Itchy Skin Cures

Grandmother Guffys Method for forever soft, clean, ageless skin.

My grandmother Guffys skin was as soft and smooth as a babys butt till the day she died at 94. One day, when I was a younger woman constantly on the go, she noticed how dry and ashy my skin was and elected to tell me about her method of bathing. It was the only thing she said she did to keep her body clean and soft. First, she never took long baths (and NO, she did not smell). She said bathing dried out skin. Second, she never used hot water on her skin. Third, she never needed lotions. I listened; yet, despite the evidence before me, I did not take her advise. Hot showers were invigorating, I exclaimed. Who ever heard of not bathing, I secretly thought. Why do not the young listen! For years now I have suffered with extremely dry and itchy skin. FINALLY! I recalled my grandmother Guffys bathing method for clean, itch-less, soft, ageless skin. Here it is:

1) Massage 2-3 tablespoons of (antibacterial, anti-fungal) coconut oil over your entire dry, naked body, but not your face. Be sure to include your private areas and feet - get utterly greasy with it! Let it soak 5 minutes.

2) Take a clean, white, DRY bath cloth, folded in fours and scrub your entire body. When one side of the cloth gets cruddy, refold to a clean side of the same cloth. Don't forget private areas.

3) Shower/rinse in very lukewarm to cold water and ONLY wash your private areas with diluted baking soda and water or an organic non-soap or as I sometimes do, diluted ACV.

3) Get out of the shower and barely pat dry.

Believe! This works! People who touch my skin always exclaim at how soft it is AND my husband who has scratched my back many a time has taken to gently rubbing my arms a lot. Just try it! It is not real expensive or hard to do and results are quick. If you are allergic to coconut oil, switch to a light olive oil or sesame oil. Soon you will do as I did - throw away all your bathing soaps and bottles.

For the past ten years I have had an itch on both forearms and more recently also on my upper arms.

Before I understood the benefits of alternative medicine, I went to an Allopathic (Conventional) Dermatologist, who told me I had Eczema. I questioned that, because I had none of the classical symptoms of Eczema. But, he insisted it was possible to have Eczema with none of the symptoms. I still question his diagnosis. He prescribed hydrocortisone cream, which did help until I stopped using it.

As a conventionally trained RN I knew the dangers of long term cortisone use, so stopped using the cream and the itching came back with a vengeance. Not wanting to use the cortisone cream, I continued to suffer, while occasionally using ice packs when the itching became unbearable.

Then, about three years ago, I was talking to a Chiropractor and mentioned my itching problem. She said she had always heard that itching on the arms were related to liver issues - more specifically a sluggish liver, most likely due to all of the chemicals in our environment. When our bodies are exposed to all those chemicals, they eventually end up in our blood, and get filtered out through our liver, which eventually gets clogged, and then doesn't function properly.

I think it is important to note that I have MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity). I believe I have had symptoms for the past 18 years, but only learned about MCS in 2007, from an acquaintance. At the time she told me about her MCS I thought, how awful for her!

Then one day, I went into a clothing store and got really sick with very familiar symptoms: profuse sweating, heart palpitations, light headedness, headache and weakness. I finally left the store without buying anything. Then, as I sat in my car, waiting for the symptoms to pass enough, so I could drive home, I remembered a story I had once read. It was a magazine article that talked about how some women couldn't go into fabric stores, because the finishes on the fabrics, which make them look nice, were chemicals that these women couldn't tolerate.

As I sat in my car, I had an "AH-HA! " moment! The finishes on fabrics in fabric stores were the same chemicals they put on ready to wear clothing in stores! After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I HAVE MCS!

After much research, I gradually removed all chemicals from my environment - including personal care products (hair products, bath gel, lotions, makeup, toothpaste, PERFUME! And scents of all types), air fresheners (one of the most toxic chemicals! ), cleaning products (dish soap, laundry products, window cleaner, oven cleaner, floor cleaner, etc.), gardening products, home improvement products and the most difficult one FOOD! The list is too long to give here, but an online search should help you begin to eliminate chemicals from your life. One of the biggest hurdles, with MCS, is getting family and friends to understand the importance of eliminating chemicals for both you and themselves.

