With the advent of winter, the number of people with itching, especially the elderly with itching, has increased significantly. It doesn't look like an unusual rash, but it's itchy all over the body, especially when you are on a fire or sleeping under the covers at night. So I kept scratching, tossing and turning, and couldn't sleep at night.
What causes itching?
It turns out that this kind of itching is called "pruritus" in medicine, and it is also called "winter pruritus" because it is easy to occur in winter, and it can also be called "senile pruritus" because it is more common in the elderly. The name of Chinese medicine is "wind itching". There are two common reasons, one is the impact of dry weather in winter, and the other is the dryness of the elderly. Elderly people are aging, sebum secretion is reduced, bathing too often, water temperature is too high or using alkaline soap for bathing, etc., are all easy to lead to dryness. Dry** is very prone to itching when the temperature is high, so the itching is noticeable when you bake it or enter the quilt.
In addition, neuropsychiatric factors such as nervous anxiety and neurological dysfunction, as well as chronic internal diseases such as liver and kidney diseases, thyroid dysfunction, diabetes, malignant tumors, etc., can also cause itching, which will be particularly prominent in winter.
*What are the symptoms of itching?
The main manifestations are paroxysmal severe itching, itching is indefinite, and it is mostly aggravated at night. In general, there are no common primary rashes such as erythema and papules. However, patients with long-term severe scratching may have scratches, blood crusts, and even secondary chronic eczema-like changes such as lichenification in some localities.
How should I seek medical attention if I have itching?
Patients who still have itching for more than 2 weeks after changing Xi their lifestyle habits (such as not taking frequent and overheated baths, not bathing with alkaline lotion) and cannot be relieved, or if the itching is severe and seriously affects sleep, they should seek medical consultation in time. **Specialist will give Integrative Medicine after taking a medical history and conducting relevant examinations**. If there are other diseases, it will be recommended to go to the relevant department for further diagnosis and treatment.
*How to itch**.
Winter itching can't just be scratched. Instead, the following should be done:
1.Avoid triggers or aggravating factors, avoid scratching, rubbing, scalding, and do not over-clean**.
2.Pay attention to moisturizing, you can choose gentle moisturizing, non-irritating emollients**.
3.Patients with severe itching are given medications**. For example, calamine lotion, ginseng yellow lotion (prepared by our hospital), Chuanbai anti-itch lotion or traditional Chinese medicine bath, etc., and the affected area with eczema-like changes can be externally coated with compound flumethasone ointment, pimecrolimus, etc. Oral administration of antihistamines can relieve itching more quickly, such as loratadine and doxepin.
4.Oral Chinese medicine is a better choice for elderly patients with pruritus. The syndrome differentiation of this disease in traditional Chinese medicine is mainly blood deficiency and wind dryness, wind and blood dryness, dampness and heat connotation, and it is advisable to nourish blood and moisten dryness or cool blood and dissipate wind or clear dampness and heat. Patients are given prescription drugs through syndrome differentiation.
5.If there is a primary disease, it is necessary to actively ** the primary disease.
How to do a good job of home care?
1.Be more caring for the patient. Due to long-term itching, patients are prone to undesirable emotions such as irritability, irritability, or anxiety and depression. Family members should communicate more with patients, understand and care for patients, and help patients build confidence in overcoming diseases.
2.It is necessary to see a doctor and follow-up in a timely manner. It is necessary to follow the doctor's instructions**, and do not stop the drug or stop the follow-up visit because the itching has been reduced or the effect is not good after one or two times.
3.It is necessary to strengthen the management of daily life. For example, avoid scratching, trim nails, and wear gloves to limit scratching if necessaryDon't take a bath too often, and don't use scalding methods to relieve itching, and apply moisturizer in time after bathing to keep it moist. At the same time, we should also pay attention to our diet, eat more fruits and vegetables, quit smoking and limit alcohol, do not eat seafood, shrimp, crab, mutton, dog meat and other hair products, do not drink strong tea and coffee, etc.
Author: He Dawei, Department of Hunan Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Hunan Provincial Research Affiliated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine).