I'm not sure why people keep asking me how to control the itch at night unless what I am writing is not clear.
3 years ago 90% of my body was covered in eczema. I tried a book about controlling eczema by keeping hands occupied, using a counter and using steroid creams (think it is called the Eczema Solution). Found it never worked for me due to the intensity of the itching and the length of time for the itching to pass. Instead I got tired hands from clicking the stupid counter so much and then after 1/2 an hour of clicking, I had a good long scratch!
I threw the book away and went on a journey of self discovery. Today I have a little insignificant eczema (down to about 1-2%) but it is all under control. There are environmental factors that we need to do detective work to understand what is promoting the itch but there are also factors that are overlooked such as the following.
Some things I learned:
1. If say an hour after applying your prescribed moisturising cream/emollient you are itchy, find another emollient. I found having stopped using mine (ran out and the pharmacy didn't have any more) and using something else the itching was not so intense. My creams/emollient never caused my skin to itch immediately and I always thought it was because of the hard water area that am in that caused the itchiness. I was wrong! This has to be sorted first (assuming you already have a nearly dust free environment)
2. When the skin has been badly damaged - continually and constantly moisturise. At one point during the day, this was every 15-30 mins and every time I woke up at night (about 4-5 times from scratching). You will be able to reduce the moisturising when the skin returns to a better condition. I now moisturise with a regular cosmetic cream 2 times a day.
3. Sleep is REALLY important. 2 hormones are manufactured and released into our bodies when our bodies are in a state of rest that help infections and skin damage to heal. I used to sleep on average between 4-6 hours. I now get a more regular 8 hour beauty sleep most of the time. My skin feels rested when I have had a good sleep. I used to knock myself out with antihistamines as well as daily shake out and vacuum all bedding and surrounds to stop those nasty dust mites infesting my bed. I have reduced the "room cleaning" to about 3 times a week and still daily sun out my bedding. Click here to see my research on the sleep hormones.
4. Drink more water. I used to survive on a 2-3 mugs of water a day. I now drink at least a litre and also drink a little more before playing sport. My sweat rarely causes me to itch anymore when playing sport.
5. Sunlight has helped my skin to heal from the scratch damage but so has taking a small dosage of vit D3 thru winter. This is not any vit D. D3 is the vitamin that is produced when our skins are exposed to sunlight and again is used in cell repair. However beware about over dosing on vit D. The best for me is going out for a run and getting some natural rays.
Timings:
- time it took me to begin feeling less itchy results - days that turned into weeks
- time it took my skin to feel smooth - 1-2 months
- time it took my skin to look normal - 4-5 months
Conclusion:
Sorting moisturisers/sleep/water hydration are the top 3 changes that I would recommend to everyone who suffers from Eczema. After that environmental factors and any food sensitivities will become more obvious and anything you thought was causing it may have just been coincidental.
We can't rid our bodies of eczema and I do get symptoms appearing every now and then but I now know with certainty that we can control the source of it. The only thing that the docs can help you with are the symptoms but these are NOT long term solutions. If you do not sort out what is causing you to itch, be warned that the doctors' solutions are just temporary.
Hope this helps someone here because my skin is so much more normal than it has been for nearly 30 years of my life and you don't have to read my book to get it sorted! err no I have not written a book - just a blog :-).
4 comments:
My skin itch at night and i'll scratch it unknowingly when i fell asleep. Then i'll be waken up by the itch & scratching. I note down the timing. Usually i'll wake up 1 and a half hour later after i fall asleep. So i set the alarm clock to wake me up 1 hour and 10mins after i went to bed. Before i got awaken by the scratching, i wake up 1st. So that i do not scratch. Then i'll do something else or watever n continue my sleep maybe 5-10mins later.
Sounds like something in your environment is still causing you to itch. Are you cool enough in bed?
Thank you for this information, I have recently had an out break and have been unable to fix/regain control... I think with these tips you have provided I should be able to return to a state of "Normal" again :).
My boyfriend, who I have known for the past ten years, has suffered with chronic eczema for years. He has NEVER gained control of it. Everything you have written down in your blog seems to be critical, but because of his lifestyle (he rents in a cheap, but dirty house in a city) and other things, it seems he is unable to gain control. It has recently began to really our relationship -because he is literally constantly itching or scratching. I keep telling him - it seems like all physicians have the same answers - which only resolve itching for a few hours max - but actually leave your skin dried out and dont solve the ROOT problem. Are there any particular emoliants or moisturizers that you find particularly helpful? He is going to the doctor this week (and will probably be given the same round of steroids, antibiotics, then creams that dry his skin out) Thanks for sharing this. IT is nice to know someone else out there struggles with this - and has found SOLUTIONS!!
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