Chronic PainHelp! Why Is My Skin Sensitive To Touch?

Help! Why Is My Skin Sensitive To Touch?

skin sensitive to touch shingles vs chickenpox
skin sensitive to touch shingles vs chickenpox

Is your skin sensitive or does it hurt to touch all of a sudden? Let’s explore possible causes and treatments for sensitive skin.

Skin Sensitive To Touch Overview

Since your skin is the largest organ in your body, chronic pain in that region can become a huge nuisance. Many different conditions may contribute to sensitive skin. However, it can be hard to figure out just why your skin feels sensitive or even painful. Here’s a look at some conditions that can make your skin sensitive to touch all of a sudden, so you can find the treatment option right for you.

One Cause of Sensitive Skin Could be Shingles

Firstly, shingles, an infection from the chickenpox virus (varicella-zoster virus), causes a very painful, blistery rash. After you’ve contracted chickenpox, the virus remains inactive in your body. Later in life, the inactive virus may reactivate, turning into shingles (herpes zoster).

If you are over 40 years of age and have been exposed to the chickenpox virus, you are at risk for developing shingles. Increased risk factors include being older than 50 years of age and having a weakened immune system.

The shingles rash may be located anywhere on your body, but most commonly wraps around your torso. In addition, symptoms normally only affect one side of your body, often in a band across your skin. In some cases, you may experience postherpetic neuralgia, one of the most common complications of shingles. This may cause burning pain in your skin long after the shingles rash has disappeared.

Common shingles symptoms include:

  • Sensitivity to touch
  • Pain, burning, numbness or tingling
  • A red rash that starts a few days after the pain begins
  • Itching
  • Blisters that fill with fluid, open up and then crust over

Other shingles symptoms include:

Shingles symptoms manifest in people differently and the pain may be very intense. While a painful rash is common, some people never develop it.

skin sensitive to touch shingles vs chickenpox

If you suspect you have shingles, contact your doctor right away. It’s especially important to seek medical help if you:

  • have a rash around your eye or a widespread rash
  • are over 60 years old
  • have a weakened immune system

Common treatments for skin pain due to shingles include:

  • antiviral medications (acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir)
  • pain-relieving medications ( OTC acetaminophen)
  • home remedies (wet compresses, calamine lotion, and colloidal oatmeal baths)

Fibromyalgia Can Make Your Skin Sensitive to Touch

Sensitivity to touch due to tactile allodyniathermal allodynia or mechanical allodynia is a common symptom of fibromyalgia. When you have allodynia, your body sends pain signals from non-painful stimuli. In fact, even lightly touching your skin can feel unbearably painful.

Another common symptom is a tingling sensation. That tingling feeling might be in one specific area or widespread over your body. As with any chronic health condition, certain things may trigger your fibromyalgia symptoms to worsen, causing increased skin sensitivity.

Treatments for Fibromyalgia Pain
Treatments for Fibromyalgia Pain

Other fibromyalgia symptoms include:

Typically, fibromyalgia occurs with other types of health conditions, such as migraine headaches, autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome, and irritable bowel syndrome. Often, fibromyalgia symptoms improve once other health conditions are addressed.

Common treatments for skin pain due to fibromyalgia include:

  • lidocaine and pregabalin
  • NSAIDs
  • electrical stimulation and hypnotherapy

Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system mistakenly attacks your body. These conditions are systemic, affecting the entire body. Often, autoimmune diseases that don’t directly affect the skin may cause skin sensitivity or redness. These autoimmune diseases include:

However, some types of autoimmune diseases directly affect the skin. For example, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are examples of autoimmune diseases that directly affect the skin. These conditions cause a build-up of skin cells that may appear scaly and red. Approximately 30% of those living with psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory form of arthritis.

Common psoriatic arthritis symptoms include:

  • Fatigue
  • Pain, tenderness and/or swelling in tendons
  • Swollen fingers and toes
  • Stiffness, pain, throbbing, swelling and tenderness in one or more joints
  • Reduced range of motion
  • Morning stiffness and tiredness
  • Nail changes
  • Redness and pain of the eye, such as conjunctivitis

skin sensitive to touch with rash

See your doctor regularly and talk about your skin symptoms. Your autoimmune disease treatment plan may need to be modified if skin pain is an issue.

Common treatments for skin pain due to autoimmune diseases include:

  • NSAIDs
  • Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
  • Immunosuppressants
  • Steroid injections
  • Biologics
  • Topical treatments (topical corticosteroids, vitamin D analogues, anthralin, topical retinoids, calcineurin inhibitors, salicylic acid, coal tar, moisturizers)
  • Light therapy

Skin Sensitive to Touch, Dermatitis?

