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Jb (San Diego, California) on 12/12/2016:
D.l. (Dallas, Texas) on 02/28/2013:
Review01 (Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom) on 02/25/2013:
Jessicai (Springfield, Mo) on 11/29/2012:
Kxcakes (Indianapolis, Indiana, Usa ) on 08/21/2012:
I'm a 44 year old woman. My first encounter with Impetigo was 8 or 9 years ago - it appeared on my legs and it seemed the epicenter of each patch was a tiny wound or injury. I didn't know what it was so I did some research and concluded incorrectly that it was a variety of Psoriasis. For some reason, my online searches didn't come up with Impetigo. Like everyone else, I tried everything I could think of to relieve the horrible itching and eventually noticed that flushing the patches with hot water with a hand-held showerhead offered a numbing effect lasted from several hours to a whole day. Also, it was obvious that the more I scratched, the larger the patches became so I learned to leave the areas alone and to bandage them so my clothes wouldn't aggravate the situation. After a week or two, with regular hot water flushing and just not spreading the patches, the skin healed.
Now for my second encounter with Impetigo. It started a week ago, again in response to a tiny injury. I researched it again and Impetigo jumped right out. Knew I had the right diagnosis this time. The various sites containing information clarified the sequence of events from a few years ago. I learned that the blister fluid is infectious, for example. I also learned that Impetigo is caused by bacteria and that I wasn't dealing with contact dermatitis or anything like that. The hot water flushing offered relief just like before but this time, I added a twist. I reasoned that if hot water helped, perhaps hot air would too. So after I shower, I use a hair dryer on the patches, as hot as I can stand it. Then, I bandage the areas as before.
I'm thrilled to report that the hair dryer has worked wonders. The patches are healing much more quickly. My theory as to why it works is that the heat kills the bacteria. After all, your body elevates its temperature to fight infection so it makes sense to me that topical heat might kill bacteria on or in the skin. The heat from the hair dryer has the same numbing effect so that the patches don't itch for at least half a day.
Tip: be very careful with the hot water and the hot hair. Hold it on the patches only until you just begin to feel a tiny bit burned. Any longer than that, and you will actually be burned. I flick the shower head and the hair dryer back and forth over the patches for a few moments to make sure they are fully heated.
Tip: be very careful as you dry off after a shower. Don't let the towel touch the infected areas. I dab those with a bit of toilet paper which I then flush. It might be easier to dry your body with a small towel which is more controllable than a large floppy bath towel.
As other posters have noted, it seems lotions and ointments only aggravate the skin and don't actually relieve any of the itching and pain. I just cover the areas securely and employ the heat treatment as necessary.