After learning that the liver was the culprit, of my itching, I started doing research about the liver not functioning, due to chemical overload, and found that, indeed, this could cause the profound itching of my forearms all these years! The result of my research, was that there are herbs that help the liver to function more efficiently.

Among the most effective and well known herbs, that improve liver function are: Milk Thistle, Dandelion Root, Parsley, Black Radish Root, and Burdock Root. There are also some supplements that aid in liver function: NAC (N-Acetyl-L Cysteine), ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid), and TMG (trimethylglycine). I checked my favorite online supplement company, and found that they had a combination product called Liver Essentials. If you do a web search for - Liver Essentials SWC017 - you should be able to find this product. I found that by taking twice the recommended dose, twice daily, my arms gradually began to itch less. As with almost all alternative remedies, it takes time to see a result. It has been a while, but I think after about 30-60 days, I was seeing a big improvement.

For the most part, taking Liver Essentials has made a huge improvement in my itchy arms. But, I found that there were times, that it was almost impossible to eliminate chemicals, from my life, and the itching would return.

After a while, I went looking for other solutions to my itching. I think it may have been on EarthClinic, that I saw someone mention that Peppermint Essential Oil (EO) helped their itching. I don't remember if they said how to use it, but I have experience using EOs and know that it is not wise to use EOs "neat" or full strength. So I got some of a "natural/Unscented, paraben free lotion, that I had in the house and put some Peppermint EO in it, until it had a pretty strong scent - maybe 15 drops in 2 ounces Of lotion. I found that if I put a small amount of this peppermint cream on my arms before I start scratching, and rub it in fully, it does help manage the itch. If I start scratching first, it takes a lot more effort to get the itch under control. Sometimes it takes 2-3 applications to get it under control.

I recently had to have repeated foot surgery over several months, and the anesthesia and antibiotic drugs given, brought the itching back with a vengeance! Nothing helped, short of sitting with ice packs on my arms all day.

Then, one day, I was looking at Homeopathic Remedies, in the health food store, and found Boiron SULPHUR - for "Skin Rash Worsened by Heat and Water". I was at my wit's end with the itching on my arms (which by now had moved to my upper arms as well), so I decided to try it. Imagine my surprise, when five minutes after taking it, the itching was gone! With Homeopathic Remedies, it is generally necessary to take frequent dosing in the beginning and then gradually decrease frequency. So, I started taking it once per hour for the first day, then as needed, for itching the next day, and now I take it 2-3 times daily, as I still have occasional itching. If the itching stops all together, I decrease the frequency and will eventually stop taking the Homeopathic Sulphur. It is not necessary to take Homeopathic Remedies to prevent a condition. So, once the symptoms are gone, it should not be taken anymore.

I once suffered from night time itching which had a huge impact on my life as I was unable to sleep or function properly during the day. The itching occurred mostly on my back and was severe. I tried many different lotions and remedies, with only mild relief. I saw a chinese doctor who instantly told me there was an issue with my liver causing the itching. I have since found out that this is a condition that also affects some pregnant women (I was not pregnant). I traced my issue back to the overuse of painkillers for back problems. The doctor told me I must stop taking the painkillers. He put me onto a diet that included a lot of selenium such as brazil nuts and sweet potato. I also had to reduce sugar intake and avoid refined flour products. He prescribed some chinese medicines but I was unable to take them as they made me feel sick. Regardless, my problem was eliminated and I am forever grateful for his diagnosis. I can take painkillers without issues but I only take them rarely now. I was fortunate to find a good chiropractor so I don't need them as much. I wanted to share this with Earth Clinic as this website is a godsend.

For those people who have Eczema, Psoriasis, Dermatitus, Hives, Rashes, please look at your diet and what you put in your mouth. For the past 11 months, I have scratched myself silly and had endless sleepless nights, getting up and having showers to relieve my rash. The doctors only want to give you cortisone ointment which temporarily fixes the problem. I even went to a "so called dermatologist" who looked at me and said I had Scabies (made me feel so dirty) and put gloves on to which I replied I had tried Lyclear (scabie, bed bug cream here in Australia) and also even went as far as doing an apple core test (where they dig your skin and pull out a bit of flesh just like an apple) - I never went back to this woman as I felt her behaviour was not professional (cost meapprox. $500 AUD) for visit and test and I got an appointment within two days.

