12/16/2011: Sam from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: "I developed a chest rash. Non itchy when perimenopause started. I blamed it on everything under the sun. On a whim I tried caneston cream on the rash. Gone! Guess it was yeast? Happy camper."

[YEA]  08/19/2008: Jon from Maui, USA: "i recently had an itchy painful skin rash on my chest that started spreading. i thought it might be from the sun, or maybe scabies, poison oak, shingles, skin cancer. didnt know. i tried spraying hydrogen peroxide on it. didnt work. i went to the doctor and they couldnt tell me what it was either. they gave me a steroid cream with a ton of dangerous side effects. they said it wouldnt cure it but would stop the itch. i tried it for a few days didnt work. total joke western medicine as unusaul. i tried pure peppermiint oil 2x a day. this is day number 3 and its totally gone. peppermint oil!! try it!! amazing. its what worked for me.!!"

[WARNING!]  09/06/2011: Akemi from West Covina, California replies: "I recently just tried this remedy. HOWEVER!!! DO NOT PUT IT ON YOUR FACE. I just stopped crying. My face was became so inflamed. When I first applied the peppermint oil to my face, I initially didn't feel anything. By the time I wiped my face with the oil, I felt like my skin was melting off! I tried to remove the oil from my face with water... Big mistake #2. It didn't it just made it worse. My next and final attempt was to use coconut oil. Thank God for that... And although I applied it, I still am unable to remove all the peppermint from my face. I am unsure how this person was able to use this oil, but for me, I never been in so much facial pain in my life. I thought I was going to ask to be taken to the hospital. Never ever ever do this to your face. You'll be extremely sorry."

10/08/2011: Pixieled from Endwell, Ny replies: "Most essential oils you should never ever put on pure. They must be diluted in a carrier oil, such as olive oil, or coconut. Plus, be mindful that you're not putting on a fragrance oil instead, as it's definitely not the same thing, but synthetic. Make sure it's essential oil. One more thing. Always do a spot test for 24 hours before putting it on larger areas. Just to make sure you're not allergic."

[YEA]  09/30/2012: Davy from Coastal Town, Oregon replies: "Peppermint oil is amazing, I just put three drop in I tablespoon of virgin coconut oil with a few drops of Vitamin E and it starts working. Essential oils are miracle but you must do your research before you try it... You NEVER use it essential oils full strength, they must be diluted."

04/25/2011: Sherry Sellers from Sweetwater, Texas: "I have had pityriasis for over a year now, it's not as bad as it was for the first 10 months, but they just keep popping up. Sunlight seems to help more than anything I've tried, I've also tried laying under a black light with some luck."

12/08/2009: Earth Clinic : "New page has been created (and existing posts moved to the new page):

http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/miliaria.html"

12/05/2012: Scratchy from Maddening, Itchland: "I am a previously healthy 25 year old female with no past allergy problems and no history of exzema, psoriasis or anything like that.

About 3 months ago I developed an itchy rash over my entire body - arms, stomach, chest, shoulders and back, thighs, buttocks... It never really seemed to affect my feet, hands, or face (although my ears got hot, itchy, and almost scaly for a while). It started kind of mildly, but in less than a week progressed to such an intense itching that I couldn't sleep at night.

The rash itself was bright red with small raised bumps. It seemed less itchy first thing in the mornings, but by evening would be unbearable. I had a "crawling" senseation on my skin and the itching would grow more and more intense until I finally broke down and scratched. After a few days of scratching the skin started to dry out. Thick flakes of skin began to peel off my elbows and the inflamed/scabby area beneath oozed slightly.

It did not seem to be contagious (or only very mildly so). It might have been spread around by my scratching, but I was living in very close living conditions with another person at the time, who did not develop any of the same symptoms.

I tried everything I could think of to relieve the itching. Cortizone cream which I occasionally use for mosquito bites did nothing. Antibiotic ointment did nothing. Cold water helped only a little. Salt water soaks didn't seem to help. Dillute apple cider vinegar rinses gave only a minute or two of respite, and dillute baking soda rinses made it burn as well as itch. Taking an antihistamine (loratadine 10mg) helped somewhat, providing enough relief for me to finally fall asleep in the evenings.

I was at the time temporarily working pretty far from home, so the first doctor I saw was at a nearby urgent care clinic. He took my temperature (normal) and blood pressure (good), took a look at the rash, and diagnosed it as folliculitus. He proscribed me an antibiotic (cephalexin 500mg to be taken 2 tablets 2x per day for 9 days), as well as a histamine-blocker (ranitidine 150 mg to be taken 1 tablet 2x per day), and told me I could also take an over-the-counter antihistamine (diphenhydramine HCl 25mg) before bed if I was still scratching too much to be able to fall asleep.

