanks. Doesn’t sound odd at all to me. I have mast cell activation so I take huge amounts of antihistamines already. I’m pretty sure mast activation is part of why my body reacts this way.
do you experience hypersensitivity in the same way as me?
Not as badly as you have described but clothing in general irritates me. I never wear much more than shorts and T shirts around the house and when I’m out I will generally avoid jackets and heavy clothes even on days other people regard as cold.
And the antihistamine works! Isn’t that interesting. Perhaps Mast Cell Activation might be something you might want to look into, if you haven’t already. thanks for the reply
It’s an intense prickling and itching sensation
Does it give you pain or is it more uncomfortable irritation?
I don’t think regular wearing of the same thing makes it worse for me but new things often feel wrong on me. I tend to wear exactly the same small collection of clothes until they die.