Dermatitis is a general term covering different types of skin inflammation. Typically, dermatitis causes an itchy rash and swollen or red skin. For instance, eczema, dandruff, and allergic reaction rashes are all forms of dermatitis.

If you come into contact with something you are allergic to, you may have an allergic reaction. Hives, a common skin condition from an allergic reaction, can cause an itchy and painful rash. Anytime you have or suspect an allergic reaction, it’s important to see your doctor or go to an urgent care clinic immediately.

Common treatments for skin pain due to dermatitis include:

Having skin sensitive to touch may be a sign of an underlying condition, such as some of the ones mentioned here. However, there are many conditions that may cause sensitive skin. It’s important to talk with your doctor about your skin sensitivities and other symptoms, so you can get on the right treatment plan.

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60 COMMENTS
  1. I had a muscle cramp on by left side. from calf up to top of thigh, 2 days later my skin feels as if it has sunburn, when touhed. can’t tolerate touching or clothing on my skin.

    • That is very similar to what happened to me, I had an awful cramp in my neck that come on out of nowhere and I couldn’t move it, it stayed for about 2 days. Then it went and I started with sore skin on my shoulder, no rash, just painful when wearing clothes and when I touch it, exactly like sunburn, I’ve had it for about 5/6 days now and it doesn’t seem to be going

  2. I find it fascinating that the chickenpox virus moves to the dorsal root ganglion where it remains latent indefinitely. I have never read that fact before yet wonder how scientists know this?

  3. My skin is sensitive to touch and hurts. More like a tingle pain . Even just rubbing lightly gives this sensation. It’s like this on both sides of my back and not anywhere else. Has anyone else had this ?

    • My husband has that now. But it’s not on his back. It’s right above his rib cage in front. Just under his breast area. What do you do for that? Has anyone said it may be shingles? Nerve damage? Can’t figure it out. Doctor can’t either.

      • I have the same problem, my doctor sent me for trigger point injections but I really don’t want those I want to know what the cause of the pain.

        Tammie

      • I have it in the same place. It’s on the right side on my rib cage under my breast. It’s painful. It kind of feels like a burning sensation. When I was young, I would get this on my arm. It went away for many many years. This is the first time it has appeared on my rib cage.

      • Hey darlin
        So sorry you’re experiencing such life altering pain. Chronic pain, whether it is over a few days or over months or years, can have a traumatic impact on the brain. I’m just throwing that out there, not saying this is something that is currently affecting you, just something to keep an eye out for. As for why the pain has come back post-covid and far exceeds where it was when that symptom initially showed up, it is entirely possible that something like Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) has set it… especially if the pain is concentrated in one area of your body. Another possibility is that you are genetically predisposed to something like fibromyalgia or another autoimmune disease. Strangely, autoimmune diseases like to pop up after a person (who is predisposed) suffers trauma (physically or mentally), like experiencing an illness unlike a typical bug or virus or going through an extremely jarring event. Each autoimmune disease has a different reason bethand why on how they cause such pain, but if I remember correctly, CRPS and fibromyalgia have basically identical root causes: the brain is (for lack of a better word) overreacting to pain signals sent by nerves.Mind you, this is all “in theory” by the medical community and science as they cannot yet say for certain what the cause is. Both CRPS and fibromyalgia are pretty new-ish to the medical field and by that I mean, there have been people for centuries (probably longer) who had many symptoms of such diseases but were diagnosed to have had something else. Sadly, it can still be very difficult to get a diagnosis, as the best way to test for them is by process of elimination with a dozen or so other illnesses in the same type of pain category. Hopefully they will have better ways to test for these kinds of things, as well as more efficient treatments.
        Personally, I have found meditation to be extremely helpful in combating the pain and refocusing on the present moment. Does it always work? No. But it helps often enough to make a positive difference, which is worth the effort of meditating. Some people (including doctors) may suggest massage therapy… obviously not a good option when mere touch or pressure makes you wince in pain. There is an OTC product that I have recently been lucky enough to try, and it has been quite the resource for taking away that edge (like bringing a 10 down to an 8 or 7…May not sound like much but it stops the pain from taking your breath away. The product is called “cbdMD 1500mg”, though they also have a plethora of cbd products available on cbdmarket.com everything from 150mg (and keep in mind, the milligrams of CBD is per bottle, NOT per dose – unless the product states otherwise) and in forms of gummies, oils, gels, patches,.etc. Most if not all of the products they sell on there are backed by a 30 day money back guarantee, so if it doesn’t work well enough for you, you can always return it. I have fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis and have been in pain every day for the past decade. CBD is one of the few products out there that actually touches my pain at a level that gives me some semblance of a better quality of life. I highly recommend looking into it.
        I am sorry for such a lengthy response, I was trying to make sure I answered your question best as possible from the standpoint of someone who understands the impact (chronic) pain can have on one’s life. I hope the Universe helps you find the right doctor(s) to figure out what’s going on and are able to stop the pain from high jacking your life. ✨️

