Having itchy lower legs at night is a difficult condition to live with. The condition can accompanied with rash or no rash at all. It could be a symptom of an underlying medical condition such as diabetes. What are the causes of this condition? This page provides more information about this condition. Find ways you can get rid and cure the problem.
Skin conditions that are known to cause itchy lower legs are not only unsettling, but they also tend to be very uncomfortable. Once your lower legs become itchy, it could be an indication that you have certain skin conditions, which include: rashes, allergies, hives, and skin infections. Itchy lower legs causes may also be attributed to allergic reactions, pregnancy, or environmental factors. In this article, we are going to look at the causes, remedies, treatment, and preventive methods that can be used to ensure that one does not get itchy lower legs.
Causes of itchy lower legs
Why do your lower legs itchy? Below are a number of causes for this condition. They include:
Click On The Image For The Ultimate Fat Loss Trick For Women.
1. Poor hygiene
Filthy skin that has become contaminated with sweat or dirt combines with the normal bacterium that is found on your skin surface. Although this process is totally natural, it may end up causing itchy skin. When this natural process is covered up with clothing, the itching is bound to become severe, as the clothes rub against the nerves that have already become irritated.
In order to prevent the occurrence of this issue, it is recommended that individuals shower on a regular basis, as a way of ensuring that their skin remains clean and dry at all times. Given that high heat temperatures can worsen the condition; it is best to only take lukewarm baths or showers. When taking your shower, utilize mild soap, to help keep the natural oils present on the skin intact.
2. Chicken skin and dry skin
Keratosis is a medical condition, which can thicken the hair follicles that are present on your arms and legs. The hair follicles are very similar to goose bumps, and they are often red or brown in color. The condition, popularly known as “chicken skin” has been known to cause inflammation of your hair follicles, as well as making the skin to become rough and dry. An individual affected with keratosis pilaris can take care of this condition by exfoliating, although there is a possibility that they could return in future.
However, your skin condition will improve as you become older. Normally, dry skin tends to be an inherited condition, and has been known to cause itchy legs. If you have dry skin, you can make it worse by using too much soap when bathing, or by taking many showers on a single day. For you to prevent dry skin, you can try the following:
- Make it a point to drink many fluids during the day. When you wake up each morning, you should be passing around 200ml of yellow light urine, that is, if you are properly hydrated.
- Stay away from the wind, and ensure that you stay away from direct sunrays as well
- Ensure you apply a moisturizer after taking a shower
- Make use of an anti-itch cream. This type of cream is safe, and can be used by pregnant mothers, after consulting with their primary care physicians.
3. Folliculitis
When hair follicles become infected, the resulting condition is known as folliculitis. Staphylococcus aureas is the bacterium known to cause this condition. Typically, it is referred to as a staph infection. Once infected, folliculitis will present itself in the form of painful bumps, which are not only itchy, but reddish in nature.
The bumps may come with centers filled with fluids. This type of bumps is common on the thighs as well as the buttocks. Athletes often get this infection because of wearing tight clothing when working out. Additionally, this condition can also be transmitted from one person to the next through the sharing of clothing items. To assist in healing the infection, it is recommended that one ensures that his skin is clean and dry at all times.
You can treat folliculitis by:
- If you have a persistent rash, you need to utilize antibacterial soaps or use mupirocin ointments
- In case of a severe infection, which happens to be covering a large skin area, your doctor may prescribe some antibiotics for you.
4. Cholinergic Urticaria
There are individuals who could be experiencing hives on their thighs, arms, and trunk after engaging in vigorous exercise, or after taking a very hot shower. The condition is known as cholinergic urticaria. It has been known to cause severe itching, which can last between thirty minutes and two hours. Dermatologists believe that people who suffer from this particular condition are often allergic to sweat.
You can use the following tips to prevent the emergence of this condition:
- Try taking showers that are cooler
- Do not engage in vigorous exercises when the weather outside is hot
- Take an antihistamine thirty minutes before showering or before exercising to ensure that you do not get any kind of reaction
- Once you notice that the hives have begun to appear, you should take a break from your exercise routine
- Try as much as possible not to scratch these hives as it could worsen the condition
5. Stasis Eczema
The condition is also known as gravitational eczema. The varicose veins located in the lower section of your leg may cause slowing down of blood circulation in this area. When this happens, it causes a purple, reddened, and rough appearance of the affected skin.
Stasis Eczema has also been known to bring about swelling in the affected region. It can also be caused by deep venous thrombosis as well as blood vessel related conditions. For a person with this type of condition, the doctor may prescribe corticosteroids, as well as treat the conditions that are known to lead to stasis eczema.
