Habit Reversal Tip #17 The behavioural prescription

In addition to skin treatment that can be obtained "over the counter" without prescription, and the prescribed medical treatment, The Combined Approach adds a behavioural treatment, habit reversal training.

Using The Combined Approach, collecting data about scratching allows a treatment plan to be put together. After a week registering scratching there should be information available to list the situations that provoke scratching, with or without itching.

Next these damaging situations are divided into:

• those that are dispensible

• those that are indispensible

If the dispensible situations are dispensed with for the 4 - 6 weeks of the treatment, scratching frequency will immediately decrease.

If the indispensible situations are anticipated, kept to a minimum in time by doing things quickly, and if feasible done while the hands are kept busy, scratching frequency will immediately decrease.

This is the behavioural prescription: it is tailor-made by the person who will benefit, using these general principles, and perhaps through discussing the process with others.

Here are some of the frequently discovered damaging situations with the tips for damage limitation from others: