When your skin is sensitive to the touch, it can be uncomfortable, annoying and lot of times unbearable. Tenderness or skin pain is known medically as allodynia, a condition where one feels a high degree of sensitivity or pain, even to stimuli that are non-painful, such as the wind.
There are different types of skin on your back hurts to touch. Pain set off by touch is called tactile allodynia or mechanical allodynia, while pain caused by direct exposure to cold or warmth is called thermal allodynia. And there are two types of mechanical allodynia: vibrant mechanical allodynia which refers to pain due to brushing the skin, and fixed mechanical allodynia which refers to pain caused by light pressure or touch.
Level of sensitivity of the skin that is unusually increased to numerous kinds of stimuli might likewise be an indication of other illness, like nerve problems, nutritional deficiencies or a viral infection.
Symptoms of Skin Sensitive to Touch
It is easy to acknowledge symptoms of sore skin or skin which is sensitive to the touch. The pain can be prevalent or localized as back hurts to touch. The intense pain is often set off by stimuli which ought to not generally cause any pain. You can use a cotton pad or gauze to test this. Gently brush it over your skin. You can likewise use a warm or cold compress, or even the pointer of your finger to put it on the skin. If you see any tenderness or feel pain from doing any of these, and even a tingling sensation, you might be experiencing allodynia.
Additional symptoms of allodynia include itching, feeling that something is crawling on your skin, a burning or pins and needles sensation.
Why Does the Skin on My Back Hurt to Touch?
There are several causes which are possible why your back hurts to touch, and it might vary from easy sunburn to a serious condition or disease. The following are possible causes:
Too much exposure to the Sun
Overexposure to the sun will give you a first-degree or second-degree burn that makes your skin on your back sensitive to touch, even a mild touch. The first-degree burns typically are the least serious burns in which the external layer of skin is partly burned, according to iytmed.com. The skin will gets red and in some cases swelling and painful. While the second-degree burns describe the burns of both external layer and 2nd layer of skin. The skin will get extremely red. Blisters often establish and you will feel severe pain and swelling on skin.
Postherpetic Neuralgia
As soon as you had the chickenpox, the infection which caused it will stay in your body for your whole life. The infection can reactivate as you age, in some cases take place when your body becomes worried, resulting in shingles. Postherpetic neuralgia happens if your nerve fibers are damaged during the outbreak of shingles. The harmed fibers can’t send out messages from the skin to the brain, creating chronic and excruciating pain, like allodynia. Other symptoms of postherpetic neuralgia include muscle weakness, numbness, an itchy feeling or paralysis.
Demyelinating Diseases
Demyelinating illness can affect the nerve system. These medical conditions take place when the myelin sheath that covers the afferent neuron is damaged, causing a number of various symptoms, which include back and whole body skin sensitivity and pain.
Tactile Defensiveness
The part of the brain which involves sorting and examining various stimuli is the midbrain. Tactile defensiveness can be a result of a neurological defect in the midbrain, triggering a painful response to regular stimuli such as a light touch or pressure on your back.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia causes many symptoms consisting of headaches, muscle weakness and extensive pain. Allodynia takes place many times with fibromyalgia and causes pain from clothes touching skin on your back or from your fingers gently rubbing over your arm.
Neuropathy
This is a condition of the peripheral nervous system. The affected nerves or nerve can cause numbness and weakness of the muscles, loss of sensation, muscle atrophy, chronic body pains and allodynia, etc.
What Are the Treatment If Your Back Hurts to Touch?
The particular cause of the skin conscious touch will identify the type of treatment. Your symptoms might improve by having the underlying cause treated, nevertheless some of these conditions like demyelinating disease and fibromyalgia aren’t quickly treated. For vitamin B shortage, treatment for it can reduce or stop the tingling sensation of the skin. An anti-viral drug can help stop the burning pain on the impacted skin and can be used to treated shingles.
It is a common thing to wonder “why does my skin on my back hurt” when you are experiencing among these conditions. To minimize your symptoms, your doctor may suggest different types of medications which can range from anti-inflammatory drugs that are non-steroidal such as ibuprofen, to anesthetic drugs such as ketamine. Narcotics suching as tramadol, morphine or alfentanil along with a topical pain medication like capsaicin or aspercreme cream might also be prescribed by your doctor.
Even naproxen or other anti-inflammatory drugs might be used to prevent over sensitization in the central nerve system so allodynia can be treated. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, Ketorolac, and dihydroergotamine will work well when they are injected with allodynia presently present.
When to See a Doctor
Tender or sensitive skin on your back might be a symptom of a medical condition that requires the right treatment. If you feel like your skin is uncommonly sensitive, you may be experiencing allodynia. Looking for medical attention is wise so that any underlying cause can be treated and you can be spared the level of sensitivity.
