High-Intensity Sports Participation Induces Itch-Associated Sensitive Skin

higher risk of developing skin issues (Pujalte et al. 2022).The symptoms included talon noir, swimmer's itch, and acne mechanica (Pharis et al. 1997).Most studies on sportsrelated skin conditions focused on allergic reactions (Adams 2002), bacterial infections (Kermani et al. 2019), and environmental skin damage (De Luca et al. 2012), which generally arise from direct contact.Yet, the intrinsic effects of sports participation on facial skin, particularly itch, remain underelucidated.To address this gap, we conducted two waves of surveys to qualitatively and quantitatively explore the relationship between physical activity and itching conditions.Additionally, we aimed to develop a practical diagnostic indicator for sport-induced sensitive skin (SSS) through physical activity interventions in healthy volunteers.The sport discontinuation rate was 7.23%, of which 65.52% cited sport-induced skin discomfort as the primary reason (Fig. 1a-1b).Among active participants, 61.56% reported skin discomfort during sports (Fig. 1c).Notably, significant associations were observed between skin sensitivity and reported discomfort (p < 0.001, Table 1), which link exercise and cutaneous symptoms.Itch was the predominant symptom during (40.09%) and after (36.11%) AbbreviationsSSS Sport-induced sensitive skin OR Odds ratio CI Confidence interval LAST Lactic acid sting test NRS Numeric rating scale AUC Area under the curve ROC Receiver operating characteristic As the body's outermost organ, the skin is constantly exposed to environmental irritants and responds upon contact.When skin functions are compromised, environmental allergens can penetrate the body, potentially leading to dermatological conditions such as dermatitis and psoriasis (Proksch et al. 2008).Although previous literature has documented the positive effects of physical activity on physical and mental health (Galper et al. 2006), emerging evidence indicates that sports participation can also be associated with various skin issues.It was reported that cutaneous diseases account for 20.9% of college sports-related conditions, with athletes at Yanqing Liu and Fushuo Li contributed equally to this work.