I then saw a naturopath who looked in my eyes and said he could help me. He still hasn't told me exactly what it is and said not to eat any gluten till next visit and has put me on a liver powder (1st visit) and month later two more medications. Not being a doctor person, I have not eaten gluten now for 4 weeks, and within a week, my itching - which was unbearable - has virtually disappeared.

Last night I was googling about this rash as I was eating chocolate - quite a bit as I am limited to foods now - and woke up through the night with an itch (bearable compared to what I had been having) and decided to google if chocolate has gluten and I found it has also - but you can get some without. One thing led to another and I came upon a site which said Dermatitus Herpetiformis and described my itch down to a tee. (Wikipedia) except my itch was on my neck.

Please please please readers, give up gluten (wheat flour cakes pastries etc etc.) look at labels, try and go gluten-free and I hope my information can help you. It is a lifelong diet, but also can help you lose weight. Some of the photos are much worse than I, but persevere and eat well and I am sure you benefit in the long run. Would love to hear if it helps anyone with the above skin rashes.

ACV works because it buffers the acid in the stomach and ACV is quite acidic.

Two cups of water when suffering indigestion will fix it and the same, 3x per day, will eliminate it.

People say water just dilutes the stomach acid, which is true as maintaining proper acidity in the stomach is accomplished, by the body, using water. And all ACV does is buffer it - chemically.

Drink plain water. The "water" in food, juice, tea etc doesn't count - it's treated as food and belongs to the colon which the body will simply steal from it when you're dehydrated.

When you're dehydrated, your body has to jump through hoops, rationing water and stealing it from vital systems. Dehydration is an emergency mode that, to handle, requires - you guessed it - WATER. So it's having to use a lot of the little water it is getting to ration and steal/extract it from other the rest of the body. And that's not easy. Try extracting pure water from tea without raising the temp above 99 degrees.

Don't over consume water if you're chronically dehydrated. It can take a couple of years to get the body out of emergency mode and properly hydrated. Plain water is handled differently. It gets snagged and distributed, right now, but it can't do all that it needs to do all at once. If you're chronically dehydrated, that extended emergency mode involves the slow shut down of organs. VITAL organs that get relegated to a "not AS vital" list.

It takes time to reboot and patch damaged organs that have been in the process of being shut down so don't over-consume it but drink plain water. Which is not the same as sucking on a single bottle of water all morning. Drink it.

This is much longer than I intended but no one should have indigestion - nor many other issues - these days as indigestion and all related issues are synthetic "illnesses". You're not sick. You're dehydrated. Many people - including those with indigestion - will swear they drink plenty of water when they actually don't drink much at all. I do not know why.

I been having this itch between my fingers for two weeks now. I tried petroleum jelly and it was gone but after two weeks it appeared again, this time it was so itchy and it even crack, it's like a cut in between my finger, it was very sore, and itched like mad. It's like you have skin bugs inside, so I thought of cleaning it with hydrogen peroxide to disinfect it, my husband told me to go to the doctor, that night it just popped into my mind "how about I make my own cream" because I'm sure the doctor will prescribe it anyway. so that night I mixed baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, I didn't measure it, just made it like a paste. That first time I applied it, it burns really good, I felt that the cream is penetrating in to the whole areas that's been affected and killing all the skin bugs. I feel more relieved with my own cream, and now it's getting better, no more itch for 3 days.

