Itching can disturb your sleep, focus, and overall comfort. Whether it’s due to dry skin, eczema, or skin recovery after a wound, the causes of itching vary, but the urge to scratch is the same. Understanding what triggers your itch helps you manage it effectively.
Itching starts when nerve endings in the skin are stimulated. This can happen for many reasons:
When the skin barrier is disturbed, it loses too much moisture (increased transepidermal water loss, or TEWL). The skin becomes dry and tight, which irritates the nerves and increases the itching sensation.
Itching is not just the urge to scratch; it often comes with other symptoms such as:
If left untreated, long-lasting itching can lead to a vicious cycle of scratching and further skin damage.
Itchy skin can be unbearable. Scratching provides brief relief, but it also damages the skin. This disruption weakens the skin barrier even more, which makes the itching worse. This creates the itch-scratch cycle.
To break this cycle, it’s crucial to soothe the skin, reduce irritation, and support hydration. Only then can the skin begin to heal and the urge to scratch will gradually fade.
This is exactly what ALHYDRAN Anti Itch Care is designed to do: calm the skin, relieve itching, and help restore its natural balance.
Hydration is key to restoring the skin barrier and stopping the itch-scratch cycle. ALHYDRAN Anti Itch Care is specially developed to relieve itching and soothe irritated skin. It contains iCool ML (menthyl lactate), a hypoallergenic ingredient that cools and calms the skin without irritation.
The product is part of the ALHYDRAN range that has been described in clinical and scientific literature. You can read more about this evidence on our Clinical & Scientific Evidence page.
Hydrates and calms the skin
When I get bitten by an insect, I have an inflamed, allergic reaction with a large red bump and intense itching. By applying Anti Itch several times a day, it becomes bearable and disappears more quickly compared to an ointment from the GP. Fantastic!
Provides relief immediately after application and has a long-lasting effect. Great product, I’m very satisfied. Truly recommended
I regularly suffer from itching, mainly on my lower legs. Anti Itch Care is soothing and relieves most of the itching. When I do get small wounds from scratching, the cream is very calming. It also works really well against dry, itchy skin. I’m very happy with it.
At night your skin becomes more sensitive because blood flow to the skin rises slightly and levels of anti-inflammatory hormones (like corticosteroids) drop. This increases nerve sensitivity and itching. With fewer distractions at bedtime and potentially drier indoor air, you become more aware of the itch.
Scratching may give a few seconds of relief, but it damages the surface of your skin and increases inflammation. This makes the nerves more sensitive, so the itching returns even stronger. This reaction is known as the itch-scratch cycle.
Yes, stress triggers substances like histamine that can make itching worse.
A cooling, fragrance-free cream helps calm the skin and ease the itching sensation. A medical moisturising cream such as ALHYDRAN Anti Itch Care combines this cooling effect with long-lasting hydration, which helps reduce the urge to scratch and break the itch-scratch cycle.
If the itch lasts longer than a few weeks, or if you develop open wounds or infection, seek medical advice.
We believe it is important that the claims we make have a solid basis. The information is based on various sources:
