When it comes to winter, it itches all over, which makes countless people worry. What is the reason?
In the cold winter, the hurried alarm clock woke you up while you were dreaming, and you reluctantly got out of bed, but as soon as you put on a thick sweater, you arrived with itching.
when you go to work and stay in an office with good heating, you will feel miserable for a while with your hands, feet and armpits, just like a bug crawling.
I finally got off work, but I just got home from a hot bath, and suddenly I felt itchy and finally stopped. When I got into bed and just felt warm, the "bugs" came out to make trouble again ...
I've had enough of this kind of day. It's so cold in winter. What's wrong with me being warmer? "Itching Hero", please give me a break! In fact, it is not only itchy when it is warm, but also itchy when it is too cold. It seems that winter is really a season of torture.
Why does "Itchy Hero" like winter so much? How can we control the itching all over the body? It seems that only by mastering certain coping methods can the "itch warrior" fight less with himself.
when it comes to winter, it's cold, which gives people an intuitive feeling. It's true. The south is fine, not to mention the north. The weather of tens of degrees below zero is really uncomfortable. At this time, if people are in a low temperature environment for a long time, human skin can't stop the invasion of "cold air".
what's going on?
The skin that used to cover the whole body of the human body is well-known. Although the skin only covers the body surface, it accounts for 5%~15% of the body weight. The skin has a three-layer structure, and each layer is complex. It can not only prevent harmful substances from soaking in, but also lock human substances such as water from losing, which is an important defense line for the human body.
Especially, the stratum corneum and sebaceous glands at the lower end of epidermis interact with each other. Sebaceous glands constantly secrete oil to help people "stick" the water in stratum corneum, while stratum corneum controls the water flow and forms a "moat". When the water content in the "moat" is less than 1%, the skin will give a warning of dryness, cracking and itching.
As we all know, oil freezes when it is cold, and melts when it is hot, so does sebaceous glands of human body. In winter, sebaceous glands are almost on strike. At this time, without oil sticking to the water in the "moat", the water will continue to lose. Once it is broken, the cold air from outside will continue to invade, which will cause our skin to be frozen.
And there are tiny capillaries all over the skin, which will also be frozen. At that time, the unsmooth surface will cause pathological changes, followed by chilblain, and the three most obvious places are ears, hands and feet.
The itching caused by chilblain is unusual. The more you scratch it, the more you scratch it. In a short time, it will be stiff and swollen locally, and in serious cases, it will be "crystal clear", which will torture people.
this is the itching feeling brought by cold air.
Another "killer" in winter-air humidity, which can cause itching all over the body.
As we all know, winter is a cold and dry season. In this environment, the sebaceous glands of the human body "strike" and the cuticle "dries up". Under the condition of continuous loss of water, the dryness of the skin tends to the dryness of the air, and itching will be accompanied by chapping.
This is one point, and the other point is that people like to stay in heating rooms and air-conditioned rooms in winter. The continuous hot air will accelerate the removal of humidity in the air and water from the human body, which shows that staying indoors may be more irritating than staying outdoors.
Hot itching is a common symptom in winter. Unlike chilblain, it only patronizes hands, feet and ears. It can invade the whole body. If you wear too much, it will itch. If you wear too little, it will itch in a heated room for a long time. It's really hard.
at this time, some people will say, since it is water loss, then we can just replenish water! That's right. Replenishing water in winter is the primary task. At this time, we can reduce the incidence of itching by drinking more hot water, controlling water balance and accelerating metabolism.
Drinking water is controlled from the inside out, which is the most effective way. In addition, we can "lock water" from the outside in. For example, we can "control water" by applying hand cream and moisturizing cream, and "transfer water" by installing a humidifier indoors.
As mentioned above, human skin can resist the invasion of foreign harmful substances. In winter, we often get sick from the mouth, and another reason is that we drink less water, which causes bacteria to invade our skin and affect our health. Doctors in winter say five words to patients the most: go back and drink more water.
