# Occasional itchy hands

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occasional-itchy-hands/298096>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 6, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occasional-itchy-hands/298096 "2005-04-06T21:09:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Viscera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/258eb7/32.png) [@Viscera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viscera)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occasional-itchy-hands/298096/1 "2005-04-06T21:09:31Z")

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This seems just weird. I was taking to a guy at work, and he said his hands will itch randomly sometimes. Sometimes it will be fairly constant for a week, other times it will go for awhile without resurfacing. He said he was in Iraq during the last war. He was a Air Force weather guy, but they were trained to a degree to do some Humvee repair he says. He thought nothing of the itching until he noticed some of the other repair guys doing the same things. Them and some doctors think it may have something to do with something in the soil, or some of the jet fuel that the Humvee’s sometimes used. They eliminated diet or water as possible causes, and this is the only symptom he has.

So, after I heard the story from him, my first thoughts were, that’s just weird. My second thoughts were checking out any known problems on the internet, but could find nothing. I now turn to the Dope. Basically, I’m just curious to see if anyone has any thoughts.

Vis

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**Author:** ![MaceMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@MaceMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaceMan)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occasional-itchy-hands/298096/2 "2005-04-07T04:14:33Z")

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I get itching/ eczema on my hands all the time. Apparently it can be caused by hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating), I usually get it every spring with the change of seasons. Touching wool rugs definitely triggers contact dermatitis for me, as well as chemicals like furniture polish, so I definitely think that that the jet feul could be a cause. Or it could be something as simple as bathroom hand soap or a new hair gel.

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**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occasional-itchy-hands/298096/3 "2005-04-07T04:16:57Z")

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Is it all over, or just his palms? Stress can make the palms peel and itch.

Not grow hair, though–that’s a different problem.