[1]: 36 The itch can be so intense that affected individuals will scratch their own skin to a bleeding condition.
The condition is becoming increasingly common, presenting in patients who are usually fair skinned and middle aged and participate in golf, tennis, outdoor table tennis, sailing, or other leisure outdoor activities in sunny climates.
For milder cases, the intense itch/scratch cycle can be broken by applying a topical skin coolant gel containing menthol, camphor, or other topical coolant to affected itchy areas, and then consistently applying 100+SPF sunscreen to affected skin of arms, shoulders, neck, etc., whenever they are expected to be exposed to the sun.
A topical prescription consisting of a unique combination of ketamine 0.5% and amitriptyline hydrochloride 1% has shown immediate and long term relief with no serious adverse events in at least one severe case.
Symptom management may include the application of a unique prescription topical combination of ketamine .5% and amitriptyline hydrochloride 1%.