# Help. My armpits are on fire. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339 "2004-11-30T16:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/1 "2004-11-30T16:10:46Z")
I tried a new deoderant because the store was out of the one I usually use. My armpits have been itching all day. Scrating gives me no relief. I even went to the bathroom and tried to wash the deoderant away with water (in such a manner as would not involve removing my shirt, since the bathroom in question is a public one in a densely populated office building.) My armpits are on fire. ☹ Anyone want an only-used-once Speed Stick? ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/2 "2004-11-30T16:23:15Z")
But the burning tells you it’s _working_… ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/3 "2004-11-30T16:50:32Z")
If you apply it to your bung hole I suspect you would walk alot faster until it wore off. A bonus would be that your farts would suddenly smell _Apline Fresh_. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/4 "2004-11-30T16:52:06Z")
:smack: Alpine Fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/5 "2004-11-30T16:55:43Z")
Tough crowd! No sympathy for _you_, **friedo**. And no, I don’t want your Speed Stick after you’ve been mopping yer pit with it. The least you could do is pick the hairs off it. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/6 "2004-11-30T16:58:29Z")
Huh. Speed Stick is one of the brands I stick (ha) with because I know it _doesn’t_ cause a rash for me. Uh… I’ll buy my own though, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/7 "2004-11-30T17:04:32Z")
Did someone say, _Fire Pits_? Grab some marshmellows, my friend. I’m in! ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/8 "2004-11-30T17:16:39Z")
i’ll wade through the overflowing pools of sympathy offered so far, and tender some hard-won (by my hubby) wisdom: certain formulations give him an itchy red rash also. i’ve stopped buying any of the “invisible” versions, or any type of stick deoderant/anti-persperant of the transparent-blue hue. the solid white versions don’t seem to cause the problems, so we’re assuming it’s some extra ingrediant in these others that cause the rash. (me, they don’t bother in the least. but i’ll still decline on your generous offer to share.) ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/9 "2004-11-30T17:18:54Z")
If you’re able to sneak away from work, head to a drugstore and get some rubbing alcohol, and swap your 'pits with it. I’ve had the same thing happen to me, and that really helped. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/10 "2004-11-30T17:39:44Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > :smack: > > Alpine Fresh. Well, at least you didn’t misspell it _Alpine Flesh_. Deodorant For Zombies! ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/11 "2004-11-30T17:53:23Z")
**friedo** , I’ve got sympathy for you! Imagine me as a preteen discovering, ha, that I’m allergic to most deoderants. The burning! :mad: I now stick to Almay or other hypoallergenic products. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/12 "2004-11-30T19:53:39Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Well, at least you didn’t misspell it _Alpine Flesh_. > > Deodorant For Zombies! Alpine Flesh is available at most Asian markets. /First class to hell, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/13 "2004-11-30T20:41:57Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I tried a new deoderant because the store was out of the one I usually use. My armpits have been itching all day. Scrating gives me no relief. I even went to the bathroom and tried to wash the deoderant away with water (in such a manner as would not involve removing my shirt, since the bathroom in question is a public one in a densely populated office building.) I feel for you. I’m just getting over a similar situation myself. Unfortunately, I’ve only narrowed it down to a few different soaps, so I’m not sure exactly which soap to avoid. Anyway, if you can manage it in your office building, try the following: Get a washcloth and wet it with the hottest water you can stand, and then press the washcloth in your armpit for about a minute. The hotter the better. Burning hot if you can stand it. It’s going to itch like hell for a few moments while you have the washcloth there. After you take it away, you’ll be itch free for a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/14 "2004-11-30T20:57:08Z")
Shouldn’t this thread be in the Pit? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/15 "2004-11-30T23:26:44Z")
Like **lachesis** ’ husband, itchy armpits for me seem to be linked to deodorants in the “invisible” formulas, which, of course, seem to be 90% of the deodorants out there now. Scents don’t generally matter, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference if I’ve just shaved my pits or if it’s been a day or two. And now that you’ve got the rash, it may not make a difference until it heals what kind of deodorant you use - I find that if I pick up the wrong kind and use it (and that doesn’t happen any more. Ever.), I have a hard time using any, even my normal brand until the rash is completely gone. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/16 "2004-12-01T00:28:35Z")
Ooh, that sucks - when they stopped making the deoderant I used for, like, forever, I tried a new one - got the worst allergic reaction, and I’ve never been allergic to anything! I itched like mad and developed a very icky armpit rash. And I couldn’t use deoderant (in the summer in South Carolina) on it. Oooh, was it bad. It finally went away and I found that they were just calling my old deoderant something else now. If you get swelling, a rash, whatever, try one of those creams with an antiinflammatory in it - that helped for me. ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/17 "2004-12-01T00:37:09Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > First class to hell, thank you very much. Heh no no, people like us don’t go to hell, we’re going straight to heaven… you know why? Coz we tell it like it is. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/18 "2004-12-01T00:53:07Z")
Thread title reminds me of a student’s science assignment I once saw entitled, “How flamable are your armpits?” It turned out to be a study on the properties of spray-on deodourant and the application rate of various different brands. You meet some imaginative 13 year olds from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/19 "2004-12-01T01:30:57Z")
> [@Keapon Laffin](#): > > Heh no no, people like us don’t go to hell, we’re going straight to heaven… you know why? > Coz we tell it like it is. > 😛 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339/20 "2004-12-01T01:40:53Z")
Deodorant is about the only thing I haven’t become allergic to. Can you get hold of some OTC hydrocortisone cream? It should help with the burning/itching. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-armpits-are-on-fire/277339.md?page=2)