Why is my skin so itchy?
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free skin care · Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:22 am

Hi girls ,

I moved city and have been suffering from breakouts for the last 6 months. I have experienced an itchy sensation on and off during this period. For the holidays, I went back home for a month, cleared up pretty rapidly and experienced no itching.
I've been back for a week and started breaking out again, then stopped washing my face with water from the shower (instead I use distilled bottled water that I heat up in the microwave, Laughing

) and the breakouts have indeed stopped. But, yesterday and today, my face has been itching like crazy. The texture of my skin is really uneven and patchy.. I'm going to go to a dermatologist ASAP but still thought maybe I'll ask just for peace of mind.

I'm thinking it's either that my moisturizer (emu oil) can't keep up with the dry, cold weather here, or it's the distilled water.

I've always had really dry skin but have never experienced anything like this. Also, my skin isn't peeling, it just looks red and a little rashy. Sad

What could it be?

free skin care · Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:18 pm

Hi there,

It sounds to me like a reaction to really dry indoor-heated air in a cold climate. (What cities did you move from and to?) And once the skin barrier is breached, all sorts of irritants could be getting through, like the fragrance in your laundry detergent. I'm sure your dermatologist will be able to help.

Maybe others with more similar skin will chime in, but I can share what works for me (and because of this, I don't have to switch to heavier "winter" moisturizers). The main thing is a humidifier in the bedroom.

Also helpful: fewer/cooler/shorter showers, a more emollient moisturizer, covering up thoroughly with scarves outdoors, and getting lots of omega-3s like olive, cod liver, primrose, and flax seed oils.

For the itching, you might try Benadryl or another antihistamine.

Hope this helps!

free skin care · Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:36 pm

Hi there rockhugger,

thanks so much for getting back.

I moved from the very moderate climate of London to the horrors of the Chicago winter Laughing

Yes, it might very well be the heated indoor air.
The problem with the humidifier is that we actually have to use a dehumidifier because we have mold in our basement, so not sure if I should just put one in our bedroom, maybe.

See, my skin is definitely dry but it looks almost like a sunburn, more red than dry, really. Is that still normal dry skin?

I don't go out in the cold much, we usually drive almost everywhere, so it's definitely not the cold air outside.

free skin care · Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:00 pm

Ah, yes, Chicago and its windy cold... I'm moving near there soon. Smile

Too be honest, I rarely have to deal with dry skin, and then usually just my hands which I slather in my favorite body lotion Avene Trixera+ (key ingredient: safflower oil).

Hmmm, red sounds irritated or inflamed somehow, perhaps by fragrance or wind or even sun(?), and I suspect dryness was the original problem that allowed something nasty to get through your barrier.

When my skin is irritated, I really like my Olay Regenerist Regenerating Serum, fragrance-free, which isn't terribly moisturizing but does have niacinamide that tells skin to make more ceramides. Or you could add ceramides directly through some safflower oil.

Here are two healing products that may help. I've used and liked La Roche-Posay Cicaplast, an ointment (actually similar texture to the Olay, just thicker) that has zinc and copper to kill bacteria and yeast and help skin heal. A similar but creamier product is Avene Cicalfate, which also has the soothing ingredient zinc oxide (same stuff as in diaper cream and mineral sunscreens). It has a white cast that goes away when it dries, and I've used it to prevent wounds from turning to scars.

Maybe one of these would help?

free skin care · Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:06 pm

Another thought: to check all your products, including shampoos and anything that may touch your face, for irritants. Here's a list by Paula Begoun for starters:

http://www.cosmeticscop.com/sensitive-skin-what-to-use.aspx

Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:33 pm

Humidifier is a great help to combat those dry itchy feel on the skin during winter. I also change to a richer moisturizer, though I have oily skin. I always put moisturizer and body cream once I feel my skin is getting tighter. I use Omorovicza Body Cream with omega 6 ceramide.

free skin care · Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:58 am

The fact that the itching cleared up when you went back home makes me think it might be an allergy. When I lived in England, my grandparents lived in Liverpool, whenever I went there to visit I would break out in hives - I never discovered exactly why.

Perhaps you could try taking an antihistamine and see if it has any effect.

free skin care · Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:17 am

Maybe you're allergic to the mold in your basement? When we moved into our most recent apartment, there was a bunch of black mold on the ceiling in the bathroom, and I had terrible respiratory symptoms until I took care of the mold with bleach and apple cider vinegar.

free skin care · Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:52 pm

Keliu, I know! that's what I was thinking. It's funny, because since I don't use the water in the shower anymore to wash my face, the breakouts have lessened. But now the itching is worse! I really have no idea what it could be. Are antihistamines okay to take?

rockhugger, I was thinking the exact same thing. Maybe it's the mold. But I never heard of anybody breaking out/getting an itchy face from mold before Laughing

I usually hear about respiratory problems, but never anything skin related.

free skin care · Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:35 pm

Penta wrote:

Are antihistamines okay to take?

There's no problem taking antihistamines - they're for allergies - they're usually available over the counter. You might want to look for one of the brands that don't make you drowsy though, go and have a word to your pharmacist.

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