I drew a heart on my arm and it stood up like a stamp
Jodie found out by accident, mid-conversation. What followed was working out how much of her daily itching was hives and how much was pressure.
Jodie Thomas ·
- Living with it
- 3–5 years
- Main trigger
- Pressure from clothing and light scratching
- What helped
- Antihistamines and treating skin gently instead of scrubbing
I found out I had dermatographia almost by accident. I was showing a friend a mark on my arm, drew a heart on my skin with my finger while I was talking, and a couple of minutes later there it was — a raised heart, sitting on my forearm like a stamp. My friend thought it was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. I felt sick, because I'd been putting up with itching for months and had no idea it was connected.
Before that I'd blamed everything. New washing powder. A jumper I'd bought. Stress at work. Anything but my own skin overreacting to being touched.
What it actually looks like day to day: bra straps and waistbands leave raised lines. If I lean my arm on a desk edge I get a stripe. If I scratch an itch even slightly, the scratch itself becomes a bigger itch. Hot showers make everything angrier.
Since then the things that have helped most are boring ones. An antihistamine, taken consistently rather than only during a flare. Softer, looser clothing. Being much gentler in the shower — no scrubbing, no hot water. Keeping my nails short so I do less damage without thinking about it.
I'm sharing this because when it happened to me I searched for hours and mostly found frightening things. It's not dangerous, it's not contagious, and you're not making it up.