So for the next 9 days I took all the meds as prescribed and took a bath/soak with a cup of vinegar added to help relieve the itching every evening. The rash improved slightly over this time, but I was still itching intensely and scratching my arms bloody in my sleep overnight.

The week after finishing the antibiotic my itching slowly started worstening again.

Next I went to see a naturopathic physician. He gave me a tea tree oil salve to apply to the affected areas, homeopathic sulfer (200c), suggested I take baths with oatmeal or bentonite clay added, and reminded me to drink plenty of water to support my liver.

The tea tree oil salve helped enormously, but the itching would return in just a few hours and I had to reapply the salve 3-4 times a day for relief. Using it that frequently over pretty much my entire body quickly became almost prohibatively expensive, and was (of course) not covered by my insurance.

I went to my regular physician's office after returning home (at this point I've been continuously itchy for 2 months now and I am miserable). She takes my temperature (normal) and blood pressure (good), looks at my rash and tells me Dr. #1 was a kook, it isn't folliculitus after all I just have an allergic response/auto-immune problem atopic dermatitus - probably eczema. She prescribes me with a medium strength steroid cream (triamcinolone cream 0.1%) and a stronger antihistamine (hydroxyzine HCL 50mg: taken 1 or 2 tablets at bedtime as needed for itching), and tells me to get a quality healing moisturizing lotion to use.

So I try that for awhile instead, but now I suddenly have an extremely itchy fluid-filled blister between two of my smaller toes, an itchy ring of rash on my buttocks again that now looks something like diaper rash, and a thick slightly yellowish vaginal discharge (not itchy or smelly or bothersome, just thicker and a little yellower than usual).

I start to think that doctors don't know a lot about itching disorders! From my own research about my mystery itching symptoms I wonder why no one has considered the possibility of a fungal skin infection. Antifungal cream burns when applied to my arms, so I start adding a small amount (1/4 cup) of bleach to a tub full of bathwater, making sure to rinse thoroughly and apply more tea tree oil creme afterwards. My rash goes away at last (yay!! ) but my skin still itches. I read about yeast infections of the skin and candida overgrowth, which sounds scarily similar to what I'm experiencing, so a few days ago I also cut sugar and all processed foods out of my diet, just in case. Now I feel hungry all the time, even immediately after eating. The itching is getting way better, but now my stools are a light yellowish brown color - much softer than usual and they float. Could this be from the yeast "die off" symptoms that people talk about, or should I go get checked out for serious potential liver problems?

What in the world is wrong with me?"

12/05/2012: Bill from San Fernando, Philippines replies: "Hi Scratchy... Most of the symptoms and problems that you report seem to point to Candida. Candida is an assocoative disease which happily associates with other pathogens -- bacteria, viruses and even parasities -- because this disease has such a strong ability to lower immune system capabilities. Therefore little wonder then that doctors get so confused and are unable to diagnose candida and associated problems. Doctors have been taught and adhere to the One Disease --> One Germ tenets of the Germ Theory. So they simply cannot understand or cope with a medical situation where multiple pathogens have invaded the body. It is well known through research that candida also occurs in 80% of sufferers who have fibromyalgia and that candida is a regular and dangerous problem in patients at endstage cancer, hepatitis and HIV AIDs.

To confirm whether you have systemic candida you can quickly check your tongue. If it is pink you may not have candida -- but if it is white then, most probably, you have candida. Also, you can do the Candida Spit Test(Google it).

Perhaps the best and most aqccurate way to find out whether you have candida or not is to take this questionnaire, which more or less represents all the different symptoms you can get from systemic candida:

Dr William Crook's Candida Questionnaire

I will also be posting my upadated Anti-Candida Protocols soon -- so you can use this alternative protocol to kill off the candida and associated pathogens that you may have."

12/05/2012: Tina from Houston, Usa replies: "Scratchy, I would suggest 2 things immediately...

1. If you can make home made milk kefir with raw milk (it takes 24 hrs to make 1 batch of kefir at home) and starting ingesting it as well as liberally applying it to all areas of the body it will help immensely with itching and other issues.

2. Begin juicing green veggies (not fruits, veggies - pref organic) and drink up to 16 oz daily pref 1st thing in the AM. This will enable your body to be more alkaline and your body will attain a state of balance which will resolve your issues.

Google 'fat, sick and nearly dead' for info recipes on juicing. If you do have a fungal issue (like candida) you want to stay away from the sugar which is in the fruits.

