Discover effective ways to manage itchy skin during perimenopause. Understand causes, explore gentle skincare solutions, and learn about treatment options with Spiced Pear Health’s expert guidance.
One symptom that can really consume us during perimenopause is itching.
It could be the itching, crawling feeling you get under your skin with its own fancy name – formication – or it could be the intense hard to stop itching due to vulval/vaginal dryness or women with histamine intolerance getting itchy rashes or hives on their body.
As we all know, the trigger is clearly fluctuating hormones and dropping oestrogen levels, but also temperature fluctuations associated with hot flushes and these are especially worse at night, impacting your much needed sleep.
Oestrogen plays an important part in oil production, skin thickness, collagen and elastic production and in the vaginal area at keeping the lining thick inside the vagina feeding the good bacteria there- see our previous post about SMELL.
So, what can we do to help ease it? For general skin itching, avoid harsh cleansers or soaps and use washes such as E45 or oilatum. After washing using emollients like E45, oilatum or epaderm can help soothe and moisturise the skin. Of course, HRT can help ease the itching by bringing oestrogen levels back to a higher, steadier level.
For vaginal itch, we recommend the same washes and emollients as above but also localised vaginal oestrogens internally and /or externally. If you notice any abnormal discharge or skin changes in this area, such as red or white patches, ALWAYS see a doctor for an examination. Eczema, psoriasis and lichen sclerosus can all flare up during the perimenopause.
For some women with Histamine Intolerance, perimenopause can set off a flare-up of their condition and itchy skin rashes or hives. HRT can help settle these symptoms, but sometimes it can flare up the symptoms when first starting on HRT- starting at very low doses and increasing slowly can help. Cutting down on histamine-containing foods and alcohol, trying antihistamines, and reducing stress can all help. If you think you may have this, we recommend this website:
www.histamineintolerance.org.uk
How do you manage your itchy skin? Let us know.
Throughout this website, we use the term women when describing people who experience hormonal symptoms. However, we acknowledge not only those who identify as women require access to menopause and hormone health information. For example, some trans men, non-binary people, intersex people or people with variations in sex characteristics may also experience menopausal symptoms and PMS/PME or PMDD, and we warmly welcome everyone who needs this support in our clinic.
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