Itching

beginning, perhaps, as a little tickle, hardly noticeable. Maybe you're in an important meeting and you don't want to fidget. Or maybe your hands are full. So you try to ignore it, but the sensation grows -- an irritating, niggling feeling that gradually occupies more and more of your attention. Finally, you can't take it any longer. You have to scratch the itch.

Your article on itching captured well the misery and often resigned agony suffered by those of us with chronic itchy spots ["The Relentless Itch," April 2]. However, like most pieces on the subject, you focused on drugs and chemicals and did not even mention the only 100% effective relief I've ever found: a cold, wet compress. Not a long term solution, but enough to get to sleep -- and that's a blessing. ROGER WALTON \o7North Hills \f7 A couple of years ago, I suffered from widespread persistent and severe itching.