Have Itching All Over Body. Is This Due To Dry Air Or Hard Water?

Posted on Fri, 12 Apr 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 Answered on

Thu, 9 May 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : always itchingmy name is XXXXXXX and i live in palmdale ca which is a desert area. i am constantly itching every place on my skin. im wondering if its because the air here is so dry? if its hard water? what should i do?

Answered by Dr. Y V Siva Sankara Murty (45 minutes later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for writing to health care magic.

You may be suffering from allergic dermatitis.
Some times dry weather may result in dry skin causing itching. Various other conditions like scabies, systemic diseases etc also cause itchy skin.

For skin allergic conditions avoidance of allergen is the best treatment. But most of the times such allergen cannot be identified. After physical examination your doctor will confirm the diagnosis and treat you with antihistaminics, calamine lotion etc.

For dry skin moisturizing lotions should help.

Hope this helps.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar