Severe skin pain after PUVA treatment

Severe skin pain lasting one or two months occurred in 8 of 210 patients treated with PUVA. The pain started 4--8 weeks after the initial dose, mostly about one week after discontinuation of the treatment. It was a prickling, burning pain, usually coming in bouts and confined to limited areas "deep under the skin". In some respects the pain was related to itching, but the patients could easily distinguish between the two sensations. A variety of drugs was tried, but none had any noteworthy effect on this peculiar pain.