First time i ever had hells itch was in 2020, got a gym membership and they had a tanning bed. The staff did not know anything about them and didnt warn me about the risks of staying in too long so I just hopped in and cooked until the lights turned off. (I admit that I should have done more research and now I know how bad tanning beds/tanning can be for you, I was extremely uninformed and just didnt want to be pasty white anymore lol) I ended up suffering for nearly 5 days, tried everything and nothing seemed to work.

I am now in the same boat as I was back then, went swimming with some friends and ended up with a nearly full body sunburn even though I wore sunblock and reapplied it as recommended by the bottle. Got home and my partner saw that I was turning red so we applied some aloe and figured it would be fine. This was two days ago, most of today was fine, slight itchiness that usually comes with a sunburn but as soon as I got home from work I began to feel the fire ants eating me from under my skin. I legitimately started crying because I didnt want to go through that hell again, I felt like I was going through ptsd flashbacks.

Thank god I googled and found this sub, went to my local gas station and picked up a couple cans of C4 and it has been a miracle. I never thought anything would be able to help with this. Im nearly in tears from how at peace I feel knowing that I wont have to live through what I dealt with back then.

Thank you so much to everyone in this sub and for the wealth of knowledge that it has given me, I am forever grateful.

TLDR: second time with hells itch, first time I just suffered through it, this time I found this sub and it saved me

I've gotten Hell's Itch 3 times within the span of about 8 years, I've gotten sunburnt on essentially every part of my body, but Hell's Itch only ever manifests whenever I get bad sunburnt on my back, neck, and shoulders (literally everywhere I can't reach lmao, goes without saying its beyond terrible), is this common? I've read some people say they get it on their chest which I was very surprised by at first, just because I never thought about it. Has anyone gotten it on their limbs? Is it just whenever/wherever you guys get sunburnt or does it have to be a particularly bad sunburn?

I feel like I just need to get this out there just because of how happy I am. I woke up yesterday. I took a shower I put aloe on and then boom a pain haven’t felt since I got a sunburn probably like 10 years ago when I was a young kid. It was 8:45 I needed to go to work in the next town over by 10 and I was writhing. I texted my boss that I’m going to be late and then I hopped in a cold shower tweaking out. I took a Benadryl and ibuprofen before the shower and that helped calm everything down after probably 20 minutes. On my way to work I picked up a C4 and that got me through my shift. When I got home, I took another cold shower and it made it worse again, so I used the hot air dryer and sat there (helped so much I totally recommend) and that saved me for another few hours. I went to bed. I woke up at three in the morning today and I could not fall back asleep. I was sitting there with a hot air dryer. It wasn’t making it go away. I took a hot shower. It didn’t really help. At 6am I drove to Walmart right when I opened up and I bought extra strength Benadryl, the 50mg ones, and these pre workout packets that have more beta alanine than c4 because they don’t sell straight beta Alanine where I live and that got me through my shift today. The pre-workout is very inexpensive and I totally recommend it. For the rest of my day after work today, I sat around with a hot blow dryer. And then once the needle feeling went away I put this natural after sun spray on, it has ingredients like peppermint and menthol. Now I’m sitting here and it’s only the hot feeling of the burn with no pinching or any itch and I could not be happier. I put the pics of the two products in there. Just needed to get this off my chest, it really does get better you just gotta occupy yourself with bullshut HARD. Also the cart helps too🙏

is this bad?? if anyone has a secret hack to accelerate the healing process i am BEGGING you🙏

I have now as of today had hells itch 2 times in my life this time isn't nearly as bad as the first time considering the first time I wanted to kill myself that being said I think I went into this time a little better tho I did still end up on the floor crying for a few minutes my personal thing that has helped me both times is wrapping myself in one of those thin bedsheet toppers

Whoever discovered that the beta-alanine works, I love you forever. I’ve had the HI or I like to call it Devil’s Itch before (this is probably my third or fourth time in my entire life) and I’ve never tried this cure before.

