ITCHY SKIN - What Is Itch / What Causes Itch?

Have you ever lay awake the whole night itching and scratching, feeling like your skins alive and crawling with micro critters that are biting and laying eggs?

The complex task of finding root causes of skin irritation together with the frustratingly annoying, distracting and sometimes painful episodes of scratching is utter misery.

What is itch? (Pruritic or Pruritus)

Itch is a tingling sensation (linked to pain) that gives you either the urge to scratch consciously or by reflex.

What causes itch?

A huge topic and main categories include:

Infections and infestations; g. fungal, lice, scabies and chicken pox
Medical conditions; g. diabetes, cancers, liver, renal & thyroid diseases
Allergies and environment; g. chemicals, shaving, hives, insect bites
Dermatological disorders; g. xerosis, dandruff, eczema, psoriasis, sunburn

What cures itch?

Because there are hundreds of potential causes of itchy skin there’s no direct answer. There are basic steps that may help reduce itchy skin states for example bathing in lukewarm water, drying skin well and applying moisturising products to keep skin hydrated.

People concerned from experiencing itchy skin should first consult a GP for diagnoses. Although itchy skin can be caused by medical conditions, infections and infestations it’s equally as common itchy skin is allergy, environmental or skin disorder related. In most cases a GP may prescribe topical creams, shampoo’s, oral antihistamines that can relieve and maybe cure the itchy skin state.

For itchy skin states that originated from bacterial, fungal or viral infections other products or a combination of products may be recommended. Unfortunately some skin irritations take longer to treat and some never cured and for these sufferers the target is finding ‘effective’ products that offer relief.