Comment on affected body areas

And if you need further convincing, here's another reason why an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

When things get bad, for any reason, you may make the following discovery the hard way (as I have myself many times). Areas of your body that were previously totally clean and unaffected may react and become part of your general scratching repertoire. And once affected, they will rarely truly stop being part of the sensitive skin.

Example: when I started with braces, I had to use a neck brace (back in the day when they needed those). The skin on the back of my neck started itching, and has not really stopped since. Before this episode it had never been itchy at all.

Similar situations have happened with my scalp, the back of my hands, the tops of my feet and even the palms of my hand and my fingers (when the shit really hit the fan, if you'll excuse my French). Some of these areas go back to normal at some points in time but then flare up again and again at other times.

So watch out for the signs. And take care of yourself even when things are looking up.