Let’s say that you have an unexplained skin condition that, when irritated, highlights any and all scratches. Chances are that you would go to a dermatologist to get this checked out, right?
YouTube user and redditor scumtarty decided to instead solicit advice from an outfit devoid of pesky details like appointment times, co-pays, and medical degrees: Reddit’s r/videos community.
“My skin swells where I scratch it. Here is a time lapse of my arm swelling to spell the word REDDIT” he wrote in an April 28 post.
He linked to a video of him scratching the word “REDDIT” into his arm with a pencil–and bringing it to incredible, albeit disgusting, life with some vigorous itching.
“If anyone could tell me why my skin does this, I am interested. I haven’t met anyone else who has skin that does this,” scumtarty wrote in the video’s description.
Since redditors are experts on every single subject from politics to movie casting, they were more than eager to diagnose scumtarty’s issue. Many pointed out that it was a condition known as “dermatographic urticaria,” with some even admitting to experiencing the same effects themselves.
“It’s basically a just histamine reaction to physical irritation. No major downsides except that you can get into an annoying feedback loop… Something itches, so you scratch it. But the scratching causes a histamine reaction and causes more itching. My wife has great fun drawing pictures on my back with it” Karfedix_Of_Pain said.
“If this works on your penis, you could save a lot on ribbed condoms,” mgweir said.
Others did not have any sort of medical advice, per se, but nevertheless wanted to contribute in their own special way.
“Can I use your arm to propose to someone?” krispwnsu asked.
We know that Reddit can be irritating, but this is ridiculous!
Screengrab via scumtarty/YouTube
