My 9 year old daughter recently broke her arm and her cast is getting itchy. Do any of you have suggestions on how to relieve her itch?
Thanks for all your helpful notes. It's most itchy for her on hot days and at night when she's not distracted. I've given her Benadryl and that seems to help with the itch enough for her to go to sleep. I will also ask her Dr. about a waterproof cast.
I broke my aren when I was 5 yr old and had the cast from wrist to shoulder and can remember the intense itch that came along with it. my mom would use a long crochet needle, which is not really a needle at all and put the handle side down the cast and find the itchy spot. It really worked, ask a grandma who crochets or go to Beverly's crafts to find the "needles" in all sizes.
good luck
N.,
Never ever stick anything in the cast to scrach. I broke my arm very badly 5 years ago (cast from finger tips to arm pit and used a metal hanger to scratch and ended up with a very bad case of impentigo (secondary staph infection and now have some very noticable scars on my arm) also ended up in the hospital on IV antibotics. If your daughter has more than two weeks left of having to wear a cast I would talk with the Ortopedist and see if she can have a waterproof cast, (they are great though they will cost you out of pocket I think my daughters cost $27 that wasn't covered by insurance they also stink alot more than the others, but if it starts to itch you just run water through it.) most times the itching is caused by sweat and dead skin). If she can't have the waterproof you could ask them to change the cast (be sure to wash the arm well before they put on the new one).
Good luck
Hi N. ~
Try adding a little babypowder (wherever you can sprinkle into the cast). Also, if you are careful, you can use a long chop stick to kind of scratch around that area that itches. It may be perspiration that is causing it. Good luck.
Do not put anything inside the cast. I was once shown slides of what it does to the skin under the cast & it was terrible.
I have never had a cast, but my son and husband have. DONT PUT ANYTHING IN THE CAST TO SCRATCH IT!! A friend of our did that and he cut himself. One thing you might want to try instead is Benadryl (pills not lotion). It also works for itchy sunburns, bug bites and chicken pox.
Good luck. :)
I had two broken arms as a child (though NOT at the same time!) - at the age of 5, I broke my wrist clean in half and had a cast up to my shoulder for 6 months! The situation was VERY ITCHY (LOL) - stick an unsharpened pencil, a drinking straw, anything with a blunt tip down or up into the cast, and she can scratch with that. However, it is important that whatever you guys choose to use as the "in cast scratching instrument" is BLUNT - if she scratches too hard, she can break the skin inside the cast and cause all sorts of skin infections and/or scarring.
Has she had her cast changed yet? Usually, with school aged children, the cast needs to be taken off and replaced at least once during the duration of wear as they can get VERY gross and stinky - if she has not yet had it changed and is at least halfway through the wear time of the cast, it might be time to contact the orthopedist and have it changed. She can get a good scratch in when they take the old one off and put the new one on. It may be itchy because its yucky in there!
It itches becuase of poor hygiene under the cast. You really need to get under there and condition, clean and deoderize the skin. Go to www.sanicast.com and get started. Sani Cast is specifically designed to clean under most casts. It really works! Leaving your limb and cast smelling fresh and clean.
Bend a metal hanger, stick it down the cast and scratch that itch!!