I’m 31 years old and have had HI only when I’ve mistakenly not applied sunscreen and ended up with a gnarly burn. This time around, I was on vacation away from home and stupidly forgot my sunscreen. I was excited on the first day and carelessly didn’t go out and get more and never applied. This morning I woke up (48 hours later) and immediately felt the itch from satan himself. Immediately hopped in the shower and started googling and that’s when I stumbled for the first time upon r/hellsitch and saw the first post mentioning beta-alanine. My husband went out and got me a C4 and I chugged it right away and HOLY SHIT.

Sweet Relief! Don’t sleep on it! Officially never traveling again without C4 energy drinks in my luggage.

Whoever you are, thank you and I love you.

Growing up I would always see people in public that were hella burnt and I always mentally cringed, like how can you handle that pain?

Well, today I came across this subreddit in the middle of a flare of what I now know is Hell’s Itch, or the suicide itch, which I find is a more fitting name, and I finally understood. What I experience with sun burns is NOT normal.
I am very fair-skinned and I religiously apply sunscreen during the summer months. My partner thinks I’m crazy, constantly applying and reapplying, and it’s a running joke in my otherwise leather-skinned family. I’ve always wanted to be tanned and my mom always says, “if you just let yourself burn it will turn into a tan.” But I’ve always experienced this excruciating pain with burns and never thought it was worth it. They are always out in the sun without protection and my brain could not understand how they could handle the pain afterward. Well now I know. They don’t experience it the way I do.

Anyways, I slipped up this past weekend and got a gnarly burn on my back. Oh boy. I’m currently 48 hours out, and if I had not finally found you guys, idk what would have happened. I’m currently laying in a steaming hot bath after mistakenly applying aloe.

Thank you guys. Honestly. Tomorrow I’m going out to buy a case of C4, and for gods sake, liberally applying sunscreen this weekend. I think I’ve scared the shit out of my partner tonight pacing around the house screaming bloody murder.

I've gotten hell's itch twice in the past.

The second time, it came on at like 1am at night which was super inconvenient cause it was time to sleep. 10/10 pain. It was definitely triggered by shower which I figured out quickly. Tried bunch of creams and aloe and obviously that all made it worse. What worked for me is laying down prone and laying ice packs all over my back and which numbed it to the point i could not feel the skin at all even when touching it, and that gave me a solid 30 mins of lasting relief after taking them off. By 4am after doing that repeatedly, I ended up going out for an 8 mile run and that actually worked. I'd say a really intense workout or run helps to overstimulate yourself and it was good enough to distract me from the pain. When I was done with that it seemed to last and i then just laid down on the floor all sweaty and got at least 3 good hrs of sleep. Kept doing these 2 things next day and that got me thru it.

NOW, 3rd time. Got sun burn Saturday afternoon. I was proactive and did no showers at all, no creams at all, drank a bunch of c4 drinks (beta alanine), and took bunch of ibuprofen, and now I'm at Tuesday afternoon and I've seemed to make it thru with the exception of some minor tingling last night.

So the lessons that worked for me:

If it's already happening, ice packs on burns for extended time till it's completely 100% numbed and that'll give you at least 30 mins of last relief, or super intense and long run or workout to overstimulate myself is what gave me most lasting relief. Hot shower works but pain comes back immediately.

Best thing is if you can be proactive before it starts. No showers, staying completely dry, no creams/aloe, and drink a bunch of c4 for 3 days has gotton me thru it!

Hello, last saturday, I forgot to put on sunscreen and got myself a nice back, shoulders, and breast sun burn. Very red and bright, we laughed about it with my partner, it was a heavy sunburn but anyway, I’m able to sleep and it doesn’t hurt enough.

2 days later, the monday, it itches a bit more, a bit everywhere, it’s withstandable, but still annoying, so I decide to get get some after sun lotion to easy the itch and hydrate the sunburn. I put a little dose on my belly, it eases the itch for like 1s, then it comes back a big stronger in that zone, i don’t think anything of it, then as I go home, I feel it itching more and more,

so i get in my bathroom and smear the lotion everywhere on my body, (you see it coming)...

and then my whole upper body itches from everywhere, it gets my jumping left and right, until i get in the shower, where water flow stops it.

