Stop using soap or body wash everywhere. Use only on pits and privates. Your skin secretes natural oils that form a barrier, protect you, nourish your skin probiotics, and keep your cutaneous nerves calm. Many times, itchy skin has lost its natural oil secretion levels and needs help from topical oil (cream, lotion). Soap tends to strip your oil and kill your natural skin microbiome/probiotics. Soap is not necessary to stay well. Soap or body wash helps worsen allergies by making you “too clean.” It is also a clever idea to increase your ingestion of monounsaturated fats to 4 tablespoons per day. Examples are olive oil, tree nuts and seeds, avocado, and salmon. The better fat you take in, the better your skin secretions. MCT oil is a “good” fat. You can use soap/body wash on hands, feet, pits, and privates only. I call this a “PP” shower.
Use a golf ball size or more of moisturizer cream (Epiceram, Cerave SA, Eucerin Advanced repair, Coconut, or MCT oil) all over wet skin after shower or bath (MINIMAL SOAP USAGE JUST ON PITS AND PRIVATES OR A “PP” SHOWER), especially on thinner skin areas below the elbows and knees. Epiceram is not a steroid. It is an omega-3 topical oil/lotion. It is important to try “acidic” creams/oils as more acid on the skin supports the probiotics like “acidophilus” that are “acid-loving”. The more diverse your skin microbiota, the healthier your skin and immune system are. DIAPER CREAM WITH ZINC BENEFITS MANY RASHES.
COLD SHOWERS AND COLD PLUNGES HELP. Ideally below 55 degrees F. May need to use ice in the tub. At least 30 seconds to 2 min is ideal. Use ice packs instead of scratching if you have small itchy spots
Put Triamcinolone 0.1 % or other mid potency cortisol cream on itchy spots for 7-14 days (about 2 weeks). Mid potency topical steroids are safe for up to 14 days at a time. We have other topical medicines, but steroids offer the greatest good for the greatest number to start. You can combine topical creams on the same spots. New topical therapies have been recently FDA-approved.
Vit D 10000 per day with dietary fat for 3 months is an option. Put fat in your coffee if you are a coffee drinker (Organic half and half, MCT oil, or coconut oil). Fat does not make you fat or break a fast. Carbs do. Ingest fat while taking fat-soluble vitamins. Fat can be from food or liquids or “fat pills” like Omega 3s.
Sun on the belly, buttocks, and thigh skin 10-20 minutes 1-2 times per week to engage your photosynthesis of hormones and chemicals that make you feel good and produce Vit D and Melatonin. Prudent sun exposure is important for our health but always make sure to protect your “over-exposed” face and head. Only use zinc and titanium mineral sunscreens when outdoors for extended times.
Don’t use chemical Avo/oxy benzone poison, as they are endocrine disrupters!!
More fiber and resistant starch, less gluten and dairy. Go to resistantstarchresearch.com for more info. You need gut germ diversity to have healthy skin. Gut diversity comes from a diverse, high-fiber diet/supplementation. Likely you have dry skin, but even if you have an allergic reaction to something like airborne or ingestions (food or medicines), the above advice may help.
At night (General recommendation and not to take if not directed by a health care provider)
Montelukast 4-10 mg nightly
Levocetirizine 5 mg or cetirizine 10 mg. You can take extra antihistamine if it is still itchy.
Magnesium 400 mg (calms nerves) and Melatonin 5-600 mg. Cool Epsom Salt baths are great as well.
Gabapentin 300 mg at night could be used for itching if antihistamines aren’t working. Sometimes itching is from other neurotransmitters besides histamines. We have even seen SSRIs like Prozac help people with skin itching by modulating the cutaneous nerve “storm”.
Here is a list of things to do to have healthier skin and less itching.
- Let the sunshine do its work. 20 minutes “sunbathing” with at least 50% of your skin directly exposed as being outdoors with clothes on inhibits vit d production and the “photosynthesis” of hormones that are anti-itch. Most skin rashes that have an allergic component get better with UV light. If rash worsens after 20 minutes in the sun, then it is likely there is an auto-immune and not allergic rash. Sunlight exposure elevates vitamin d better than oral supplements. Plus being outdoors helps secrete melatonin at night.
- Melatonin has been studied in humans to show skin healing. Bigger doses may be needed if a large surface area is involved. 1-5 mg/kg/day can safely be used as demonstrated in several human trials for eczema, viruses, heart disease, and allergies. Allergic people secrete less melatonin than non-allergic individuals. I would take larger doses one hour before bedtime. If I were extremely itchy, I would take 100 mg of Melatonin that has been given in several trials in humans without major adversity. Headaches, sedation, and weird dreams can occur, but no harm to the human body has been shown in trials with large doses for multiple disease states.
- Oil on skin 2x a day. I personally use MCT oil and “acidic” creams. The more the better. Allergic skin and itchy skin are “fatty acid secretion deficient” or “oil-deficient”
- Ingest 4 tablespoons of “good” fat a day on top of your normal food consumption. If it is good fat like olive oil, it will help you secrete more “wax” to help your skin shimmer. You can make a bigger difference with this habit than by taking fish oil pills.
- Butyrate regulates skin. Itchy skin may have a component of butyrate deficiency as well. Potato starch is one of the best ways to elevate butyrate. 2 tablespoons dissolved in water/juice (Do not heat) and take every evening.
- Nutritional yeast. 1-2 tablespoons in water or on food at least 3x per week. The B vitamins and the type of fiber from the “yeast” cells encourage gut probiotic diversity, as people with itchy skin typically have disturbances in their gut and skin flora.
- Cool your skin. Getting into cooler water or cooling your body helps.
- Wet wraps can help. Look it up online. It is a technique that helps restore the skin barrier to a more hydrated state. Saran/plastic wrapping around the rashes after placing oil, cream, or lotions. Dry skin is not good and will contribute to itching.
- Review your medications and any new supplements as anybody can alter their gut flora and their skin with medications and supplements. There is no way of accurately testing how medications can cause adverse reactions. The best way is by history where a rash/itching started shortly after a new medication, supplementation, or habit and then resolves when this is stopped. Confirmation requires restarting with return of rash/itching to show causation instead of correlation.