I have a question... I have had a place on the back of my right arm and around my neck that have itched for quite awhile... At least 2 yrs or better. Sometimes it worse than other times. I have tried meds from several different drs. With nothing really helping. Lately it's been really bad all day & nite. Will wake me up at nite itching. I scratch until I have little welts or pimple like things. I have tried taking Organic apple cider vinegar internally at least 3x's a day in RO water as well as splashing it on the area, which burns quite a bit. I am looking for some type of home remedy that actually works. I really can't see that the vinegar has helped any. I also use a lotion that a dermatologist perscribed that can be bought over the counter. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Desperate for some relief. Been taking the vinegar for atleast 3 wks. Thanks

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I have not idea why my arms were so itchy. Intense itch that kept my up through the night. Recently i felt a crawling sensation and biting.Yikes! I figured it was some sort of skin parasite(non-contagious) After spending alot of money and going to the doctors , nothing was working.... until a finally stumbled on your site. The first day, i bathed in ACV(1/2 cupt) plus applied it directly.Then i drank it 2x (2 tablespoons) a day, applied it directly 2x a day as well. Now i am on day 6 , and my arms are almost completely healed. lots of sores prior to. little sign of any parasite. God bless you and Thank you!

I was waking up in the middle of the night with almost my whole body itching like the devil. No amount of scratching helped.

I found peppermint oil gave temporary relief. I was able to go back to sleep for the night.

One night I asked the subconscious for a clue and in the morning I was made to understand that my skin needed more sunlight exposure.

It's been nearly -40C for the last two weeks here so sunbathing was out of the question.

I do, however have a UV lamp I had recently purchased.

I did 2 five minute full body exposures three days apart.

The itching has totally disappeared.

Comfortable in my skin once again.

I'm posting this because I would never have thought of this solution on my own.

I've had itching that mostly occurs at night and mostly during the summer months, for decades. There is no rash or bumps but if I scratch it enough my skin gets damaged. It's around the area in front of my elbows on the top of my arms and sometimes on the backs or sides of my shoulders. I've read that really doctors have no idea what causes it but it might relate to a pinched nerve. I finally ran across a blurb that said it was a vitamin b-12 deficiency. I bought a pump spray of b-12 that is sublingual and it really does work. I tried everything else but no success until this. Hope it works for someone else because the itching is terrible.

I've had what I think is brachial radial pruritus for about 6 years. I first noticed while living in Thailand during my pregnancy. It is extremely itchy, especially at night and has some relationship with heat and/or humidity and may be related to problems with the cervical disk. The itch is followed by small red bumps on the upper arms and shoulders. No amount of scratching helps and the itch seems to be deep inside the nerves. It is the worst itch ever and will keep you up all night and in tears trying to find relief. The bumps become unsightly and painful from picking and get pin prick like painful impulses going through them when the situation is really inflamed. I tried every product imaginable and the only relief I eventually found was by using ice packs to numb my arms at night until I passed out. In the winter it goes away. Recently I tried ACV as the weather was getting hotter and I could feel it coming on. I don't believe it is curing it, but I think the ACV is helping to minimize the itching and symptoms so that I am not scratching uncontrollably.

I hope to find a cure eventually, but in the meantime this is helping.

"Hello There" - it's me again!

Sadly, I have recently experienced a flare-up of that awful and debilitating itchiness. which I normally get after cutting my tall hedge (long story there). Keeps me awake at night! Usually a bath or long shower, with thorough shampooing/rinsing and judicious application of 50/50 ACV and water spray afterwards does the trick but this time - no hedge trimming to blame however! What to do?

Maybe I just have an acidic body? I have been told I have to exchange my body for a more alkaline, user friendly and up to date model/version and I will be led to sweetness and light, golden, upland pastures!!

I have trawled through the Itch Section here on the E.C. website, and, whilst there are many useful suggestions therein, I would like to add my own contribution if I may.

We have a product down here at the bottom of the World that has the following ingredients in it: carrageen, jojoba, eucalyptus, turpentine, pine, (EV) olive oil, menthol, cinnamon, aloe vera, camphor, peppermint and acacia gum. They are putting the above ingredients into U.V. light-treated rainwater, along with a couple of other magical things and christened it as "Chronic Itch Relief" and touting it as being effective for dry, irritated, itchy skin. This one is for external use only and one must keep it away from eyes and other sensitive areas.

Well, the secret is out!! I tried it this evening and relief was immediate and am hoping the beneficial effects will last. Will try to keep you posted.

It's nice to know that help is at hand "out there" sometimes when one is most in need of it.

Cheers from Down Under

ITCHY SKIN GONE!,

I am going to try to make this short. I started to have itchy skin about 25 years ago. It was right after an evening shower, I still had my towel on and the itch hit me in my lower legs. I scratched so deep that I had left long red gouges in my legs and the itch still wouldn't stop!

