Itchy Legs

About three weeks ago, (one of the first days all my kids went back to school after Christmas break), I decided that I was going back to the gym.  I hadn't been in a couple of months, and I hate paying for the membership that I'm not using.  In addition, I hate the extra pounds that I'm packing around even more than the membership fee.  I needed to get back in shape, and what better time to start than the new year, right?

So I dropped Jarem off at preschool and headed to the gym.  I felt so good about making it to the gym finally.  I went right to the theatre room at the Clarksville Athletic Club, and I started walking on the treadmill to get warmed up.  I was wearing long workout pants with shorts underneath since it was cold outside, but I figured I'd be too warm in no time.  I hadn't been walking long (maybe 1-2 minutes at most) when my legs started itching.  Now, this isn't the first time this has happened, I have experienced "itchy legs" before when I haven't worked out in awhile.  So, I thought if I just dealt with it for a few minutes, I could push through this. 

As I sped up my walk and started into a slow jog, the itching became more and more intense!  By the time I had been on the treadmill for only a piddly 7 minutes, the itching was so extremely intense it was DRIVING ME CRAZY!  Finally, I knew that I had reached my limit and I COULD NOT TAKE IT ONE MORE SECOND.  So, I got off the treadmill and practically RAN to the dressing room to find a place to privately dig my nails into the fronts of my thighs.  It was AWFUL!  After I found the dressing room and got my scratching done, I waited a few minutes and felt better.  I wondered if it may be caused from my new workout pants.  They were a different fabric than I was used to, and I couldn't remember if I had washed them before wearing them (after all, I had purchased them a few months before).  So, I stripped off my pants and thought, "I'll just wear my shorts".  I was not giving up that easily.  I HAD to get a good workout, I was already at the gym and that's half the battle.

I headed back to the theatre room to give it a second go.  It wasn't three minutes of walking on the treadmill this time when the itching was already just as intense as it was before.  Once again, I raced to the dressing room to scratch myself to death.  I finally conceded after round 2 that exercising was just not going to work for me today, so I got my coat and keys and headed out to the car after only exercising for 10 minutes total.  On the way to the car, I thought I just as well jog to the car to get some kind of exercise (maybe it was the treadmill).  It wasn't a 20 second jog to the car and I was already itching again.  I was SO mad!  Here I had dragged myself to the gym and been so good about starting my new year's resolution only to be stopped by crazy itching legs.  While I had experienced itchy legs before when not exercising in awhile, it has NEVER been even close to this intense.  In fact, I don't ever remembered feeling itching of that intensity in my entire life.  Am I really crazy or what?

When I got home, I did a little research online to see about possible causes.  It made me feel better that many people have had similar experiences, although I pity them. It truly is miserable! I learned that "itchy legs" made the top ten list for most embarrassing things that happen while exercising.

Here's the possible causes that I came up with from my research:

• It could be the salt in your sweat is making your legs itch
•  Some synthetics can trigger a reaction, and sometimes your legs get itchy in response to residual pesticides and dyes in the fabric used to make your pants. If you notice that your legs get itchy when you wear new pants, wash them and try exercising again.
• Vibration can cause itchiness like vibrations from a treadmill
• Some people say itching only happens when exercising in cold weather or some say hot weather
• Caused by inactivity because capillaries in your legs contract when not in use and expand again when used. Because they lost the elasticity, the nerve endings around the capillaries will transmit the sudden expansion of these capillaries to your brain and your brain perceives this as an itch.

In fact, experts say, "Having itchy, irritated legs during exercise is fairly common. The good news is that the sensation is temporary (if caused by inactivity).  If you stick with your exercise routine, the blood flow will force the capillaries to open and, with consistent expansion, the irritation will subside."



As could be expected, this "itchy legs episode" has put quite a damper on my new year's resolution.  While this experience definitely discouraged me from getting out and exercising again (I haven't been to the gym since); I have ventured outdoors to exercise a couple of times since then, and I only got the "itchies" one other time but only when sprinting.  I walked and jogged without an issue.  I figure it must have been the new pants with the vibrations of the treadmill and the inactivity all coupled together.  Who knows, maybe the sweat played a role too.  I'm going to try exercising outdoors for awhile and when I get the courage to try the treadmill again, I may try Benadryl. :)