A new problem popped up this week as I began Week #3 of healing my shoulder fracture: itching! I started waking up in the middle of the night, itching incessantly on my back, chest, abdomen, and left arm and shoulder. No amount of scratching relieved the itch, so I tried soaking in a hot vinegar bath. That worked temporarily, but then the itching got worse! Next, I tried taking a warm Aveeno bath. This helped for a while, but again the itching came back, making it extremely difficult to get restful sleep.
The solution? My daughter, Mary, who is a massage therapist, theorized that the itching might be a symptom of my body’s processing of the dead blood cells from the internal bleeding and swelling that had pooled in my arm and trunk area after the accident. She suggested that helping the lymph to break down and eliminate these dead cells might relieve the itching. To that end, I gave myself a dry brush massage with a natural bristle brush, stroking my skin in motions toward the heart. I also drank a LOT of water, along with a cup of herbal tea mixed with a teaspoon of non-acidic Vitamin C powder. Amazingly, the itching stopped!
Tonight I again woke up at 1:00 a.m. with “the itch.” So, I got out the dry brush and ran it over the itchy skin in motions toward the heart, drank a large glass of filtered water, and fixed myself a cup of blueberry tea with non-acidic Vitamin C powder. Thanks be to God, the itch is GONE, and I am ready to go back to sleep.
Sweet dreams!
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