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Do you have itchy skin only at night? Do you have itchy skin no rash or with rash? Discover what makes your very itchy skin worse at night and the various itchy skin symptoms of lymphoma, scabies and menopause.
How would you feel if you got home all tired and ready to sleep, but you cannot fall asleep because you are itching all over? My guess is that you would be distraught. I know I would be. The skin can itch due to many skin problems and systematic conditions. However, only a few of these may cause you to have sleepless nights. This is because the itching intensifies only at night.
What causes itchy skin at night? This article will answer this question and give you an insight as to why you may have itchy skin at night with no rash. Similarly, you will learn why you have severe itching at night and how you can identify the possible cause from the given itchy skin at night symptoms of lymphoma, scabies and menopause.
What Causes Itchy Skin at Night?
The first culprit for itchy skin only at night is bugs bites. Mosquitoes tend to resurface when its dark and the lice or bedbugs hiding in your beddings will attack your body only when you go to bed. Additionally, if you love to spoil your pet by sharing your bed with it, you may get some ticks or fleas from it. The bites from all these insects will leave your skin inflamed and hence itchy.
What causes itchy skin at night? Apart from the insects’ bites, other external causes include allergic reactions from the detergents and softeners used on your bedding and nightwear. Similarly, if you make use of harsh soaps to shower before bed and on top of that, make use of hot water in your bath or shower, you will be in for an itchy night. Food allergies may also make you itch at night and any reactions from antibiotics, narcotics and painkillers as well.
Sometimes you may have conditions in your system that makes your skin itch. These could be diseases affecting your body and not necessarily your skin, but their presence in the body is evident with an itchy skin especially in the dark hours. Here is a comprehensive list of itchy skin causes only at night.
You may also itch only at night if you are dehydrated or are going through menopause. Similarly, if you have fungal, bacterial or viral infections on your skin, you may itch more at night when you have no distractions like work or family and all you are trying to do is to get some sleep.
Itchy Skin at Night No Rash
In most cases, an itchy skin will leave you with a bump, rash or blotch. However, in some instances you will be left with just your normal skin except for the burning, prickly or pins and needles sort of sensation. It becomes difficult for both you and the doctor to identify the underlying cause of your skin dilemma.
You may be subjected to various treatments before the real cause is known. The number one suspect when you have itchy skin at night no rash is usually an allergic reaction. When you report the itching to a doctor, you may be asked questions regarding what you have eaten lately, that you never eat on daily basis, medications you are on or were on, the new skin care and hair products you may have used on your skin, and your bathing routine.
Consequently, the doctor would prescribe some antihistamine so that you can sleep better at night. Similarly, you will be asked to change your soaps, skin and hair products as well as eliminate some food items in your diet. If allergy is not the reason behind your itchy skin, you will continue to scratch yourself to the point of bleeding.
When you go back to the doctor with the same problem, you may have to answer more questions about your emotional state and more symptoms may be sought in order to identify the exact cause of your itchy skin no rash. If the cause of your itchiness is only external, then more symptoms may be sought on your skin such as red patches and flakes among others.
On the other hand, if the cause is internal, you may be subjected to blood tests, CT Scans and even biopsies depending on whether your itchiness is localized or all over the body. The results of these tests would help the doctor identify what could be ailing you to cause the itchiness on your skin.
In case, your causes are external you may be diagnosed with
- Contact dermatitis
- Psoriasis
- Atopic dermatitis
- Xerosis, which is dry skin
- Sunburn, learn how to stop itchiness from sunburn
- Scabies
- Or simply allergies
Internal cause of your itchy skin without a rash would be:
- Kidney problems
- Liver problems
- Thyroid problems
- Cholestasis if you are pregnant
- HIV and AIDs infection
- Iron or a vitamin deficiency
- Lymphoma
- Leukemia
- Polycerthermia
- Anaphylaxis
- Lyme disease
- Fibromyalgia
- Diabetes
Anxiety, stress, depressive illness and delusional parasitosis may also factor in as psychogenic causes in the search for the cause of your itchy skin.
