I think I've finally heard it all.

Free healthcare in Canada? Let's all make a rush to the border. If you are getting free healthcare in Canada, it's because some other poor schmuck is working to pay taxes so you can get it free. Who on earth do people think is paying for healthcare in nations that have 'free' healthcare? Santa Clause????

And yet you can afford to travel to Florida and by some accounts have been traveling for months, but don't have $100 to spend to see a doctor.

If you can't afford healthcare, you can't afford travel.

Yep, now I've heard it all.

Don't forget sandy wants to get reimbursed by Canada's Healthcare system.

The sad truth is that a lot of young people get free healthcare in Canada. They get welfare and travel across the country in the summer " backpacking". If they need medical attention they go to the hospital emergency and get it because they are on welfare. I am not talking about all young travelers but a large majority of them do take advantage. Yes, we schmucks do have to support them. We live in an area in BC where a lot of them come to in the summer just don't try going to a hospital for a real emergency - the chairs are filled with these kids with sunburns, lice, you name it. Again there are a lot of great kids traveling in the summer and going to school the rest of the time its just these freeloaders that manage to beat the system.

Benedryl will help if it's something along the line of hives. Or if it's crabs or scabbies there's appropriate body soaps you can buy without prescription.

It seems you're making some pretty big assumptions like that it's "really dry skin" or that you are not contageous. I hope by now you have found a way to get medical treatment.

Are you on vacation? Would it be Red Tide causing your itch? Just the first thing that popped into my head.

Yes - we have fee for service care. doc in the box in the cheapest way to go - and $60 for a visit is a bargain.

You might ask a pharmacist - if you can get one to talk to you (here they won;t come out from behind their counter since it sows them down) and they will most probably just tell you to see a doc.

If you have tried all sorts of OTC creams and nothing works - do see an MD. If it were just dry skin it would respond to the creams. And why just the lower part of your body?

Oh - and do understand that you'll have to pay for med too - hopefullly you'll get something inexpensive - not the $100 per tube kind (ask the MD for something cheap - or they'll assume you have insurance to pay for it).

Just playing devil's advocate here, Sandy. Maybe this would be a good time to call your mom and talk this over with her?

Sell your computer and go see a physician for your medical problem rather than seeking help on the Net.

Assuming this is not a troll, Florida is full of fungal infections and microscopic critters that crawl under your skin and make you itch (and not just chiggers). You do not want to ignore these.

$60 is cheap. If you can't afford it, get on the bus back to Canada AND TELL THE PHYSICIAN YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE TROPICS. This assumes, of course, that you can get an appointment.

"Florida is full of fungal infections and microscopic critters that crawl under your skin and make you itch (and not just chiggers)."

And if the fungal infections and microscopic critters don't get you, the alligators will...

Dangerous place, that Florida.

Since you have traveled so much, this could be something you acquired in one of the other regions.

See a pharmacist. If he seems postiive what it is and you want to try some OTC drug for a few days, I think that's your best first choice.

You may need a physician who even specializes, in a travel clinic, who may be more apt to diagnose it quickly, which is why I would suggest going not to a regular clinic but to a travel clinic.

Most major airports have travel clinis (call Miami and see if they do).

You will pay for it. Maybe your health care will reimburse you, if not, it is the cost of traveling.
That, or letting it go and possibly getting worse.

If I was sick in Canada, I would likely have to pay and get reimbursed by my insurance, or I would have purchased travelers health insurance.

These are the lessons we learn to become a more seasoned traveler -

good luck.

I think people have covered the options well. I also think that if you are traveling for a long time, you certainly should have taken out travel insurance. If not, you knew the risks, and this is relatively minor. So you took the risk that you would have to pay yourself.

Could be anything, I had something like that once (around my waist) and my dermatologist said it could be either some contact dermatitis (ie, I encountered some product that was slightly irritating or allergic) or that it was a mild case of shingles. I think the latter, some people think shingles is always painful and serious, but this was mild and mainly itchy and a little red.

IN any case, people seem to know about the local pests issue.

Urgent care centers are the cheapest, as noted. $60-100 for a routine office visit is typical in the US. I personally don't think that's so bad for someone in your situation, I think you should pay it and get help. Other than that, the obvious tips are that health care is cheaper in small towns or more rural areas, so get out of Miami Beach perhaps. As others said, if you just want to "talk" to a doctor and have free health care in Canada, I assume you have a doctor there, so why can't you call him or her if you just want to talk to one? I'm not getting into what is free or not in Canada, that's beside the point, but yes, health care is expensive in the US and you should have had insurance or be very glad you don't have something more serious.

In my case, the doctor prescribed a cortisone cream and it was gone within a week. Those creams are very expensive, though, I was shocked at the price of that.

I remain amazed at the "professional" opinions.
Ever hear of Malignant Lymphoma? Liver insufficiency?
Many other rare conditions.
Uncommonly presents with "itching".
See an internist!
M (MD; NBME; ABIM; ABNM; ABR)

I think well-meaning people with WAY more patience than I have are operating on the "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras" theory. Anyway, I've been reading this thread with interest, but it seems the OP has been beaten into submission. Sandy, if you're still out there and itchy, I suggest thinking of $60 as a percentage of the cost of your ENTIRE trip; then it may not seem so exorbitant. A walk-in clinic is your best option.