Twenty years in, ice packs beat everything I tried
Jen's dermatographia sits on her back and backside. Medication and diet changes never touched it — ice packs and distraction did, mostly by stopping the scratching.
Jen ·
- Living with it
- More than 10 years
- Main trigger
- Pressure, worst on her back
- What helped
- Ice packs and distraction — medication and diet changes never helped her
I've been aware of my dermatographia for 20 years. Mine is always on my back and my backside, for whatever reason.
When it's bad, my boyfriend lays ice packs on it and we watch a movie while I wait for it to subside. The ice packs feel good, and just as importantly they stop me scratching or touching it more — which is the thing that always makes it spiral.
I want to be honest about the rest: no medication and no dietary change has ever made any real difference to my symptoms. I've tried. I know that's not what people want to hear when they're looking for the answer.
But cold, distraction, and hands off has worked for me for two decades. Sometimes managing it well is the win, not curing it.