        Best of Lyck & Best of Wishes!

  4. Hi since I had a spinal cord infarction which is a stroke in my spinal cord I was paralyzed temporarily thank God. A week after getting feeling back, my skin has been very sensitive to the touch even getting in the shower, just having the water touch my body , even when I spray a perfume or any kind of mist that touches me is painful, I also feel frozen and on fire at the same time.. I cannot wear tight clothes. My most sensitive areas are my lower back, my legs my right side my right arm , I have this pain 24/7 and nothing takes the pain away at all. I don’t remember what it feels like to not have pain

  5. For a good 3 weeks now, I have been suffering with very sore skin at the top of my left leg,I cannot wear trousers/ jeans. The slightest I can just about cope with wearing a thin, lightweight skirt. It stings at times and if it’s not sore it’s stinging, like an open sore.

    • This does sound like it could be the allodynia that is common with fibro. HOWEVER, it was your mentioning of your upper leg that caught my attention. I have fibro and have suffered from allodynia for almost 20 years. But about 6 months ago, I started having a new pain – almost like a burning & numbness/tingling on the top of my right thigh. After talking to my rheumatologist & having a neurologist perform some tests, I was diagnosed with something called “meralgia paresthetica”, which is caused by compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve – the nerve responsible for providing sensation to your upper thigh.
      In most cases, relief can be found with simple life changes, such as weight loss, wearing looser fitting clothing, and/or changing your normal sitting/sleeping position.
      However, it can also be a sign of something more serious, such as diabetes or, in rare cases, a tumor. So if you think you may have this, talk to your doctor. Hope this helps someone!

      • I am experiencing the same symptoms and from reading everyone’s comments there seems to be a correlation with Covid and that makes me think side effects of the Covid vaccine.

  6. I’m experiencing the same symptoms. Started just under right shoulder blade and a few days later the underside of my right bicep. At first I thought it was a pulled muscle but now it feels more like it’s on the skin and feels like a sunburn when my clothes rub the area.

    • Hi, I’ve been experiencing something similar. It started on my right side where my love handle is. It was like my fat actually hurt. Once I sat down into my car and it almost felt like there was a bubble or something in there that popped and hurt extremely bad as if I was stabbed. The pain continued for a while and then it stopped and reappeared on my lower right shoulder blade. It isn’t as painful but it feels like it is raw or really dry and a bra or shirt is very irritating. Initially my research turned me to Dercums Disease, but I haven’t been to the Dr to confirm it.

      • Do you know what it is yet? This just started with me. Mine is on right lower side an inch below and to the right of my belly button and goes into my back. I can’t explain it because it’s not really pain, just the fat/skin that is so annoyed to just the slightest touch or brush of clothing (almost like a bad sunburn or raw skin but non discoloration or rash). Going on 5 days now. I thought maybe it happened while I was taking detox pill for 3 days so I stopped taking them. Waiting for my doctor to diagnose.

  7. This just happened to me 3 days ago! On my back, shoulders and part of my forearm bicep..this really hyper sensitivity to my skin. If I don’t out a shirt on, it’s just fine. The moment anything lightly brushed across my skin it feels quite uncomfortable like a cross between pins and needles, workout muscle soreness and almost painful but just shy of actual pain. Never in my life had any skin issues, rashes, sensitivity whatsoever. I’m a 46 yr old male. Even my laundry is washed with hypoallergenic soap, we use lemon for cleaning agents around the home…so it’d not likely chemical based. So odd.

  8. For me it rarely happens, usually on my arms. Right now it is very sensitive on my bicep, but there are no symptoms of any kind, just the sensitivity in the one area.

    • Same. But it started on the back of my upper left calf little below knee sensitive. Later on inner right bicep felts same way. Small area just feels sunburn or raw/irritated. Doesn’t stay long, it comes it goes normally on my upper arms but once on my leg

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