Warning - DO NOT BUY the Itch Stopper
none
internet. I was fairly sceptical and did my research and this is what i
found, each item should send off warning bells in your head:
There was NO review of the product on the entire internet as found on
www.Google.com -- rather interesting seeing as it supposedly has been on the
market for 6+ years with "100s of thousands of users".
The www.itchstopper.com website is very unprofessional -- hmmm do you trust
them?
The root certificate authority for the website is "Equifax Secure
Certificate Authority" -- which is NOT a trusted authority for internet
identities such as Verisign and Thawte, i wouldn't trust my credit card
details with them.
Searches for Itch Stopper on www.Google.com only return links back to the
main itch stopper website or sites that link to her site -- seems that Wendy
Lee has just spent time spamming the internet with rubbish and links
Searches on Usenet (using Google Groups) only returns postings from Wendy
Lee saying how good the product is.
Nearly all of the testimonials don't seem to come from real customers, just
perform a psychological and grammatical analysis of the sentence structure,
words and context and you'll notice that they are more likely to come from
someone who is trying to sell you something as opposed to someone who is
happy with the product.
I have a degree in engineering and i'm telling you that the "scientific
claims" on how the product work seem very suspect, especially the "destroy
toxins" bit as any biologist will tell you.
The device does not appear to work using light so the many references to UV
energy seem weird and out of place. There is a table on different wavelength
energies which may be valid, but does NOT add any information as to HOW the
itch stopper works. The device has no lenses, so does not use IR infrared or
UV ultraviolet light (these two ARE proven to be able to proved small
assistance in some skin conditions, but never in 5 seconds!). And i am quite
confident in saying that a device that small CANNOT generate microwaves or
ultrasound waves, there is not enough room for that equipment.
Then the site continually says it stops histamine production from mast cells
which i highly doubt because there is no active chemical reaction with the
mast cells to stop hyaluronidase (this is a trigger for histamine production
by the mast cells).
Then we can consider that the device cannot stop binding of histamine with
histamine receptors because (again) there is no active chemical reagent to
bind with the receptors - "If the histamine receptors are blocked by an
antihistamine, histamine cannot bind and its negative effects will be
blocked; if histamine has already bound to a receptor, symptoms occur
immediately, and cannot be reversed by an antihistamine. As a result,
antihistamines work best if taken before exposure to an allergic substance."
Therefore the device in theory cannot make you stop itching in 5 seconds
because the histamine causing you to itch has already binded to the
receptors. I understand chemistry but am by no means an expert, so i won't
go into a detailed discussion here of why the device is unlikely to stop
histamine production.
Then the site talks about the fact that it does not cause DNA damage, which
undermines the probability that it can cure itching because chemicals like
Hydrocortisone (found in many prescription anti itch creams) works by
binding to Heat Shock Protein 59 which then causes a complex series of
reactions that modify the actual genes in your body and stopping you from
itching; which is also why people should never use steroids for long term
due to the increased probability of long term genetic damage to the body.
Now if it worked using EMS Electrical Muscle Stimulation i would be less
sceptical because EMS is scientifically proven to work and has been used to
treat people in pain (not itching) by causing the production of endorphins
which make you feel better and should remove itching for a short time, but
NOT for 24 hours! The problem with EMS is that devices are usually large and
cumbersome to use for small areas and in a short period of time, they take
some time to setup on your body and then treatment is around 20 minutes to 1
hour, but definitely work.
Summarising the chemical data:
it doesn't work using light, so can't stimulate healing.
it doesn't work by stopping histamine binding, so it can't stop (further)
itching quickly based on their theory of "histamine equals itching"
even if it stops histamine production, histamine is already bound to the
receptors, and that causes itching, it doesn't release histamine from the
receptors (although i'm sceptical that shock treatment will release
chemically bound histamine), so it can't stop itching at the binding level.
it doesn't modify genetic structure, so it can't stop\reduce allergic
reactions or itching at the DNA level
how on earth can it reduce inflammation?
how on earth can it work at all except by the placebo effect (ie you think
you're not itching, so you don't feel any itching)?
Finally, a search on the FDA site returns ONLY
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/m2337n.pdf
This document shows that the Itch Stopper or Itchstopper has NOT been
approved by the FDA and that all claims that have been made to it's
treatment of eczema, psoriasis, etc are all uncleared (ie likely to be
FALSE).
