Itchy Skin Relief: Natural Remedies and Causes

Apples

Posted by Sheila (San Diego, Ca, Usa) on 05/12/2011
★★★★★

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)

Grandmother Guffy Remedy

Posted by John B. (Hawaii) on 07/09/2021

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.

Grandmother Guffy Remedy

Posted by Elaine (Edmond, Oklahoma) on 07/27/2014
★★★★★

I can vouch for the Witch Hazel and stitches from child birth. I asked my mother to bring me a bottle of WH as I was in a lot of pain from hemorrhoids. I had learned that WH was good for that. So, I put about a third of a cup in my Sitz bath. The relief to the hemorrhoids was almost immediately. But I noticed the pain relief to my stitches was even faster! And my doctor mentioned it was healing faster than usual.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Mario (London, United Kingdom) on 02/27/2008
★★★★★

Yesterday I was terrified with an itch in my but and very stressed to find a solution for my problem. I thought to myself, must have something to put on to finihed or to easy this terrible problem. When searching the net I found Earthclinic, and I try Apple Cider Vineger as a topic solution,its works... and today i am fealing much better, no itchin that's great!! thannk you Earthclinic.

Honey

Posted by Em (Dunedin, New Zealand) on 06/23/2007
★★★★★

I was being driven crazy at midnight last night by an itching foot which, I think, is a side effect from a prescribed medication. I have tried so many remedies including those suggested by my doctor. Well, last night I came across your site and in desperation smeared my poor old foot with Manuka honey and lo and behold it stopped almost instantly ! The relief is exquisite so thank you for the great information. I will be passing it on. Kia ora. Em, New Zealand

Baking Soda

Posted by Lisa (Bellevue, USA) on 06/08/2007
★★★★★

BAKING SODA! It really helps itchy skin. If you put just a little bit (1/4 cup) of baking soda into a warm bath, it can really decrease your urge to itch! I've done this for years!!

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Joe (Philadelphia, PA) on 05/27/2007
★★★★★

Hello, I recently had an outbreak of itching, mainly in my groin area and innner thigh. I believe it was a reaction to eye drop drugs I'm taking for an eye problem, but I am still trying to figure out the cause.

Anyhow, the itching was relentless and I was trying all kinds of stuff for relief. I was extremely irritable to say the least. Then I remembered that my dad once told me cows used to be fed apple cider vinedar to ward off infections and other ailments. So I tried it and within an hour ALL ITCHING STOPPED!!! I was SO RELIEVED I couldn't stop smiling!!!!! Right now I am itch free and will take apple cider vinegar daily.

Baking Soda

Posted by joanofark06 (S.Carolina, USA) on 12/07/2021
★★★★★

For itchy skin,

Pour as much baking soda as you want in a bath of warm water, and soak. Your skin will turn softer the more you do this.

UV Lamp

Posted by Tony (St Paul, AB) on 02/16/2021
★★★★★

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.

Vitamin B-12

Posted by Fan B (Pasadena) on 07/24/2017
★★★★★

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.

Pumice Stone Exfoliation

Posted by Justme (Lac La Biche, Ab) on 01/07/2017
★★★★★

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.

Baking Soda

Posted by Jeff (Mckinney, Texas) on 06/21/2011
★★★★★

I had some itchy spots and I mixed some Baking Soda with water and wiped it on the spots. It soothed the spots for me. I also tried Milk Of Magnesia on the spots and it seemed to do the same thing. I hope this helps.

Calcium Bentonite Clay

Posted by Janice (Seminole, Florida) on 04/28/2008
★★★★★

My grandson is eleven years old and came visiting Saturday with a very bad case of chicken pox. He was extremely uncomfortable and itching himself allot, I hydrated a batch of calcium bentonite clay and smeared it all over his pox marks. I gave him a jar of it to take with him and told him to apply it whenever he starting itching. He had immediate relief. My son took him to the doctor's office monday morning and the doctor wanted to know what he had used to heal him so fast. He is all healed that fast and no scarring at all!

Borax Foot Scrub

Posted by Jessica (Forest, VA, USA) on 12/19/2007
★★★★★

I'm insulin resistant, so I have alot of the same problems that diabetics do, including rough feet. I've tried so many scrubs and files and lotions in hopes of softening my feet. I suspect that I also have a systemic Candida infection, so I thought Borax would be good for my itchy feet. It worked wonderfully! My feet were so soft after I got out of the shower and have not been itching since. Once you get your feet nice and soft, you'll want to follow with a good moisturizer: that's where my next project lies.

L-Glutamine

Posted by Monarch-Supporter (Maryland) on 09/20/2023
★★★★★

Posterior itch: What has really helped in the long term are glutamine capsules.

New Zealand Skin Cream

Posted by Michael (New Zealand) on 03/18/2022
★★★★★

"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

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Cindy (Illinois, USA) on 12/30/2020 563 posts
★★★★★

I've often wondered why scratching an itch feels so good and I THINK it's purpose is to break the skin to trigger the generation of H2O2 that either cleans up the reason for the itch itself or triggers the immune system to come and take care of it!

It makes perfect sense now! That has ALWAYS given me fits! I KNEW there was a reason it feels so good and I think this is, in all likelihood, that reason! FINALLY! That has bothered me my whole life as one of the curiosities that sparked my interest in alternative medicine! Since I was a kid and told to "stop scratching" every time I got a skeeter bite or anything else that felt so good to scratch!

We had a neighbor when I was a kid - Gwen. She was an older woman and a missionary who was always "off to Guam" - "The Gwen of the Guam". She could make homemade bread out of just about anything - or just about anything out of practically nothing at all and knew all sorts of things about herbs and plants. I wish I could tell her this as she agreed with me that it appeared universally so that scratching feels good and must have a purpose.

Peppermint Oil

Posted by Charity (Faithville, Usa) on 07/21/2017

You give very little info . It could be dehydration, iodine detox or liver health ...so drink some extra water - if you took some iodine, eat some selenium, sea salt, and vitamin C, --- if not then take some milk thistle or a half a dime size of raw ginger and chew and drink 16 oz. water.

If you ate something you are allergic to, then take 1/4-1/2 tsp baking soda and disolve in 12 oz. water and drink .