Is it odd that I get incredibly itchy when I start doing any sort of exercise (not that I’ve been to a gym in ages)? Whenever I’m speed walking (unintentionally) and my heart rate goes up a bit, I find that my legs and waist start to itch like crazy. I then scratch myself like an unbathed dirty homesless bum, resulting in raised eyebrows and crinkled foreheads from the people around me.

I was googling this mysterious itchy issue and found this randomly online:

“Itchy skin usually occurs during exercise performed after a long period of inactivity. The itching is not on the skin, it’s inside the actual limbs. There are millions of tiny capillaries and arteries inside our muscles which expand rapidly due to the demand for more blood that is brought on by exercise. When fit, these capillaries remain open allowing maximum blood passage, but when unfit and inactive they tend to collapse, allowing only minimal blood passage (which is sufficient for a sedentary person however). The rapid expansion of these vessels causes adjacent nerves to send impulses back to the brain which are interpreted as an itch. That’s why after a few sessions the sensation tends to go away. Just another indication of increasing fitness levels.”

Alright then. It looks like I have my answer. My capillaries are practically closed and in hibernation mode, and the moment I do anything to up the blood flow in my body, they’re like “whoa whoa now, what’s goin onnn?” So then, the poor little capillilaries must open themselves to enable sufficient blood flow, and for some reason, my brain think my body is itchy. How nice.

I wonder how much exercise (and how long) it’ll take for my capillaries to snap out of it and stay open, so I won’t get so itchy when working out. Well, I guess the better question is when I’ll actually start doing any sort of heart pumping activity. If I’m going to be scratching myself like a wild baboon at the gym, I would just prefer not going. Maybe I’ll just run in place in my room until I get over the itch…then I can head to the gym for some real exercise. BOO to itchiness.