It goes on to list numerous VIOLATIONS of the Federal Regulations and
deficiencies associated with the Itchstopper.
In fact this is the ONLY reference to K963824 which Wendy Lee at
wend...@itchstopper.com claims is the approval number which the FDA issued
on 12/18/96. In other words i think Wendy Lee is LYING because the FDA has
no further information to K963824.
After reading all my objective and backed up refutations against nearly
every part of their website, you should be convinced that it is a gimmick
device. Be very careful before buying this from the internet. If you really
want to try it, i suggest you go to a store that stocks it (which Wendy
claims are hundreds across USA) and try it before buying it. That way you
can make sure it really works. Check with the store that you can get a
refund before buying it though!
Shopper Beware, Take Care.
P.S. I have never tried the product, so i cannot say "it doesn't work". But
in all evidence, it is unlikely to do what it says.
Chip Gallo
"none" <no...@none.com> wrote in message
news:3e4ba918$0$13820$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
> I was interested in buying the Itch Stopper after finding it on the
> internet. I was fairly sceptical and did my research and this is what i
> found, each item should send off warning bells in your head:
>
> There was NO review of the product on the entire internet as found on
> www.Google.com -- rather interesting seeing as it supposedly has been on
the
> market for 6+ years with "100s of thousands of users".
> The www.itchstopper.com website is very unprofessional -- hmmm do you
trust
> them?
> The root certificate authority for the website is "Equifax Secure
> Certificate Authority" -- which is NOT a trusted authority for internet
> identities such as Verisign and Thawte, i wouldn't trust my credit card
> details with them.
The Equifax SSL cert operation is now run by GeoTrust and is an inexpensive
alternative to VeriSign, who by the way purchased Thawte and jacked up the
price. They should be as reliable as anyone else and the CA is listed in MS
Explorer by default.
heathcotes
It's difficult to say it definitely doesn't work, but it's certainly no
miracle relief for me.
There's no sensation when applied to the skin, even turned up to max power.
Sometimes after about 30 seconds I think there may have been some slight
relief, but this is possibly to do with the cold touch of the metal and
concentrating like mad to make the itch go. -30 seconds after using it, I'm
back to square one anyway.
The biggest problem for me is that even if it does work, the effect is so
slight, takes 30 seconds at least, and is so temporary, that it's next to
useless. When I'm itching, I'm itching all over and a 3cm diameter area of
relief is no good at all!
Hope other people have had more positive results. I'd be interested to know.
Steve.
"none" <no...@none.com> wrote in message
news:3e4ba918$0$13820$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
Kevin
experiences will help others decide in (not) buying the Itch Stopper.
As i said in my original post, the device is unlikely to work for numerous
reasons, and certainly not in 5 seconds for results that last 24 hours as
claimed.
One method for treating psoriasis is by using hyperthermia or heat
treatment. From the patent information this is sort of what the itch stopper
tries to do but fails miserably because of the small size of the device, the
weak strength, and the incredibly quick treatment times, among other
reasons.
"In 1980, a study titled "Response of chronic psoriatic plaques to localized
heating induced by ultrasound"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=7406517&form=6&db=m&
Dopt=b found that by using ultrasound to uniformly heat plaques to 42 to
45蚓 (107 to 113蚌) for 30 minutes three times weekly, the plaques would go
into remission. Only 9% of the plaques tested had no response, while 58%
vanished completely. Biopsies of the psoriatic skin were compared, and some
fundamental changes were apparent early on. It was noted that the psoriatic
skin came back with three months."
Note that this study only applies to patients with lesions.
So if you want to try, have a hot water bath for 30 mins. But be careful
with using water that's too hot and be aware that hot water can AGGRAVATE
the conditions of itching. Additions to this method include adding dead sea
salt (high levels of other chemicals), normal salt, glycerine or oil to the
water. Hot water baths also help by removing the scales on your skin
(remember, try not to scratch them or it will get worse).
Another method i've seen is using changing water temperatures. Use a hot
water shower for, maybe, 1 min then switch to cold(er) water for the same
period. Continue switching the temperature of the water for a while. I'm
guessing for 20-30 mins which is the standard treatment time with
temperature based approaches to treatment.
Just don't expect miracles, treatment by hyperthermia will not "cure" you
forever.
