Itching at the Wrist

It begins quietly. A fine prickling on the inside of your wrist, where the skin is thin and the veins show through. You scratch briefly, and for a moment there is quiet. Then it starts again. Sometimes on the inside, sometimes on the top, sometimes it wanders, as if searching for a spot where it can settle. Sometimes it sits directly beneath a bracelet, beneath a watch, beneath a cuff — right where something is constricting you.

Medically, all sorts of things can be found — or nothing at all: dry skin, an irritating metal, a detergent, a soap, a nickel allergy. Sometimes a contact allergy, sometimes a mild eczema, sometimes nothing visible. A little cream, a little cortisone, and the spot calms down — or it comes back. When it keeps coming back even though nothing can be explained externally, a second look is worthwhile. Not at the skin. At the place.