Home Remedies for Itching
Itching can be embarrassing, along with often being extremely irritating and frustrating. Unfortunately, itchiness could be a result of any number of factors, including climate, sun exposure in some cases, a change in diet, and especially side-effects from medications. Keeping humidity in the home around 50% could help, along with drinking plenty of water, but you’ll be happy to know that other home remedies for itching can be used as well.
Rather than reaching for expensive over-the-counter drugs or harmful antibiotics, try a natural home remedy to heal and even prevent itching.
Itchy Scalp? Poison Ivy? Try these Home Remedies for Itching
Hay Fever
Spring brings more than blankets of yellow pollen on windshields; it brings lovely seasonal allergies—known as hay fever—that can affect skin, eyes, ears, and noses. You can even experience these at every change of the season, depending on your body’s sensitivity. You can treat hay fever, and subsequently treat your itchiness, naturally by:
- Drinking herbal tea. Chamomile and peppermint are especially helpful in clearing and even preventing sinus congestion.
- Green tea blocks histamine production and gives a boost to the immune system.
- Try a delicious ginger drink by boiling half of a thumb-sized root in 2 cups of water. Add a tablespoon (or two) of coconut milk and honey to loosen phlegm and help the immune system. And in addition to the numerous health benefits of honey, using locally made honey will help your body recognize that local pollen is not a threat worth all the inflammation and excitement!
- Omega-3 fatty acids may decrease inflammation that results upon exposure to an allergen.
Itchy Scalp
Possible causes of itchy scalp include sunburn, head lice, eczema, over-shampooing (or under-shampooing) hair, or an adverse reaction to chemicals. For itchy scalp, try these simple home remedies for itching:
- Pour 1 part apple cider vinegar and 1 part water onto your scalp and through hair while avoiding your face. This balances the pH of the skin in the case of over-drying, thereby preventing and helping with dandruff. Apple cider vinegar benefits are extremely abundant in general, so it is no surprise the liquid can help with itching as well. The same solution but with witch hazel can calm itching and help heal scratches, too.
- Tea tree oil infused shampoo can heal itchiness and dandruff. It’s also anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and antiseptic.
- Aloe vera is a natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial cleanser, which makes it a good shampoo in its gel form. It’s also a heavy-duty healer, making it a natural choice for sunburn.
- After shampooing with a gentle cleanser (like aloe vera), try conditioning hair with rosemary-infused coconut oil. Just add a tablespoon of dried or fresh rosemary to the oil or any shampoo.
Poison Ivy and Poison Oak
Those blisters can be quite a pain. To get rid of poison ivy or poison oak naturally:
- Apply a paste of baking soda and apple cider vinegar to the rash. Cooked oatmeal does the trick, too. The paste will draw out toxins and alleviate itching.
- Take a bath in Himalayan crystal salt to flush out toxins and fluids from the rash.
- Take the flesh of aloe leaves or store-bought gel and apply to affected areas and cool irritation.
Jock Itch
This slightly embarrassing condition is caused by a fungal infection that thrives in warm, moist areas (like the groin). Get rid of it by applying any of the following:
- Raw garlic
- Apple cider vinegar (unfiltered)
- Tea tree oil
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Colloidal silver
It’s best to combine these home remedies for itching. Take a warm bath in a cup or more of vinegar and a ½ cup of baking soda.
Eat lots of raw garlic and apply raw slices to affected areas. Try to do this at night before bed to avoid stares! In the morning, use apple cider vinegar instead. Lastly, just let it dry before putting on clothes to prevent carrying the smell.
For mosquito bites or other kind of bug bites that make you itch, check out our article on home remedies for mosquito bites.
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