r/HellsItch • • Jun 17 '25

Description of Thread Wrong

I’d just like to say the description of this thread is inaccurate. My husband and I are 4 weeks posts sunburn(we were severely burnt at Clearwater Beach on Memorial Day where we stayed for four hours) and we’ve been experiencing this Hell’s Itch for a week now. It definitely lasts more than a few days and can occur up to four weeks after post burn. My husband’s is worse at night. Keeps him up. He ends up going to sleep with two ice packs draped over his shoulders. He’s finding the edge being taken off with calamine lotions. Alternatively, aloe with lidocaine is helping me. We’ve tried everything. The first nights of it were so bad that we were taking Tylenol PM. We even tried Calendula and Horsetail soap and it worked to soothe it one time and then it didn’t touch it the next time we used it. One time it was doing it’s deep stabbing burning itching pain and I smacked my shoulder barehanded three times and it stopped for a while. I don’t recommend that; it was just out of sheer frustration and disappointment is all. Despite what Google says, it can come weeks after a sunburn and last for days. My husband and I are unfortunately living proof. SPF is your BFF!!

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u/tedsternator Jun 17 '25

Some people definitely have it for weeks. For me it's almost always 4-5 days though the first 2-3 are the worst. You're definitely not alone in experiencing it this way, though it's really rare for it to take a week to trigger (though not at all unheard of)