6. Restless leg syndrome
People who experience strong urges to move their legs all the time could be suffering from the condition referred to as Restless Leg Syndrome. Its symptoms include: legs that itch or tingle when they are in a resting position. To-date, the cause of this condition is yet to be identified. However, it is normally treated by introducing lifestyle changes, such as:
- Reducing alcohol and caffeine intake
- Anti-itch medications
- Reducing intake of substances, which could act as a trigger for the itchiness
7. Unfit Running
For a person who has not been active for a long time, and then all of a sudden starts running, they may notice severe itching on the lower parts of their legs. The itchy feeling being experienced in the legs is actually the irritated nerves, found close to the arteries that are in the muscles. To improve this kind of itching, an individual will need to start training properly.
8. Insect bites
Office and home infestations of biting insects or fleas could also bring about red bumps as well as severe itching on the lower parts of the legs, once you have sustained some bites. Most biting insects tend to live on pets as well as on the carpets.
Additionally, you could notice your other family members or workmates experiencing the same symptoms as you, after they have been bitten. If this is the case, there will be a need to make sure that the carpets are properly treated, and that all the living areas have been properly and thoroughly cleaned, so as to reduce these cases of itching.
Additional causes (serious diseases)
Individuals with unexplainable itching may find that it has been brought about by: medication side effect, disease processes, as well as skin conditions. Disease processes known to include itching include:
- Liver disease
- Leukemia
- Blood conditions
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Lymphoma
- Thyroid conditions
- Cancers
In case you notice that you do not have an explainable cause for itching, it is recommended that you visit your doctor for a thorough check-up. In the meantime, you should consider using an antihistamine, or a quality moisturizer to assist you relieve the itching symptoms.
Red rash on lower legs not itchy
A non-itchy rash appearing on your lower legs often have a lot to do with dry hot weather as well as humidity. In many cases, the red rash should begin to disappear or fade away after a few days have passed by. It is normal for a person to get this type of rash when they have been doing a lot of walking in the hot weather. As such, it does not have anything to do with insect bites, contact dermatitis or location.
Dry itchy skin on lower legs
Dry itchy skin on lower legs is often considered to be a temporary problem, which normally occurs during the winter season. In some cases, it is considered to be a partial skin disorder, which may result in peeling, scaling, flaking, deep cracks, itching, as well as redness in the affected regions.
Apart from legs, this problem can also occur in other areas such as the arms and hands, as these areas are exposed to the agents that bring about this condition.
The causes of dry skin on the lower legs include:
- Weather changes
- Exposure to extreme heat
- Hot baths and steamy showers
Small itchy bumps on lower legs
Although they should not cause you to worry, it can be very frustrating to have small itchy bumps on the lower legs. Normally, you may find yourself experiencing bumps from the feet area all the way to your inner thighs. When they appear, the bumps tend to be small, raised, and do not rapture.
In extreme cases, these bumps could burst and begin to crust. As such, there is a possibility that you could experience itchiness along the rash—this rash will often come and go away on its own.
Generally speaking, the red itchy bumps appearing on your legs should not be a cause for alarm. You will find that many physicians have come across this condition in the past, and are therefore in a good position to come up with a proper diagnosis.
Even though you are likely to experience an urge to scratch these bumps, it is not advisable for you to do this. Over scratching may lead to the skin opening up, and this will increase your chances of becoming infected. In case you have already opened them up through constant scratching, it is recommended that you apply Neosporin to the affected region, so as to prevent the possibility of an infection taking place.
The causes of this small red itchy bumps include:
- Allergic reactions to latex, soaps, poison ivy, as well as environmental factors
- Viral infections e.g. chicken pox
- Vasculitis
- Bug bites
- Skin conditions e.g. eczema
Itchy lower legs at night
Even though there is a wide variety of illnesses and dermatological conditions that can cause itchy lower legs at night, you will find that in most cases, this is brought about by xerosis. The condition is very common during the winter season—because there is very little moisture that is present in the air.
Xerosis is not a serious condition, and it can easily be treated using moisturizers. If the itchiness is accompanied by a rash, or happens to be chronic in nature, is accompanied by scales or inflammation, you may find that the underlying cause is an illness. As such, you are advised to ensure that you seek treatment from a dermatologist as soon as possible.
Causes of itchy lower legs at night
Below here are some of the possible causes of itchy lower legs at night. They include:
1. Allergic dermatitis
Also known as contact dermatitis, it comes about when an individual is exposed to irritants such as plants, soaps, chemicals, lotions, as well as jewelry. In addition to causing night itchiness, the condition is also known to be very unsightly, and is accompanied by oozing, bumps, as well as scabs. Additional sources of this kind of irritation include bleaches and laundry detergents that are used in washing the linens as well as the sheets.