Very Itchy Skin Worse at Night Facts
You may wonder why your skin becomes extremely itchy only at night. Very itchy skin is worse in the night because you are no longer distracted by chores or tasks in your workplace that is a fact. When you are resting, you are likely to feel any sensation on your body intensely, be it pain or itching.
Similarly, very itchy skin worse at night may be accompanied by other symptoms depending on the cause. You may have a rash if it is from insect bites or skin conditions such as scabies, red patches if you have an allergy and hot flashes if you going through menopause. If you have dry skin, it will itch, flake and appear dull at the same time.
In a worse case scenario, you may even lose your breath and start to swell on the face, tongue or around eyelids. Very itchy skin worse at night may also be accompanied by swollen lymph nodes if itchy skin cancer is developing in your body. There has to be another symptom that will point you to the real cause. Watch out for those symptoms because they come in handy when describing what you are going through to your doctor.
Itchy Skin at Night Lymphoma Symptoms
Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph nodes. There are two types of lymphomas, Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s, and out of these two, there can be about 60 different types. However, the type that gives you very itchy skin at night symptom is the Hodgkin Lymphoma. Not all itchy skin could be a sign of this type of cancer.
However, if you experience these other symptoms alongside the itchy skin at night, you ought to see a cancer specialist to give you tests to rule if it is the real thing or not. The symptoms include:
- Tingling or numbness of limbs
- Headache seizures
- Dizziness
- Problems of vision
- Dry skin
- Hair fall
- Fatigue
- General malaise
- Unexplained weight loss
- Night sweats
- Shortness of breath
- Pale eyes, skin or nails
- Swollen nodes on the side of your neck, around your groin or underarms
Itchy Skin at Night Scabies
A skin condition known as scabies is also a common cause of itchy skin at night especially if you are sexually active and have been sharing your personal items such as towels with your partner. Additionally, if you have been in prison at some point or lived in a crowded facility or institutional care you may have contracted scabies. Scabies attacks even children who spend their days in day care facilities.
You can only know that you have the sarcoptes scabiei, the mites responsible for causing scabies after 2-6 weeks after they have entered your skin. The rash takes that long to show and it appears on the hands especially between fingers, on the ring finger, around nipples, belt line, penis and buttocks.
The scabies rash is small and filled with pus. Similarly, the rashes may appear crusty especially where many mites are concentrated. You will tend to have itchy skin at night symptom if you have scabies. You will need to treat yourself, your partner and clean and dry all your clothes for the mites to die completely.
Itchy Skin at Night Menopause Symptoms
If you are a woman in your 40s or 50s, you cannot escape menopause a stage where the estrogen hormone declines. This hormone makes your skin supple with natural oil. It also enables your skin to retain moisture. When it declines, you will automatically have dry skin and itchy skin at night menopause sensation.
You may experience itching in two different ways: formication, which makes you have a tingling or crawly sensation. Paresthesia is the other way where you have a burning itch on hands and feet that sometimes may feel like pins and needles on your skin. Itchy skin at night menopause symptom is not the only one as you get hot flashes and burning mouth syndrome alongside the itchiness.
These menopause symptoms can easily be eliminated with foods rich in essential fatty acids, omega 3 kinds. These can be found in most sea foods especially sardines, salmons and for those who are strict vegetarians they can find them in soy, safflower or flaxseed oil. Water should also become your best friend to keep your skin hydrated from within.
You should also avoid hot and long showers or baths, warm and quick ones are the best and after that, you should moisturize with petroleum jelly, if it is too gooey for you, you can try creams or lotions with vitamin C, Green tea, lactic acid and Shea butter among others. Plain Shea butter is also perfect for dry itchy skin due to menopause. Here are more lotions for dry itchy skin. Never go a day without sunscreen to prevent your skin from the development of age spots.
Burning Itchy Skin at Night
An allergy to food, medications or items such as jewelry made from nickel, gold, silver or any other heavy metal may make you have a burning itchy skin at night. Similarly, if you have a viral infection such as herpes zoster or herpes simplex, you will have a burning itch as well as a rash. It may feel pleasurable to use your nails to scratch the itch, but this will only bring about a bacterial infection if you break the itchy skin.
