GlassPinata
04-03-17, 13:22
My health anxiety eased up the past few months, but now a symptom has brought it roaring back with a vengeance. :weep:
The symptom is pain in my left armpit.
A little background: about two weeks ago, I bought a new brand of deodorant that was on sale, which I had not used before. This deodorant caused me to have an allergic reaction, I guess: it made both my armpits itch terribly.
But no rash, bumps, redness, anything. Just itching.
It was so bad that it was causing me to scratch my armpits in my sleep, really hard.
For some stupid reason, I used this deodorant for almost two weeks before giving up and buying a different kind.
So, I had this itching for several weeks, but it has now subsided since I've discontinued the deodorant.
But now I notice a pain/ tender spot in my left armpit.
It is not on the skin surface, it is deeper.
It hurts when I run a finger lightly over the spot. It also hurts when I squeeze my arm against my side.
Again, it is NOT on the surface of the skin, it is below that.
Any skin irritation I caused by all the itching and scratching has gone away, now that I've switched deodorant brands.
I don't see anything when I look at my underarm in the mirror, and I do not feel any lump.
But why this tenderness, concentrated only in one spot?
I'm a little less freaked out than I might be otherwise, simply because I just had this allergic itching problem, and I feel this might somehow be related. But how, since this isn't on my skin?
Could I have damaged a nerve, tendon, lymph node, or something deeper inside by scratching?
And why would it wait til NOW to start hurting (I haven't been scratching for the past several days, since switching deodorants).
This is perplexing, and it's hard to take my mind off it, since nearly any body movement that causes my arm to press against my side causes a twinge of pain.
Of course my mind is leaping to cancer- breast, lymphoma, whatever.
Although there is no noticeable lump (yet).
I am afraid I am going to start googling and go into a spiral.
My rational mind is telling me to wait a few days and see if this pain goes away.
But what if it doesn't? Then what?
It's not like I can go to a doctor, I'm uninsured.
God help me, I seriously thought my anxiety was getting a lot better. Now I'm right back to square one. :(
The symptom is pain in my left armpit.
A little background: about two weeks ago, I bought a new brand of deodorant that was on sale, which I had not used before. This deodorant caused me to have an allergic reaction, I guess: it made both my armpits itch terribly.
But no rash, bumps, redness, anything. Just itching.
It was so bad that it was causing me to scratch my armpits in my sleep, really hard.
For some stupid reason, I used this deodorant for almost two weeks before giving up and buying a different kind.
So, I had this itching for several weeks, but it has now subsided since I've discontinued the deodorant.
But now I notice a pain/ tender spot in my left armpit.
It is not on the skin surface, it is deeper.
It hurts when I run a finger lightly over the spot. It also hurts when I squeeze my arm against my side.
Again, it is NOT on the surface of the skin, it is below that.
Any skin irritation I caused by all the itching and scratching has gone away, now that I've switched deodorant brands.
I don't see anything when I look at my underarm in the mirror, and I do not feel any lump.
But why this tenderness, concentrated only in one spot?
I'm a little less freaked out than I might be otherwise, simply because I just had this allergic itching problem, and I feel this might somehow be related. But how, since this isn't on my skin?
Could I have damaged a nerve, tendon, lymph node, or something deeper inside by scratching?
And why would it wait til NOW to start hurting (I haven't been scratching for the past several days, since switching deodorants).
This is perplexing, and it's hard to take my mind off it, since nearly any body movement that causes my arm to press against my side causes a twinge of pain.
Of course my mind is leaping to cancer- breast, lymphoma, whatever.
Although there is no noticeable lump (yet).
I am afraid I am going to start googling and go into a spiral.
My rational mind is telling me to wait a few days and see if this pain goes away.
But what if it doesn't? Then what?
It's not like I can go to a doctor, I'm uninsured.
God help me, I seriously thought my anxiety was getting a lot better. Now I'm right back to square one. :(