The cooling sensation that you get with menthol can help dim the feeling that you need to itch by confusing the nerves that are transmitting the itch signal. (Check out some of our favorite moisturizers for dry skin.) If your feet are extra dry, use heavy-duty creams there. The toolbox for stopping that annoying itch is pretty straightforward: At least until the itch/scratch/itch/scratch cycle seems never ending. To dull the pain feeling, your brain releases serotonin, the theory goes, making itching feel good and satisfying. Research on why scratching the itch is satisfying-at least until the itch resurfaces and you scratch again and again-suggests that scratching creates a little bit of pain. And only the surface has been scratched, so to speak. “Itch is almost a field of medicine onto itself,” he says. Itch may not just be one symptom, there may be many forms of itch. “Itching may be a result of multiple system failures,” says Dr. In other words, not every itchy foot is going to be the sign of a big issue like these, but if itchy feet are a consistent and long-standing problem for you, get yourself checked out, says Dr. “Take it in context with the rest of your health,” he says. Kwatra says, “itch on the body can be a harbinger of underlying illness.” Most of the time, itch that hints at an underlying illness won’t just be in your feet. Nerve damage caused by unchecked diabetes can cause itching in the feet, as can liver disease. As with any issue, if eczema is bothering you, get it checked so you can get the right relief. For psoriasis, especially, it's worth seeing a doctor so you can get the right treatment, as there are many options. These usually make other parts of your body itchy, and the feet aren’t exempt from feeling it. Skin conditions including eczema and psoriasis. The 20 Best Moisturizers for Every Skin Type.“The more gooey it is, the more moisturizing it is.” “Cream is more moisturizing than lotion,” Dr. Help stop it by applying moisturizing cream-the kind that comes in a jar-on your feet at night. All of which adds up to extra itch on your feet. On top of that, since you’re walking on your feet all day, they can be thickened and dry, anyway. “As you get older, you have less of an ability to retain water in the outer layer of skin,” says Dr. And give it some time to clear up: it could take as long as four weeks (but it also might clear up a lot sooner than that). These come in many different formats-creams, powders, sprays-and you may need to experiment a bit to figure out which works best for you, according to the Mayo Clinic. Those often indicate athlete’s foot, and remedies include keeping your feet as dry as possible-that might include powder and/or moisture-wicking socks-and using an over-the-counter anti-fungal product.Ĭommon athlete's foot products include the ingredients terbinafine or clotrimazole. “When a patient comes in and complains of itchy feet, the first thing a dermatologist usually does is look between the toes to see if there’s redness, cracking, flaking, or scaling,” says Shawn Kwatra, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Some are very simple, others not so much. 4 Reasons Your Armpits Won’t Stop ItchingĪsk why people’s feet itch and dermatologists take a deep breath, because there can be a huge number of drivers.“I’m getting really speculative here, but if you don’t move at all at night, you may be more susceptible to getting infestations with mites, or even getting bitten by mosquitoes,” says Dr. “You may get a cleaner kind of signal from a nighttime itch,” he says.Įvolutionarily, that stronger, cleaner itch signal at night might have served us well. At night, the anti-inflammatory chemicals in your body are lower, and they may have to do with regulating the sensitivity of itching. A newer hypothesis is that nighttime itching could be a result of end-of-day changing circadian rhythms, Dr. That said, it's not entirely clear what a more complex answer is yet. “I don’t think it’s that simple,” says Dr. One classic hypothesis is that people are less distracted at night and all of a sudden tune into the itch. Kim, M.D., co-director at the Center for the Study of Itch at Washington University School of Medicine. “There are some common assumptions about it that probably aren’t correct,” says Brian S. So what's up?Ĭertain theories tend to get trotted out about itchy feet at night. Not like your sheets are any different than they were last night. Why is it that your feet seem to suddenly itch at night? Not like you're wearing itchy socks. You scratch the itch and go back to resting. And when you get into bed at night, all of a sudden your feet feel itchy. So you had a whole day without a single peep from your feet.
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