If it is asked to defined, ‘itching skin’, it can be said to be an inflammatory reaction of the skin, which is often caused by a condition affecting the skin. Well, it is commonly known to be a symptom of an array of diseases, which can be mild to serious in terms of severity. This skin condition is also called pruritus and often it has been associated with skin rashes.
Skin itching can be of lower and higher level, both. And is some cases, it can also be a life-threatening conditions. For example, there are severe allergic reactions like anaphylaxis and allergic purpura which are really dreadful. You can be suspected to itching due to various reasons; it can be due to allergy, insect bites, infection, inflammation, or any other abnormal conditions. Along this, it can occur over a small area of your skin or your entire body. Hence, it is pretty clear that it differs in severity, frequency and duration, solely depending on the cause.
Once you are known with the cause, the itchy skin condition can be healed. Thus, it is important to learn different causes of itching:
- Dry Skin: Generally, itching is linked with other skin conditions. But in case, you don’t find a crop of bright, red bumps or observe some particular dramatic change in the itchy area, the culprit for skin itching is the dry skin. Often dry skin results from different and changing environmental factors. It can be due to hot or cold weather with low humidity, being present in air conditioning or central heating conditions for long or using some unsuitable soap or detergent while washing or bathing.
- Skin Conditions and Rashes: Another major reason of itchy skin condition is due to several skin problems like psoriasis, lice, eczema (dermatitis), chickenpox, scabies, and hives. If you are suspected to any of these, the itching can occur on specific areas and often accompanied by other symptoms like red rashes, irritated skin, bumps and blisters.
- Internal Diseases: If a person is affected by some kind of disorder like malabsorption of wheat, kidney failure, liver disease, iron deficiency anemia, thyroid problems or some kind of cancer, there are high chances that itching affects your whole body. While the skin may look normal in the beginning, but slowly repeated itching can creates scratched areas.
- Nerve Disorders: There are several diseases which directly affect the nervous system. Some of them are diabetes mellitus, pinched nerves, multiple sclerosis, and shingles. All these are known to cause severe itching.
- Irritation and Allergic Reactions: Not only different diseases, but also various substances like wool, chemicals, soaps and many others can cause irritation to your skin, leading to itching sensation now and then. Especially, for women several cosmetics can be the reason of these allergic reactions which cause skin to itch.
- Drugs: You take drugs in various forms. But do you know these drugs can react? Yes, the antibiotics, antifungal drugs or narcotic pain medications, you consume can cause intense rashes and itching.
- Pregnancy: This is common in pregnant women that they experience itchy skin. It can occur anywhere, on the thighs, breasts, abdomen, and arms. Along this, there are higher chances of dermatitis during pregnancy.
In addition, itching can occur by itself or/ and in conjunction with some other symptoms like runny nose, sneezing and rashes. Excessive scratching also adds up to your problem by introducing bacteria or fungus to the layers of your skin. Therefore, make sure you describe the health expert about any symptoms which occur with itchy skin. This help them in proper diagnose of the condition and prescribe best medications!