After a long period of time, I had come to realize that I couldn't take any more showers and I had limited my baths, but I had no issues with baths....until about 5 years ago. After going to bed and having a bath earlier that evening, I started to have an itch and it intensified to the point where I felt like needles were being poked into my skin!

After trying "almost" everything; it was during another bath, I was doing my 5th or 6th attempt at "a rub a layer of bath salts' onto my skin and wait there for an hour until it stopped burning(...still didn't help) that if only I could get rid of this skin, so I grabbed my pumice stone and started rubbing my skin with it. After a minute of rubbing, I noticed that it was actually removing dead skin. EUREKA! This was the ticket! From then on unto today, I haven't had any, nothing, nada, itchy skin! PRAISE THE LORD, because he made me persistent!

So according to my observations, I had to remove that dead skin, and nothing else worked. I tried everything. 'THAT DEAD SKIN HAS TO BE REMOVED! ' Your good skin underneath needs to breath.

So, what I do is once a week, during one of my baths, I will soak for awhile, then I stand up, take my pumice stone and gently rub in small circles where I need it until the dead skin comes off. Sometimes it comes off right away, sometimes it takes a little longer (soak a little longer and then try again). Be warned though, if you rub too hard, you will scratch yourself....I have done it many times.

You can't do it inside the water, and it doesn't work for me in the shower...just not enough heat and moisture to softening the dead skin so that it can be easily removed.

I have plastered my self with all kinds of lotions from bad to good - coconut & olive oil..organic! ; itch creams; used all kinds of scrubbers, and a lava stone, but it was too rough for my skin. Nothing works like the pumice stone, nothing. My skin wasn't getting the benefit of the oils because of the layer of the dead skin.

I hope this will also be your remedy for itchy skin.

I thank my Lord and Saviour for guiding me.

If you suffer from uncontrollable, intense, itching biting, burning feeling all over the body and it is worse at night, it may be the liver . Ask the doctor for a full Liver work up. Itching may be a sign is of a deeper underlying problem and you want to know the cause of it so you can cure it. I know from experience I had itching I took high doses of Vitamin C to get rid of the itching, but there was a reason for the insane itching my body was telling me something! Silly me. A couple years later I got super sick I had a virus in the liver, curable in 95% of cases . My point is itching is a sign

It is important to note that constant symptoms of itching (especially if it is worse at night or in your hands and feet) could be a signal of increased bile levels in the liver. This symptom can emerge during pregnancy as a fetus can put strain on your liver, and can remain after pregnancy if not treated. It can also happen without pregnancy. Ask your doctor to check your bile levels.

What I'm experiencing right now could be contact dermatitis, a reaction to ACV or iodine/dide, detoxing results, or a diamine oxidase deficiency/food allergy/histamine intolerance. A ER doctor Dx'ed my skin condition as being contact dermatitis of unknown origin or cause, so I listed the other possibilities of my dry, itchy skin. I'm currently on the tail-end of my symptoms. I'm also trying to stick to natural remedies, staying off any Rx.

What has worked so far for itchiness is eating an apple. I've done this thrice now and each time has eased my itching so that I don't have the urge to scratch for several hours. The organic, red delicious apple has definitely helped the skin on my eyelids and my neck and chest. I only buy organic produce due to pesticides -- I definitely have reactions to pesticide-treated fruits. (for the diamine oixidase/histamine intolerance, I've started a eating journal and eating low histamine foods)

For hair washing add 1 cup Borax dissolved into a gallon of water and use it as a shampoo on dry hair to massage into your hair and scalp...rinse. You may need some hot water initially to dissolve the powder.

I used pure apple cider vinegar to cure my itching feet. My feet breakout in tiny itching bumps (not athlete's feet). The itch was so bad, I would scratch until they bled and then still scratched after the bleeding. I soaked my feet in 1 quart of undiluted APV for approx. 30 min. and finally the itching was gone immediately. All the dry dead skin, which I thought had all been scraped off was also gone. I don't know if it should have been diluted, but I was desperate.