Today's topic
Today, I'm going to talk about, "Is itchy skin a menopause symptom?"
So, is itchy skin a menopause symptom? It certainly is. It's one of the more common ones and so many women come to me wondering about why it's happened and what they can do to help themselves because it can be extremely disruptive to everyday life.
So yes, this is very common. It can be very distressing, especially if you're out and suddenly, your skin starts to itch. And very often it's not just a little itch somewhere. It can be the fact that your whole body feels as if it's on fire. It can be very, very itchy. It can be very, very hot, and it can start to get irritated even further by your clothes.
It can happen anywhere on the body. It can be on the face, the neck, it can be the arms, the legs. It can be the genital area. It can be the scalp. So you name it, you can get itchy at that particular place.
There's also another condition that's very, very similar and it's called formication. And women tell me they feel like little ants are crawling up the inside of the skin. With this one, you don't get any of the tell-tale spots, or blotches, or rashes. It's just this constant itch that you can feel underneath the skin.
What can cause or make itchy skin worse?
Well, there can be a number of reasons.
Hormonal causes
The first one is that as your oestrogen starts to fall, this can have quite a big impact on your skin for various reasons. It can decrease the production of collagen. And collagen is what keeps your skin nice, and supple, and reasonably thick. It also decreases the production of skin moisturising oils that your skin produces.
So, if you would then get a combination of thinner skin and drier skin, this is going to be much more prone to itching and irritation.
Stress
Stress can cause it. If we're under a lot of stress, which the menopause puts us under whether we like it or not, and we then have day-to-day stress, we can end up producing a chemical called histamine.
Histamine is inflammatory and that can very often cause the skin to itch. You might suddenly find that your skin goes red, and then it starts to itch and get very uncomfortable. So very often, these little patches are caused by histamine.
If this happens a lot, then maybe do the diary. Note down what you've eaten and been drinking before this happens because very often, there is a link to something else when this particular type of itchy skin happens.
Sun exposure
It can be sunshine. If your skin is thinner, you're going to be less protected from strong sunlight.
And again, a lot of women say to me they go on holiday and they find that their skin burns a lot easier or they get hives or urticaria for the first time in their lives. And very often, it's just because the skin is a lot thinner and a lot more reactive to sunlight.
What you put on your skin
It could be your soaps, your body washes, your body lotions. It can even be your washing powder. If your skin is thinner and much more sensitive, it may start to react to things that have never been a problem for you before. These are things that we often overlook, but they can be common irritants.
Hot water
It can be hot water. Again, if your skin is more sensitive, then having a hot shower or lying in a hot bath for a long time can cause the skin to become more sensitive.
Sweating
Sweating is another one. If you're getting a lot of hot flushes and sweats, especially in the area where there are folds of skin, such as under the breasts, under the arms or between the legs.
If you start to sweat and then there's no cooling down to these areas because the air doesn't get to it, then you might find that you start to get rashes and itchy skin in these areas.
What helps dry itchy skin during menopause?
So, what can you do to help yourself? There are lots of little things that you can certainly try that can be of benefit.
Boost your omega 3’s
Look at your essential fatty acids, so these are omega-3, which is from fish. If you're vegetarian or vegan, you can go for flaxseed oil, and there is omega-7, which you can get from sea buckthorn oil.
Now, both of these are great for the skin, so if you're having even dryness, never mind the itchiness, then the sea buckthorn and the flaxseed oil can be very soothing. You take these internally rather than just putting them onto the skin.
Remember the water
If your skin is getting drier and thinner, then dehydration is going to be a big factor here, so remember to drink plenty of water every single day.
Also, if you are getting a histamine reaction from the nervous system, then dehydration is often a big part of that because if you're dehydrated, the body finds it much more difficult to eliminate histamine, so this can be a sort of double whammy here if you're not careful.
Sun protection
If you're going out in the sun, just make sure that you're well-protected or stay covered up, wearing loose clothing to make sure you don't get burned.
Nettle
You can look at nettle, either nettle tea or nettle tincture. Nettle is a lovely antihistamine. It helps calm and cool things down. And it can work really quickly for your itchy skin.
Natural skincare products
Go for more natural or organic body products. This can make a huge amount of difference, especially if you find that your skin gets very irritated and itchy as soon as you've had a shower. Your health food shop will have a lovely range that will suit everybody's purse, so definitely pop down there and have a look.
Sage
If you're getting a lot of flushes or sweats, you can also look at the herb sage.
A.Vogel Menoforce Sage Tablets for Menopausal Hot Flushes and Night Sweats, One-a-Day, 30 tablets
£15.99 (30 tablets) In Stock Get it tomorrow, 28th December.
So, as you can see, there are lots of little things you can do or change that can have a huge benefit on your itchy skin. I hope you found this helpful.
Take care.