Here's some links that may offer hope:
A book which claims to cure psoriasis
http://www.psoriasiscured.com/index.htm
A modified form of Chinese acupuncture called NIT. Unfortunately only
available in China, but wouldn't it be worth the trip if you could be cured?
http://www.nit.com.cn/e-index.html
Ancient alternative therapies using non-Western approaches (ie Chinese
medicine) have shown miraculous results that Western medicine recognises.
Western studies are in progress on why Chinese medicine works at all.
So i'm basically saying, go and try acupuncture. And if possible maybe try
NIT. A word of warning though, choose your doctor carefully, there are many
many people out there who claim to be able to perform acupuncture. Many that
are qualified to actually perform acupuncture. But not that many that are
experts at it. So if after a few acupuncture sessions you see no results,
maybe it's because of the doctor, or maybe just because of your condition. I
highly recommend qualified practitioners that have graduated from China with
multiple certifications in other areas.
My previous acupuncturist (now retired) was highly proficient in being a
doctor and even performed brain surgeries while back in China. He could even
accurately and specifically diagnose a patient's disorder from just hearing
their symptoms over the phone! Now i've never had a western doctor that
could do that, most GPs can diagnose that something's wrong and that it's in
the general category of "skin disorder", "rash" etc.
Sincerely,
Kevin.
"heathcotes" <heath...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:IRn4a.481$wZ.5...@newsfep1-win.server.ntli.net...
cpfeif...@gmail.com
jaw...@roadrunner.com
Anyway, just speaking for myself, i got my first one of these probably in the late 90s, i really don't remember, long ago, and i still have it. and i got a second one so i could take one in the car and use it on batteries.
I started using it because of flea bites, there were a lot of fleas because of the cat, before i started using flea medication on her. Flea bites never stop itching, they would wake me up at night. I don'y like using steroids, and nothing else worked. Steroids lower immunity so i couldn't even consider it. I was desperate, i was putting ice on them. That only worked while the ice was on them. Not a solution. i was desperately using some internet search engine, probably before Google, anyway, i stumbled on a link to the website for this. There were a huge number of user reviews on the website which i read some of. i was desperate and even though it was expensive, i decided to try one, and paid for expedited shipping. i am sure glad i did.
I thought that putting an extremely hot thing (the itch stopper) on an itching bite would feel good but it didn't. i had it turned up to the highest level, (5), and it burned, bad, but i held it on anyway, and it was hard because it really burned, maybe 15 or 20 seconds. When i stopped and took it off the bite, i was almost surprised my skin wasn't burned off, but the itch was gone and it didn't come back. If i remember right, it might have come back the next day and i just did itch stopper again, and it was gone, permanently. My usual experience with flea bites was that they just continued for days. i have not had that experience again since getting itch stopper.
Eventually i experimented with turning it to a lower heat level which didn't hurt. It still seemed to work. I have had my itch stoppers so long now, at least 15 years, they no longer get as hot as they used to and even though they still work, i am now about to buy a new one, i don't want to risk being without one. i've used them on mosquito bites, and on this itching i get on the tops of my feet and lower legs in the winder when the humidity is really low which is not just one spot like a bite but is an area, it really itches intensely. Itch stopper stops it.
The only thing annoying to me about Itch stopper is the battery compartment. It was so flimsy, it was hard to use with batteries. It did work fine with batteries, but it was really hard to get them in and out and doing so caused the terminals to come off, unglued or something but i love itch stopper so much, there is nothing else that works like it, so i don't consider the batteries a big thing.
One reviewer said that when he used it, he barely got any sensation from it. To me that sounds like a defective product and should've been returned for a working one. Both of the ones i have would get very very hot, painfully hot, it was hard to bear but i did it because i knew it was going to get rid of the itch. and i was probably using overkill by having it on the highest setting. If you don't get any sensation from one, have it replaced. A working one should work great, or it did for me. However, i gave it to my daughter to try and she said it hurt her so bad she couldn't use it, and she complained for a long time after about the pain not going away. For me, it goes away as soon as i stop pressing it on the bite or skin area. So i guess different people have different sensitivities.
If itching is a big problem for you and you can't find any solution, it's probably worth a try. If it doesn't work for any reason, including if it's too hot for you as it was for my daughter, return it or give it to a friend.
The original poster said there were no reviews to be found on the internet. That's weird because like i said, i found tons of reviews on the itch stopper website, and they did not sound fake, people telling their personal stories. I wrote one and posted it there. I went back a few times to see if it was on there and i didn't see it, but again there were so many so maybe it was buried in there, i didn't look through the whole thing.
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