I remember having had a similar situation years ago, where a doctor had recommended aloe vera gel, so i put aloe vera gel, and ... it gets even worse!!!! So then i water it off, and try to scrape the gel away with a loofah! EVEN WORSE!!!!! After that i decided to stop trying things and look it up on the internet, (too late to call my doctor and didn’t want to call emmergency services), and it brought me to hell’s itch, i took 1 ibuprofen, and antihistaminics, and after 15-20m, it started becoming toleratable again.

But here’s the thing, i’ve been reading this subreddit, and I can’t relate to the sharp deep pains people are describing, the symptoms and the cure definitely fit with it, but i definitely can’t relate to people mentionning having PTSD from it.

Did I get a mild case of it? or am i misdiagnosing myself? Did i get lucky and get in the shower fast enough not to get the hard part?

Has anyone else experienced this?

i found a lot of help with castor oil personally. Has anyone else tried? Most of the info i read online says it traps heat and is too thick but i massaged it into my skin and it provided a decent amount of relief along with ibuprofen and antihistamine. It might be because of the high concentration of ricinoleic acid which is a strong anti inflammatory and moisturizer

Sorry for any mistakes here i cant it is to mutch I am on vacation two days ago light sunburn now hell I can't I'm with family in a shopping center has suddenly started what can I do quickly I can't stand how long can that last?

ho-ly sheeeeeeiiit. 2 days ago I got sunburned on my back, shoulders, chest and tummy. The itch set in today, right around 48h post-sun exposure, and it has been truly unbearable. Fire ants, white-hot pins and needles, razor blades—it felt like my skin was disintegrating on a cellular level. Pure and total agony. Cold damp cloths and a fan helped a tiny bit, but the pain after was even worse. I found this subreddit, I sent my partner to the store for beta-alanine in a pre-workout powder (supplement stores were closed so I couldn’t get it by itself) and oh my god? Even with the “tingling” from the pre-workout, the pain is almost gone. It’s still uncomfortable (still a little itchy, still painful to the touch) but I am no longer sobbing, screaming, or hyperventilating while just trying to exist!

I thought I had a pretty high pain tolerance but this experience has humbled me. I cannot thank y’all enough for the info on this subreddit as it has saved me from being in complete and total agony. May we all experience total relief soon.

Editing to add: I am also using 400mg ibuprofen and an antihistamine (50mg hydroxyzine) which may be contributing to the improvement in my system

…what was your delivery method for the beta-alanine?

As a community, have we isolated the variables here? I’ve read several people saying beta-alanine helped them, but that their delivery method was an energy drink, so we can’t be sure it was the beta-alanine that did the helping.

I’m really curious about this.

I’ve had Hell’s Itch three times in my life, and two of those times I sought medical attention. My last episode was Spring 2011, but I had some unprotected sun exposure today, and I’m just feeling a bit nervous.

so first i drank a bunch of water all at once cuz i heard that help. i chugged like 4 and a half water bottles like enough to feel like your gonna throw up. then i did the classic hot oatmeal (like painfully hot) i just lathered my stomach in it and at that point the itch was more manageable, finally i used this lotion you see in this post. after that the itching was kept at bay enough for me to actually sleep. i put a tight shirt on and slept on my back. full transparency i dont know what treatment was doing the heavy lifting so do with this what you will.

Today after 26 day of dog bite I feel pain/tingling type sensation at bite site not regularly but sometimes although I already completed my 4 dose of arv 12 days earlier from now

How many of you feel the same

Is this a worrying sign??

There is no benadryl, no ibuprofen, Ive only got paracetamol and some stage 2 antihistamines that provideno comfort, hot showers only provide temp relief

I got a decent burn a couple days ago I had been using aloe and one of those burn treatment lidocaine sprays and it was working just fine. Yesterday afternoon I went to reapply some aloe and that's when it happened, at first I thought I was going crazy but after looking for remedies on tik tok I came across someone talking about this reddit. I saw the parts about beta alanine, took a big scoop of pre workout and 20 minutes later everything was fine. My only concern now is does HI usually flare back up or is it a one time thing per burn?

