| Pruritis: Cause and Treatments
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Pruritis: Cause and Treatments
Pruritis is a clinical term for itch. Pruritis is the feeling that creates temptation to scratch. Itching is not a minor problem; when it is in severe form, it causes lot of discomfort. It can even lead to loss of sleep, depression, anxiety. When person cannot control temptation to itch, it creates frustration.
Cause of Pruritis
There are various triggers of itching and exact cause is unknown. Some nerves in the skin react to some chemicals like histamines. These signals are sent to the brain and processed. Many skin diseases have pruritis as their main symptom. Sometimes, any internal process manifests itself through pruritis. If the person is not suffering with any skin diseases or internal disease, then pruritis may be due to some faulty response of nervous system. Some women feel like scratching their skin during pregnancy which resolves after delivery.
Itching is the primary symptom in many skin disorders where rashes get developed. Some skin disorders are eczema which is a very common problem world over. Hives and chicken pox are other diseases. Some skin disorders are that there are no rashes on skin but pruritis is the main symptom.
People with dry skin, especially the old people really get harassed with severe pruritis but rashes are not there. Winter makes it worse for the dry skin; itching increases in winters. Degree of pruritis may be mild for subtly dry skin but may be due to some inner condition. If skin has got infested by some parasites like lice, tehn it can really be itchy.
As told above there are some internal disease that can be the cause of pruritis, kidney failure is one such example of internal disease. Other examples of itch causing internal diseases are thyroid diseases and some forms of liver diseases like hepatitis C. Storkes and pinched nerves are some neurologic problems which can cause itch. Some blood disorders like multiple myeloma or anemia which occurs due to iron deficiency can also be the cause behind pruritis. Lymphoma may have itch as its part of symptoms.
Pruritis ani is common form of pruritis which affect the anal region. It is associated with some common diseases like diabetes, jaundice, uremia or lymphoma. Main causes of pruritis ani are kind of food eaten, minerals, vitamins or any medication. Other causes may be the soap, cream or lotions applied over skin. There is a continuous cycle of itching and scratching in pruritis ani; scratching causes further itching and then scratching again.
Treatment for Pruritis:
To treat pruritis, it is essential to know what is triggering to itch. This can be determined by visual examination of skin, blood test or skin biopsy.
If itch is one of the symptoms of skin diseases like eczema or hives, it will be relieved with treatment of that particular skin disease. If that itch is due to some internal disease as discussed above than some oral medicines are prescribed to relieve the itch. There are ultraviolet treatments also to help relieve the itch. To treat pruritis, certain medications like histamine, proteases and prostaglandins are prescribed. In some cases, topical hydrocortisone creams can be applied.
It is true that there are many different causes for itch but still, there are some basic treatments which can be applied to any kind of itch. Itch quite effectively responds to the treatment despite being very distressing for the patient. Treatments are targeted to alleviate the reverse the allergic reaction, inflammation and pain. It is beneficial to take care of skin to control itching.
1 Avoid using very hot water for bathing or showering, rather use only lukewarm water.
2 Do not wear tight skin fitting cloths which rub against skin; wear only loose cloths.
3 Maintain cool atmosphere at home or office to reduce the frequency of itch.
4 Avoid harsh soaps for bathing as they make the skin drier; only use mild soaps. Rinse off the skin completely to clear away all the soap particles and pat dry the skin.
5 Just after bath, never forget to apply moisturising cream or lotion according to your skin type.
6 In case of pruritis ani, it is essential to maintain good anal hygiene. Keep the anal skin dry and clean. Avoid foods which trigger itch.
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