Why is my Eczema worse at night?
Circadian Rhythm
The circadian rhythm is your body’s natural clock that helps it regulate your metabolism, internal body temperature, your hunger levels, and… you guess it - your sleep! Because your circadian rhythm also affects the hormones are released into your body, it can have a direct impact on many health conditions which may worsen at night. Asthma and eczema are common examples of this.
What you can do
1. Apply Moisturiser
Whenever you start to feel that itchy sensation coming on, the very first thing you want to train yourself to do is immediately reach for the moisturiser. Eczema ultimately comes down to your skin being unable to keep itself moisturised correctly; when it dries out, it feels itchy. In general, the thicker and greasier the moisturiser the better, but if you’re already feeling itchy, hot and bothered, then I would recommend something that’s really light and cooling. This will help your skin feel moisturised and take away the itchy sensation without trapping the heat against your skin which might otherwise make you feel worse.
2. Get cool
That brings us to our next point. When your skin is itchy and inflamed, it loses its ability to regulate its heat correctly. If you’re having a particularly bad flare-up, you might even feel “cold on the inside” while your skin is burning up - almost like you have a fever. This is because your skin is hot and inflamed, and that means you’re losing heat much faster than normal. One way to help get things back under control is to help cool and calm your skin back to normal. Keep your bedroom cool - open a window if you need to. And make sure you’re wearing light, loose-fitting clothing. Avoid blowing a fan directly at yourself though as this will dry out your skin and make you more itchy!
3. Drink some cold water
This one shows up on our tips on how to stop itching fast because it’s so quick, easy and surprisingly effective. Your body needs water to hydrate your skin so more water is good. Drinking water can help naturally cool your body from the inside out. Getting up to get a drink is also proven to be an effective technique to help you get back to sleep.
4. Take an antihistamine
Antihistamines are a powerful tool in helping you get a good night’s sleep even if your eczema is flaring up. This works on two fronts. First, the antihistamines dampen your body’s “itch” response i.e. the histamines that you’re produce. So you’ll already be in a far better position to sleep. Secondly, many antihistamines have a side-effect of causing drowsiness. This is why you’ll often see a warning on the box telling you not to drive or operate machinery if affected. Well, fortunately that’s exactly what you’re looking for right now! Try out a few different antihistamines over time to find one that works for you. I find that Piriton (or anything with Cetrizine as the active ingredient) works well for me, and does help me get to sleep really effectively.
5. Deep Breathing
You need to the moisturiser, antihistamines (and whatever other changes you’ve made) time to work. Deep breathing and meditation can be very effective at reducing your itching sensation and can also help prepare you for sleep.
Manage your light exposure
This one’s not much use in the moment, but your circadian rhythm is heavily dependant on sunlight as a cue. Exposure to the natural sun basically helps your body to “synchronise” with the day so that you’ll get tired when it’s night time. If you haven’t had enough exposure to natural sunlight (or if you’re exposing yourself to artificial light very late at night) then you might not be giving your body the right signals to keep its circadian rhythm properly in sync. The best way to improve this is to increase your exposure to natural sunlight, and reduce your screen use as you approach bedtime. We also recommend using a blue light filter on your phone or computer earlier in the evening to give your body plenty of time to start the wind-down towards sleep.