Q I'm in my 30s living in Dongincheon. I'm fine during the day, but when I lie down to sleep at night, my ankles and shins itch unbearably and I can't sleep. Why is it worse only at night?
A At night, other daytime stimuli decrease and body temperature rises slightly, so you focus on the itch and feel it more intensely. The heat under the covers and the scratching habit add to it; cooling the affected area down before sleep helps.
Detailed Answer
Many people with neurodermatitis itch more at night. During the day, other stimuli like work and movement disperse the itch, but when you lie down quietly at night you focus solely on the itch, and when body temperature rises slightly under the covers, blood vessels dilate and the itch is amplified. If you start scratching just as you try to fall asleep, sleep slips further away, and you may scratch unconsciously during sleep and find sores in the morning.
Korean Medicine Clinic Perspective
At Dongjedang, we view itching that worsens at night as a state in which a deficiency of Yin and body fluids prevents heat from being properly gathered inward at night, so it floats upward. We see the Heart-fire (simhwa) accumulated through daytime tension floating up at night and making the parched skin even itchier, so we approach it by replenishing body fluids (nourishing blood and moistening dryness, bohyeol-yunjo) and descending the upward-floating heat to calm nighttime itching and insomnia together. We also recommend briefly cooling the affected area with a cold wet towel before sleep.
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