At this time, some people say that I am busy with work and often forget to drink water. I can always wet my hands, face and feet when I go to the toilet. I want to say, this is in winter, it's just hurting yourself. Winter is cold and dry, and it's refreshing to get wet for a while. But when hot air meets dry cold air, it will not only take away the original moisture of the human body, but also aggravate skin chapping and bacterial invasion.
this also shows that when we take a hot bath in winter, we obviously use soap, bath lotion, etc. to wash the fragrance, but why do we feel itchy all over soon after washing? In fact, the detergents we use, such as soap, are weakly alkaline, which will destroy our weakly acidic stratum corneum, resulting in accelerated water loss and itching symptoms.
The partners who love bathing in winter may feel deeply that bathing is very comfortable, but after a long time, they will have symptoms such as general weakness and head syncope, which is the result that the hot air takes away our water and causes us to dehydrate.
For colleagues who don't take a bath, taking a bath for a long time will make them feel thirsty, which is the same. At this time, we can just drink a cup of warm water after taking a bath or taking a bath.
Some experts have done research. In winter, people who take a bath every day, those who take a bath with high water temperature and those who take a bath for a long time are much more likely to have itching than those who take a bath for a week or so, and those who take a bath with moderate water temperature and duration. It seems that bathing in winter should also be based on the boundary between north and south, and what suits you is the best.
The external itching is an objective factor, and it also has subjective factors.
Everyone's physique is different, and some people's skin is sensitive. There are two kinds of common itching, one is when they encounter cold air, and the other is when they encounter irritating items, such as sweaters and fiber clothing. When they encounter chemicals, they will cause urticaria, and when they eat seafood, they will itch. For this allergic physique, there is no way but to "prescribe the medicine".
In addition, personal lack of hygiene is also a major cause of itching. In fact, the lack of water is accompanied by the invasion of harmful substances, and most skin problems are caused by bacterial infection and microbial growth.
Therefore, our clothes and trousers, bed sheets and bedding, ornaments and decorations should be cleaned and disinfected regularly. Our activity environment should be kept as clean as possible.
furthermore, people with blood stasis in their bodies will cause blood obstruction, and when they are stimulated by cold air, they will also have symptoms of dry and itchy skin. If there is red blood on the scratched part, it is mostly because there is blood stasis in your body, so we should always pay attention.
also, some people itch all over as long as they are hot, cold or stimulated, which is hard to say clearly.
Generally speaking, winter is the main season that causes people's itching, which is the result of a combination of many reasons. Some itching, such as armpits, back and thighs, can be properly scratched without breaking the skin, while others, such as the itching of hands, feet and ears caused by frostbite, are best resisted and not scratched. The more severe the scratching, the more likely it is, and it may cause pathological changes, which will not pay off.
Some people deal with itching by burning their hands and feet. I've tried it. In the process of soaking in hot water, they feel relaxed for a while, and the whole body is unobstructed. But soon after soaking, whether they are cold or warm, their hands and feet are like bugs crawling, and they are extremely itchy. It's sour and refreshing, and they can't bear to look straight.
It seems that people who can't afford it can drink plenty of water in situ to reduce itching. Just like snakes, they choose to hibernate for the winter. People who have the conditions have already gone to Sanya, Hong Kong, Bangkok and other places to spend the winter. Just like migratory birds such as swallows, they can fly thousands of kilometers to the south to spend the winter.
references:
the winter itch: what causes dry skin, and what you can do about it, Penn Medicine, January 3, 217
Dr Varit Sara Mangkorntongsakul, Winter itch, DermNet.Nz, August 218
Gary W. Cole, Dry Skin, Medicinenet, 219-11-2
[1] Dr. Wu. What about dry and itchy skin in winter? [J]. Cardiovascular disease prevention knowledge (popular science edition), 219(4):64.