Skin itching
Itching of the skin is not a separate disease. This is a symptom that can accompany a variety of diseases, and not only skin diseases. Often itching accompanies nervous disorders, disorders of the functioning of some internal organs.
This condition is characterized by an unpleasant, often exhausting feeling of the patient, which causes a persistent desire to start combing a certain area of the skin. Sometimes itching is harder to bear than pain and it causes the patient incredible suffering. As a rule, itching and scratching, which it provokes, lead to pustular infections of the skin, to its redness and the development of inflammatory phenomena.
CAUSES OF SKIN ITCHING
For all its apparent simplicity, the pathophysiology of the development of this unpleasant condition is very complex.
Among the causes that lead to the development of itching, there is a whole list of neuroflexive and humoral reactions. They can be triggered (provoked) by various factors. Among them it is worth mentioning:
Infectious lesions of the upper layers of the skin (impetigo, folliculitis).
Atopic dermatitis caused by allergic reactions to various stimuli, or being contact types of dermatitis.
Dry skin.
Children’s infectious diseases with skin manifestations (measles and chickenpox).
Parasitic infections and helminth infestations (cause itching around the anal opening characteristic of localization).
With abundant vaginal whites, with the development of STIs, with candidiasis, with the irritating effect of urine in diabetes mellitus, with urinary incontinence, in some cases with pinworms in girls, with sexual disorders, with various inflammatory processes of the genitals, itching of the genitals is fixed.
Sometimes idiopathic itching is recorded (itching for no reason). Most often it is diagnosed in people over 70 years old. For this reason, it is often also called senile itching.
DISEASES IN WHICH GENERALIZED SKIN ITCHING MOST OFTEN DEVELOPS
Liver ailments, whose course is accompanied by the development of jaundice and such a symptom as hyperbilirubinemia.
Mental disorders.
The development of some oncological ailments.
Xeroderma.
Ailments of the hematopoietic system, including iron deficiency anemia.
Lesions of the endocrine system, including diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism and theriotoxicosis.
TYPES OF ITCHY SKIN
It is customary to subdivide skin itching into acute and chronic, generalized (when it seems to the patient that his entire skin is itching) and localized (itching is felt on one specific skin area).
SYMPTOMS OF ITCHY SKIN
In fact, the symptom of this condition is the itching itself.
DIAGNOSIS OF ITCHY SKIN
The diagnosis consists of the patient’s complaints, his actions (combing, constantly wanting to scratch an itchy skin area), a picture of the infection that has joined. As it was said at the beginning, itching is not an independent disease. It’s just a symptom. To find out the cause of it, it is necessary to conduct a thorough diagnosis, including a variety of studies, depending on the severity of the clinical picture and the specific case.
TREATMENT OF ITCHY SKIN
It is important to identify and cure the root cause that provoked the development of itching on the skin.
Easing the symptoms of itching can be achieved by using cold. Cold showers, wraps, applying ice or snow, compresses can relieve the patient’s condition for a while, reducing the intensity of itching. However, you should not get carried away with this remedy, since there is a risk of frostbite, and prolonged contact of the skin with water in certain cases can only harm. You can also use antihistamine ointments and creams for external use, various lotions with menthol or camphor, which will give a soothing and local anesthetic effect. Patients with itchy skin should avoid direct sunlight, overheating, increased physical activity and synthetic clothing.
