Just a brush against the skin hurts!

Sherry, I get that same exact feeling on my back sometimes when the pain has been really bad and it gets "raw" for lack of a better word... My skin is pretty red there too - and if even my shirt or the sheet on my bed touches it - oh, the pain! I just lay on my side and pull my shirt up and the sheets down and look like a complete fool...

Interestingly, the redness on my back (although not the pain ) was the one thing that did change when I was going to that accupuncturist. I noticed a marked improvement in the red splotchy color on my back - it almost all disappeared. Too bad the pain didn't go away with it! Weird, huh?

Could it be some reaction from your epidural, though? Is that the area where you had one of your shots? I remember having a lot of local surface pain after mine, too. If it's close to the injection site, and also with the swelling and other redness you had, I might call your doc and have them look at it again...

Ry

Chutz, one doc said I had fibro but I honestly don't know if I have that or not. I just don't seem to fit the criteria. I honestly think now that I have had this disc problem longer then not and that can explain many of my symptoms as well.

Ry, yes the hypersensitive skin is around the area that I had the epidural. I don't have any redness though by the injection site. I placed a call into my neuro today to ask about the Lyrica. He wasn't in so when they call tomorrow, I will ask about that.

What's RSD? And you replied to me in another post :) But why would you think you are always wrong?? No one is always wrong.

I have the same thing. My doctor said it's called "allodynia" or "cutaneous allodynia". A simple search on the web should give you some basic information about it. Basically, he said it's happening to me because my nerves (I have DDD, among other things) get excessively inflamed & they become hyper-sensitive to normal sensations -- brushing/drying my hair, wearing heavy sweaters, people touching me, etc. The Lidoderm patch TomInPain recommended works if you're not allergic to topical lidocaine and/or adhesive. If you are, like me, you can use Voltaren gel. It's a new cream that recently hit the U.S. market -- it's been in Europe for a long time. If you're lucky enough to have a doctor who's been visited by their rep maybe you can get a free
sample. :) If that doesn't work out, compounding pharmacies can mix ketamine into a cream or gel for you to apply.
I put it on up to 4 times per day, and make sure that I put it on about 10-15 minutes before doing things I expect to be painful -- like styling my hair or going out on a date (poor guys don't understand why I literally jump away from them when they gently put their hand on my back or shoulder).
If it's just allodynia, it's really no problem once you get something to numb the skin prior to doing things like brushing your hair. If that's what you have, I would want to give you one piece of advice. The numbing gels take away all feeling from the area where they are applied (I know, I know, it sounds like an absolute dream, but take it from me, advanced infections aren't much more fun than pain). You won't be able to feel pain, burns, or frostbite like normal so make sure to visually inspect the areas regularly for damage. I learned this one the hard way & had pressure sores on my back that were much worse than I imagined, in part because I was applying the gel to the undamaged areas surrounding the sores, it was absorbing into the same nerves that ran later ran under the sores, and it was lessening the severe pain normally associated with such a bad infection. I didn't realize it until it was almost too late.
Maybe your doc can give you even more tips to make sure you know how to handle not feeling any pain at all.

Good Morning all ! I am so interested in what you are saying because , at times if someone even comes near my back like to touch it or me I jump it starts spasms in my back like my back is fighting for it's life and they just barely even touched me ! I even have kicked my pt twice when he tried to do some things on my back ! I really am going to research the RSD and other things you have mentioned! I love this site ! I learn I am not crazy and you all give me so much information just by the questions and answers you all post ! Thanks so much !

I too, concur with Chutz's comment about this symptom being a part of fibromyalgia.  I often get the sensitive skin areas where just a touch can send me into pain.  Often it comes about in my hands when my husband tries to stroke my hands and arms, I have to stop him because it hurts so darn much.  I feel so badly, cause he feels so bad to be causing me pain, when he was only trying to comfort me instead.  This fibro is a bear, I tell ya.

Thanks for letting me share!

Lindaloo