Dermotographic Urticaria.
Oh look at that, yet another condition you probably have no idea exists. After I briefly explained it in my last post, I had a few people asking what it really was – so here’s a quick explanation.
For about three years now, I have suffered (and I say suffered loosely) with a skin condition called dermotographic urticaria, otherwise known as dermotographia. This condition affects about 2% of the population and is also called ‘skin writing disease’. You’re probably all wondering – what even is that?
Dermotographia in general is an allergic reaction, the act of scratching the skin causes hives to appear on the skin. These welts first turn red, before raising off the skin (allowing you to draw/write and have it show up). In a normal case, the swelling will decrease with no treatment within 15–30 minutes, but, in extreme cases, itchy red welts may last anywhere from a few hours to days, and anti-histamine will drastically reduce any swelling.
The cases can range from extreme…
… to slightly more minor.
I never really paid attention at first, but I started to notice small bumps on my neck and collarbones after showering – no biggie right? Then after one particularly mad scratching session (me thinking, ‘oh winter – it’s just dry skin right?’ WRONG.), my whole arm flares up in long scratches.
I’ll admit to being impressed at first, this condition was insanely cool for a 13 year old, I kept it secret but began to draw on my skin – using pencils, dried up biros, protractor ends (and so on and so forth).
The first time my dad saw the condition in action, he’d seen a photo of one of my ‘experiments’ – I’d written “THIS IS MY SKIN” on my upper thigh, photographed it and posted it on one of my social medias. He immediately thought the worst – and called me worriedly asking what I was doing. I had to explain that it was just this ‘thing’ I’d found out about, and I stopped trying to be ‘cool’ for fear of what it looked like.
Privy to plenty of my friends taking advantage in lessons and drawing… phallic images on my arm, I learned to restrain myself from general scratching, and became much more cautious with my own skin. I know from my own experience that the condition is heavily affected by stress – the more stressed I am, the more reactive my skin is. It also goes through phases of being less serious, barely swelling at all, to swelling up at the slightest scratch.
I remember once in a lower school maths exam, I’d been scratching my arms so badly that both forearms flared up, and I had to run out of the room to go get anti-histamine from the medical room. My arms were burning hot and I couldn’t stop scratching.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a significant flare-up, so I thought I’d write about it for the first time. Have you got any strange or bizarre quirks or conditions? Let me know in the comments below!
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