Dealing with itchy skin

Start with moisturizers but look for environmental causes to stop skin irritation, doctors say

Cho Min-shik, 62, wakes up at midnight scratching his legs and arms.

"It's quite unpleasant and somehow stressful when the feeling of itchiness wakes you up in the middle of night," he said. Cho has been in a clinical program to treat constant itchy skin for the last two years. But as the weather gets dry in the winter, he feels the treatment doesn't work at all.

Taking extra care with his skin, applying ceramide-added moisturizers as much as possible and taking other medication is all he can do to stop scratching for at least a few minutes, he said.

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"The only relief for me is that I am not the only one scratching, my friends suffer from similar skin problems. We just try to embrace this as a part of the aging process," he said.

The number of older patients like Cho suffering from itchy skin is rapidly rising. According to National Health Insurance Corporation, the number of patients who underwent dermatology treatment for dry skin surged from 287,000 in 2006 to 390,000 last year, an average of 6.3 percent. More patients were found in senior group. Patients in their 50s topped the list last year with 16.2 percent, followed by people in their 40s and 60s with 14.6 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively. About 13 percent of patients who had insurance coverage for skin problems were in their 70s, the report added.

Dry skin, particularly in the winter season causes pruritus, meaning itching. It can be associated with a number of serious diseases such as diabetes and leukemia. The symptoms start with having the desire to scratch but can lead to a secondary infection, bleeding and leathery skin, usually because of the constant scratching.

"The reason why patients with itchy skin are found mostly in senior groups is that skin gets drier as people get older," said Cho Nam-june, a doctor at the department of dermatology at Ilsan Hospital.

"To prevent itchy skin, applying moisturizer is the most effective way to minimize humidity loss in the outer layer of your skin. Skin gets drier particularly during the nighttime. So if you seal your skin with moisturizers to keep moisture from evaporating, it will help diminish the desire to scratch," he said.

When the itching starts, patients need to check their skin condition and whether there are environmental causes.

"Itching is often associated with mental stress or the intake of caffeine or alcohol. Wool and frequent showering can also cause itching," said Lee Joo-heung, dermatologist at Samsung Medical Center. People also constantly scratch their skin whenever they are under stress or anxiety, Lee said. Generally, skin gets itchier at night right before one goes to bed, Lee said.

To treat itchy skin, the use of proper ointment and antihistamines is recommended, but the method differs according to each patient's condition and symptoms, he added.

By Cho Chung-un ( christory@heraldcorp.com)< ⓒKoreaHerald(www.koreaherald.com)무단전재 및 재배포 금지 >