Parents Best tips for scratching with a cast on

[2G1B]

DS is going crazy. His arm really itches and the banging the cast with a spoon trick seems to do nothing. He says it actually makes it itch more. I have given him a benedryl in hopes that it might help some (or make him go to sleep so he doesn't notice the itching ). I hesitate to put anything down in the cast because 1) the doctor said not to and 2) he has abrasions and cuts down in there and I don't want to introduce anything that could cause them to get infected. I thought I had a soccer ball pump to try to do little puffs of air; but the darn thing is broken. I tried the hair dryer on cold and he said it didn't help. I also tried an ice pack and he said it didn't make his arm get cold and all (and feeling the cast, it didn't feel cold).

Is there anything I'm missing?

This is going to be a LONG 3 weeks.

 

[gymgal]

Hairdryer worked well for my 2. Try the hot air if cool is not working. Blow the air across it, or inside it if it is really bad. One of mine used baby powder too but hat was really messy trying to get it in the right spot.

 

[marie83]

I'm getting itchy reading this!!
I have no wise words to offer, sorry, just wanted to give some sympathy - it must be miserable!!

 

[Midwestmommy]

Definitely don't put anything down the cast or scratch at the edges, that could cause a bad infection... Try an ice pack or two somewhere on arm (or leg) above the cast...

 

[Midwestmommy]

By above I don't mean on top of the cast, but somewhere on the arm/leg where there is no cast..,

 

[iwannacoach]

Take your pick.......

Take him to a metal band concert to dull every sensation imaginable........

Or self inflict somme pain on the opposite arm..... seriously.

Or acupunture..... quite seriously.

 

[twisting007bigflip]

My dd had a Salter Harris fracture in her elbow back in February. She was in a cast for 3 weeks and every day was an itchy hell for her.

Ice packs to cover the whole cast to make it really cool helped a ton.

The dr had me giving her regular benedryl. This helped. I don't know if it "really" helped, or if it was psychological, but either way...it helped.

Stretching. I had dd do some light stretching and concentrate on her breathing. Obviously, we took care not to involve her casted arm...

Laundry. I had her doing laundry. Washing, drying, folding, putting away. This was basically because she needed to be distracted from the itching and doing laundry was what I needed help with at the time. It worked. Plus, she was getting to exercise her fingers in the process, so....

Basically, anything to distract and take concentration away from the itching

 

[twisting007bigflip]

Oh, and by ice packs to cover the whole cast, I mean this:

I filled two regular sized plastic bags with a bunch of ice and tied them shut. I didn't use the ice from the fridge or a standard gel ice pack...i bought a large bag of ice from the gas station and split it between 2 bags (target bag, walmart bag, wherever)...propped the arm up on a pillow, placed one of the bags on the bottom of the cast and the other bag over the top. Left it on for a REALLY long time. She would watch a movie or read a book. It does get cold, it just takes awhile. She says once it gets cool inside the cast it feels good.

 

[Mom2Brats]

I have no advice (sorry) but I have to giggle a little (despite your poor son's discomfort) because every time I read the title of this thread, I think 'scratching' as in, scratching an event and wonder for a second why the procedure would be different with a cast on.

 

[gymmomtoo]

As IWC said--try rubbing or scratching the other limb--we learned in nursing school this works (has to do with how the brain is wired). Haven't tried it myself though, so no personal success story

 

[2G1B]

thanks for all of the advice! The itching hasn't been as bad for the last few days. I suspect that when it was at its worst was when the cuts inside the cast were healing.

Just under 2 more weeks to go. I hope it is all healed when we go back!