Q: This sounds ridiculous, but anywhere I rub my skin or scratch it I get big welts and the more I rub it the bigger the welts get and the more it starts itching. I have tried different laundry soaps and body washes but the end results are always the same. Help!

-patient from Longview WA

A: This isn’t ridiculous at all! What you are describing sounds like dermatographism:

Its basically the ability to make hives or welts by rubbing.  Patients can pretty much play tic-tac-toe on their thigh if they wanted to. Its typically harmless, but it can really bother some patients, in which case there are medicines that can help to suppress it.