Brachioradial Pruritus

Hi jm
Glad you’re doing well.
If you do have Brachioradial pruritus. My understanding is that it’s not a skin issue so creams don’t help. It happens in the neck where a vertebrae disc touches the brachial (arm) nerve. That sends a message to the brain that the arm is itchy (or in some cases in pain).
The stretching exercise allows the disc to pull back from touching the nerve. So it deals with the cause of the itching not the symptom.

Hi. I suffer with this condition and have for many years but I just didn't know what the itching was coming from. It has gotten worse as I've gotten older. In 2019, I had the first major flare up and my arms were red and scabby from all the itching. This came after a summer where I had done a lot of activity which strained my neck (but I didn't know this could happen.) I started seeing a new chiropractor because I had recently moved. This chiro had never seen someone with this condition but he told me it was from cervical radiculopathy, even before seeing an X-ray or MRI. The only thing that helped me was to roll ice cubes over my arms. There was no information online about this condition. The severe itching slowly subsided and went away after seeing that Chiro, PT and doing acupuncture regularly with an occasional massage. Now, I get a flare-up if I do too much activity or am very stressed. The only solution I have is to roll ice over my arms. My PT has not been treating these flare-ups with the same plan he had in 2019. The Chiro seems leary of adjusting my neck much, after seeing my MRIs. I am wanting to find a more permanent treatment that will stave off the itching even through stressful times and activity. I recently read online of a treatment called prilotherapy, involving injections of glucose which causes the area to make its own repairs internally. It's not covered by insurance. I don't now if could afford it but it's not available in my area anyway. The treatment is available in Fla. I live in NJ. If anyone knows of any treatments that might help me, besides taking gabapentin for the rest of my life, (I've never tried it but I understand it can help,) I'd be grateful.

I forgot to mention: What I've learned is that the itching is not really itching, it is a pain which the brain perceives as itching. That's probably why scratching does not relieve it. I have also learned that there are 2 nerves that come out of the vertebrae. One is a myotome, the other is a dermatome. The myotome is responsible for movement where the dermatome is responsible for sensation. So, my dermatomes coming from cervical vertebrae are the nerve parts that are irritated. It is has nothing to do with my skin. (I've gone the route of dermatologists...they had no idea what it was from.)
Would the person who spoke of stretching helping his itching describe the type of stretching in more detail. I do stretches but if there is one out there that could be helping me more, I'd be so grateful to know of it. TY

I suffered for at least 15 years with the torment of BRP before finding a chiropractor specifically for the cervical spine. Nothing helped but ice all day and night. Lyrica did have a bit of success for about 2 weeks.
After about 6-8 chiropractic treatments, it completely disappeared and that was 3 years ago. It was my first experience with chiropractic care. I am 81.
Good luck to you. It is a torturous condition.

@thedinnymurph
Hi and ty for that comment. Do you happen to live in NJ? LOL

@enrica I’m from NJ. Currently living inPA.