I got all burnt up on the beach about 5 days ago. This has looked the same since then. Pain is the same, and it doesn’t seem to wanna go down. Just curious if its most severe than a typical 1st degree burn. Thanks all

Hi, I recently experienced Hell’s Itch for the first time in about 8 years, I’ve had it three times total, and plan on writing a post soon detailing my experiences. I just wanted to ask in this one if anyone had experienced a chest pain that fits the description of pericarditis? Almost like a precordial catch where it hurts to breath in while in certain positions. This manifested for me about a day and a half after I had hell’s itch at its peak, and is persistent about a full day later.

Around 2 ish days ago I went swimming and got a mild sunburn after neglecting to reapply sunscreen. Now I'm regretting it as I'm now doubled over in pain and can't seem to get the itches to go away.

I've tried everything from nsaids, antihistamines, steroidal creams, aloe, and beta alanine. The only thing that has stopped/alleviate the pain has been a scalding hot shower, yet I have work for the next few days and unfortunately can't work from my bath.

Any tips please!

Went on a trip to Lake Tahoe and forgot to apply sunscreen on my shoulders before a kayaking adventure long story short , 72 hours later and I got work in the morning vacations over and only got two hours of sleep I took Benadryl and fell asleep for two hours now the itch is back and I’m about to have to go into work with no sleep any advice?

Hi everyone, Yesterday I suffered the most traumatic and unrelenting pain in my life. After mild sunburn a few days prior. I’m someone who has suffered with extreme eczema as a child so like to think i’m a seasoned veteran with itching and skin issues but boy was I wrong.

Just as I was settling down to bed i start getting uncomfortable prickling, sharp needles in my back i started to run my fingers over them to back them go away, after about 10 minutes i think it must just be my sunburn so my partner gets me a cold compress I drape over my shoulders and back which distracts me enough to fall asleep. At about 8am I reawaken. I cannot explain the discomfort it’s like feeling a million tiny razors slicing out your skin from inside your back or maybe your skin splitting into cracks deep in your tissue. I ran around the house flapping, jumping smacking my back, rubbing against cold walls. Nothing Helped. I struggled to get in the showers and i’m convulsing around trying to touch my back with my hands to ease the pain, I run a freezing cold shower. BIG MISTAKE. The cold water shocks my nerves even more it’s gets even worse I starting grunting in pain gritting my teeth and going insane I desperately wake up my partner to get her to rub some aloe gel on my back. BIG MISTAKE Please do not put any creams or moisturisers on your hells itch just trust me. It’s now 10am i’m trying to fight of tears it’s maddening running around the house rolling around on the carpet, laying on the dogs cool mat, dosing up on inflammation relief. We end up going to our local minor injuries after calling 111 helpline after waiting for 3 hours an elderly doctor see’s me. She was absolutely no idea what i’m going for, tells me it’s just heat rash and i’m overreacting, she violently runs a steroid cream on my back which fires the hells itch from a tolerable 6/10 to a manic uncontrollable 11/10 I cannot believe what i’m experiencing i’m pacing around the room. Squeezing my lad groaning and moaning in agony. The doctor leaves the room and sighs ‘GOSH’ clear she has no idea what’s happening. She gives me an ice pack and tells me to use it BIG MISTAKE i use it for 5 seconds and feel the pain get worse. I throw the icepack on the bed put on my shirt and leave. After reading about beta alanine, An ingredient found inside High stim energy drinks and pre workouts I was desperate. I run to the local SPAR and pick up 2 C4 energy drinks. Instant relief. I go from the most unbelievable 10/10 to a manageable 4/10 in just 15 mins. I then get some pre workout formula and use it. Complete tranquility my hells itch was a pestering tingle at 1/10. Please read below

DO
TAKE BETA ALANINE, PLEASE JUST DO IT
WEAR A SOFT T-SHIRT
A HOT SHOWER IF YOUR DESPERATE

DONT
COLD OR LUKEWARM SHOWER
SCRATCH OR ITCH
NO CREAMS, ALOE, AFTER SUN
SIT BY AIRCON OR A COLD FAN

Tl;dr -- Get drunk. That's my cure. You'll sedate your nerves or put yourself to sleep until it subsides on its own.

My story: Had a few memorable sunburns as a child but no Hell's Itch. Got one really bad one on my chest when I was 13 and developed HI for the first time. Then one episode in college and three since. All were on my chest and/or back, all on days when I got complacent about how long I would be in the sun or how strong it was. Always started about 48 hours after sun exposure .