Good luck, Tina"

12/07/2012: Ginny from Boise, Idaho replies: "You might try to do a food test to see what you are allergic to. From what I understand, most skin problems stem from the digestive track. I have always had some kind of skin problem. I did an 8 water fast followed by 10 day juice fast and cleaned out my system, upon introducing food back in my system, I am able to tell when I have an allergic reaction to each food. You have to introduce stuff one at a time and maybe for a few days. You may have different reactions to each food that your body does not like. For-instance - Cocoa makes my arm pits and feet stink, baking powder makes my neck break out in a huge rash with bumps, store bought organic carrots make my lips and tongue tingle. Wheat or Gluten tares my stomach up for 30 hours. If you cant do a water fast, just try removing gluten from your diet , keep a daily journal of every thing you eat and how it made you feel. Try to eat all organic foods and no processed foods. You will be amazed at how good your body feels getting all the icky food out of your system!"

11/29/2012: Jaki from Fremantle, Western Australia replies: "Carolina, my daughter had the same thing happen after using a different brand of shaving cream. She used 50/50 ACV straight up which helped a bit but kept returning and flaring over a long period. In the end, it was Sea Buckthorn oil (Himalayan, organic pure oil) that finally cured it. Her routine was no deodorant, washing with mild Castile soap, lots of changes of pure cotton shirts and twice daily applications of Sea Buckthorn oil. Her rash has completely gone now and she can use organic, essential oil deodorant but she feels to be minimal and cautious from now on after that ordeal. Good luck!"

07/05/2012: Alex from Nairobi, kenya replies: "Dont worry, try this remedy as you try to reach any Naturalpath Dr.:

Take honey mix with garlic powder into fine paste, add 2tsp of olive oil. Before, apply pure vaseline gel so that it may not burn the skin."

07/06/2012: D.c. from Arlington, Virginia replies: "Thank you! I tried this and the rash seems to be drying out a bit. I am also using ACV as a toner and following it with coconut oil before bed. Thanks!"

05/29/2012: Kay from In The Valley, Ca replies: "It almost sounds like she has some kind of parasite. Can't you get the rash cultured? If you can, it would give you more of a fighting chance. Good luck to you."

06/04/2012: Mario from New York replies: "Try sugar. Shower as you normally do. Then mix sugar in water. 4 or 5 spoons on small glass of water. Put it in all over you body and leave it for about 10 minutes then rinse.you will see the diference in about a week."

09/30/2012: Anonymous from La, Ca replies: "My ND doctor is very whip smart and says if it is on your skin then it may very well be in your body. The skin is just expressing what is going on the inside, he also says your skin is the third lung so it is attempting to breath out toxins because the body is overwhelmed He suggests turmeric pills for inflammation/ rash. I would go see and ND or chinese medicine dr and get on a Natural parasite cleanse and alkalize. She needs to go to the doctor and INSIST on having it cultured. I would no longer swin in any lake, river or ocean I think those days are over for now."

03/03/2012: Sara from The Beach, Canada replies: "Hi, I just wanted to say the hemp seed oil internally and topically has saved me from scratching myself raw and it is tolerable by all... Chances of allergy to it is very low. it will take awhile for the red and rash to go away with it but the itching will calm down within days."

03/04/2012: Mmsg from Somewhere, Europe replies: "bh -- Have you tried virgin coconut oil?"

03/06/2012: Kay from Destin, Fl replies: "If it's a seafood allergy you must eliminate all fish/seafood from his environs: do not even breath the air in a building with fish/shrimp etc. cooking! Beware: Worcestershire sauce and Caesar salad dressing, and many asian food contains anchovies, shrimp paste etc so must be eliminated form the diet.

Antihistimines like Benedryl will help treat and ID an allergy (and definitely help him sleep); if the itching stops within the hour, it is probably an allergic reaction to something. Aloe Vera is the "Go to treatment" for skin issues; use pure aloe on a small area and see if it helps. And many itchy or painful rashes and skin conditions respond very well to Oatmeal baths (warm or cool, whatever feels better), and/or Epsom salts baths. I would try each one separately in a finger, hand or foot soak for a few days in a row, to evaluate what works/feels best; if they both help then use both together. If he is already overdry, start with the Oatmeal.

Footbath : use 1 cup per gallon of water

Body Bath in a full tub; Use 1 cup per 60lbs of body weight. And be sure to disinfect the tub with bleach, and rinse it well BEFORE & AFTER BATHING (in case it's a fungal/bacterial infection)"

01/17/2012: Arietta from Chania, Crete, Greece replies: "They sound like chilblains. I get them when it's really cold. The best remedy that has helped me is to do a foot bath with empsom salt. The water should be warm and bathe feet for a good 10-15 min. Daily. It really helps soothe the pain & itchiness."