Ater reading another fun blog I follow I was so pleased to hear that I am not alone in this world! For as long as I can remember, my legs have always itched severely whenever I would run, jog, or even walk briskly! I finally quit announcing it to people at some point in life when they always looked at me weirdly! Since I’m a yo-yo exerciser, every time I’ve always started an exercise regiment, I would just expect that the itchy leg issue to be horrible at first and then taper off as I got back into the swing of things.
Here’s the diagnosis:
Symptoms: When you start running, you feel an itchy sensation that is sometimes so bad, you have to stop running. It most often occurs if you run after a long period of inactivity. If the itching is accompanied by a rash, it might be a different condition, such as exercise-induced anaphylaxis (see Embarrassing Running Problem #6).
Causes: The most common cause of itchy legs is actually because of what’s happening inside the skin, not on it. When we exercise, the millions of tiny capillaries and arteries inside our muscles expand rapidly because of the demand for more blood. If we’re fit, these capillaries remain open allowing maximum blood passage, but, when unfit and inactive, they tend to collapse, allowing only minimal blood passage (which, by the way, is fine for a sedentary person). The expansion of the capillaries causes adjacent nerves to send impulses to the brain, which then reads the sensation as an itch.
Prevention: The problem should go away once you have increased your fitness level.
So, there you have! It’s official; I’ve joined the “unfit” inactive people of America! The way I see it, I have two options if I never want to have itchy legs again: 1. Keep up with the exercise routine the REST OF MY LIFE! or 2. Give up altogether. HUM?!?! Which one should I choose?
Here’s the diagnosis:
Symptoms: When you start running, you feel an itchy sensation that is sometimes so bad, you have to stop running. It most often occurs if you run after a long period of inactivity. If the itching is accompanied by a rash, it might be a different condition, such as exercise-induced anaphylaxis (see Embarrassing Running Problem #6).
Causes: The most common cause of itchy legs is actually because of what’s happening inside the skin, not on it. When we exercise, the millions of tiny capillaries and arteries inside our muscles expand rapidly because of the demand for more blood. If we’re fit, these capillaries remain open allowing maximum blood passage, but, when unfit and inactive, they tend to collapse, allowing only minimal blood passage (which, by the way, is fine for a sedentary person). The expansion of the capillaries causes adjacent nerves to send impulses to the brain, which then reads the sensation as an itch.
Prevention: The problem should go away once you have increased your fitness level.
So, there you have! It’s official; I’ve joined the “unfit” inactive people of America! The way I see it, I have two options if I never want to have itchy legs again: 1. Keep up with the exercise routine the REST OF MY LIFE! or 2. Give up altogether. HUM?!?! Which one should I choose?
Keep up with it!
ReplyDeleteWhich one should you should?!?! That's not the question. The question is...how long do you wanna live?!?! Can't wait for you to join me in a race :)
ReplyDelete