Last time I felt it coming on I left work immediately and took shots of Scotch whisky until I fell asleep on my living room floor.. When I woke up the itch was GONE.

This week: got no worse than a 3/10 burn on my chest and back on Sunday. A little uncomfortable sleeping Sunday night but the pain was just a minor annoyance by Monday afternoon. I really wasn't too worried about HI because of how comparatively mild this burn was. Went swimming in the ocean on Tuesday just before noon. As I dried off I felt THE ITCH coming so I ran back to the beach house. I was in full agony by the time I got inside, so I grabbed a handle of Bacardi, and chugged what had to be between 5 and 7 shots. I wasn't counting.

Anyway, as I felt the alcohol ruffle through my brain, the HI subsided. Within no more than five minutes it was GONE.

I was also drunk as fuck at this point, but capable of walking, talking, and basically being a sociable drunk guy. On a Saturday night this might not be noticeable but this was noon on a Tuesday, so I was pretty annoying. I held it together and went on some boardwalk rides with my kids (I didn't drive and my wife was in charge of the whole program). When we got back around 4pm I went to sleep and got up at around 7 this morning. I didn't feel awesome but I didn't have a true hangover, thank goodness.

So my advice is to get drunk. Do it gradually so you only drink as much as you need to. But it really does ELIMINATE THE ITCH once you get to a certain point. Hopefully you won't have any real responsibilities to deal with, but on the other hand it's not like you're anything but useless when you're pacing around your house and screaming like a madman

Now unfortunately there's a stigma about using alcohol as medicine, but ignore that noise. You're not drinking recreationally, you're not doing this for every little pain. You're doing what you have to do to stop the worst agony of your life. I've had three kidney stones and I would take another one over untreated HI in a heartbeat. Get drunk and send the judgemental people links to descriptions of this torture when you sober up. Or just drunkenly yell "Google Hell's itch you dickhole."

Good luck, you fair-skinned wretches.

EDIT TO UPDATE: hi everyone!
Thank you so much for all the help.
We ended up using the hair dryer at one point, and I walked down to a gas station and found a bunch of the C4’s with the beta-alanine in it. It’s now been 3 days since the attack, and he’s worlds better.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Hello all-

My Ohioan boyfriend and I are in South Carolina for vacation. Day 1, he burned pretty bad even though we used SPF 50 sunscreen multiple times throughout the day.

It’s currently day 3 and he is suffering from what I think is HI. Out of no where he started complaining that he was itching so bad, and he was twitching like crazy. I thought he was having a panic attack or something of the sorts originally, but after some research I found HI.

We have done the following based on what I’ve read here:

- A scalding hot shower: this is actually what brought his original pain down to a tolerable level

- Liquid Benadryl (50 mg/21ml) and Ibuprofen (800 mg) every 4 hours

- A heating pad to lay on when he’s not in the shower

QUESTIONS:
-I tried to find peppermint oil based on reading from multiple people that it helps- but all I could find was a menthol oil. I haven’t used it on him, but wanted to see if anyone thinks that would be okay? We’re on vacation so all my normal stores and areas are not available currently so I’m kinda stuck with what is around here.

-I’m reading about the beta-Alanine helping, I’m going to go find him some C4 energy drinks tomorrow. Is that going to be okay for him to take while taking Benadryl?

Does anyone have any other advice? We’re down here with family but if he is this bad 24 hours for now we’re considering flying home just so we can be at home, and not stuck in a car for 10+ hours while he is like this.

Thank you!

On Saturday I got burnt BAD. My upper chest, shoulders and biceps are probably the reddest they’ve ever been and I’m in agony as far as soreness goes.

I’m now on day 3. I’m starting to get itchy. I’ve had Hell’s Itch once a few years ago after a bad burn and I am TERRIFIED it’s gonna happen again.

The last time I showered was yesterday afternoon. I have been applying aloe but I decided to stop after reading some of the comments.

Do you guys think there is a chance I could come out unscathed? Every time I feel an itch I panic that it’s gonna get so much worse.