2. Bedbugs
These are tiny, blood-feeding insects, which are known to infest hotel rooms as well as homes. In most cases, you will find that bedbugs like to hide in mattresses, where they also lay their eggs. During the night, the bedbugs will come out of their hiding spots to feed from their hosts. Homes that are clean and spotless could also be harboring these tiny insects, as they use the pipes and walls to move freely within the residence. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, the skin lesions left behind by the bedbugs are very similar to those caused by mosquitoes.
3. Systemic Disease
According to Dr. Scott Moses, an American Family Physician, itchy skin at night, for close to fifty percent of all elderly adults is caused by underlying conditions such as kidney failure, or chronic liver disease. Patients that have poorly functioning livers may experience itchiness at night because of a buildup of bile acid present on the skin surface.
Home Remedies for Itchy Lower Legs
Do you experience the urge to scratch your legs all the time? Latest research has shown that itchy skin is a problem affecting many people all over the world. Based on the severity of the itchiness, it could range between mildly annoying and intensely aggravating, at which point it could begin to disrupt your sleep as well as your day to day activities.
This kind of itching can be caused by many factors, which include: allergic reactions, skin infections, detergents and soaps, medications, as well as skin infections. Even though scratching has been known to provide temporary relief, it could also lead to infections as well as injuries. There exist a few home remedies that you can use to get relief from the itching, as well as prevent complications that could come about due to excessive scratching.
Baking soda
It is a remedy found in many homes, and one considered to be very effective when it comes to dealing with skin rashes and itchy skin. It comes with a soothing effect because of its anti-inflammatory properties. Additionally, it also acts as a natural acid neutralizer, which can assist in eliminating itching.
What to do at home
- Measure a single cup of baking soda and add it to a tub that has been filled with cool water. You will need to stir this water well, to ensure that the baking soda has been properly distributed. Make sure to soak in this solution for about thirty minutes. Once this time has elapsed, you need to pat your body dry, instead of rubbing the body with a towel.
- Ensure you apply this remedy once a day
- If the itching is localized, you can prepare a simple paste by combining a single teaspoon of water with three teaspoons of baking soda. The paste should then be applied in the region that has been affected, allowing it to stay there for about ten minutes
Colloidal oatmeal
This particular home remedy assists in soothing and comforting skin that is itchy. The home remedy comes with anti-irritating, soothing, and anti-inflammatory properties, which are known to provide relief from itching and accompanying symptoms.
What to do at home
- Pour two cups of colloidal oatmeal into a bathtub that has been filled with warm water. You should soak your entire body into this solution for at least twenty minutes. It is recommended that you desist from using hot water as it could end up irritating your skin even further.
- Try and take an oatmeal bath at least two times each day
- Alternatively, take a small amount of water and mix it with a single cup of colloidal oatmeal. You should then leave it in place to thicken. Once it has thickened, take the paste and proceed to apply it on the itchy skin. You will then be required to cover this area using a cloth, before leaving it in place for at least half an hour.
- This particular remedy should be applied once each day
Cool water
Sensations experienced when itching, and when showering with cool water both travel along the same nerve fibers found in the human body. As such, applying cool water in the affected area should provide you with instant relief from the itchiness. You can use cool water to relieve itchy skin in a number of ways:
What to do at home
- Take a cool bath or shower
- Run tap water (cool) on the area that is affected by the itching
- Take an ice cube and wrap it using a cloth before rubbing it all over the affected region
- Apply a cloth wet or a cold compress on this area that is affected
Lemon
Lemon has been used by individuals for many years to treat itchy skin. It contains acetic and citric acids, both of which contain anesthetic, anti-irritating, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory properties.
What to do at home
- Take two fresh lemons and extract the juice from them
- Take this juice and apply it on the affected region using a cotton ball
- You should allow it enough time to dry out, before using warm water to rinse the area
- It is recommended that you repeat this remedy twice each day until you notice an improvement.
Note: Individuals with sensitive skin should not use this remedy, as it may worsen the condition, instead of relieving the symptoms.
The above remedies will assist in relieving the itchiness, as well as the additional symptoms that come with itching. If they do not work for you, or if itching recurs after a while, it will be best to make sure that you consult your primary care physician for a proper diagnosis.
References;
- https://hubpages.com/health/10-Causes-of-Itchy-Legs
- http://www.livestrong.com/article/212650-what-causes-itchy-skin-at-night/
- http://www.med-health.net/Red-Itchy-Bumps-on-Legs.html
- http://www.just-health.net/Itchy-Lower-Legs.html
- http://mddk.com/itchy-lower-legs.html
