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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Yes, usually. Most causes of itchy skin can be recognised on camera and treated, and blood tests can be arranged when needed.
- Common causes: dry skin, eczema, hives, allergic reactions, fungal infections, scabies and heat rash.
- Without a rash: itch with no rash is often dry skin, but it can be a sign of a thyroid, liver, kidney or blood problem; itch lasting more than 6 weeks needs blood tests.
- Self-care: cool showers, an unperfumed moisturiser, loose cotton clothing, and patting rather than scratching.
- Emergency: call 112 for itching with swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing.
Itching with swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing, needs 112. Itching with yellow skin or eyes, or itching in pregnancy, needs prompt medical advice: contact your doctor, or your midwife or maternity unit if you are pregnant.
Can an online doctor treat itchy skin?
Yes, usually. Most itchy skin comes from a skin condition that a doctor can recognise on camera, such as dry skin, eczema, hives, a fungal infection or scabies, and treat in the same consultation. When the skin itches without a rash, the doctor asks about your health and medicines, and can arrange blood tests to look for causes inside the body.
How an online consultation helps with itchy skin
- The cause found: The doctor looks at the rash, or the skin without one, and asks the questions that narrow it down.
- Treatment that fits: Creams, tablets or a treatment for scabies or fungus, matched to the cause rather than the itch alone.
- Tests when needed: Blood tests for itch without a rash, and what the results mean.
- Better nights: How to calm itching that keeps you awake, and when an antihistamine at night helps.
What the doctor checks in an online consultation
The doctor asks about:
- The itch: where it is, how long it has lasted, and whether it is worse at night or after a bath or shower.
- Your skin: a rash, bumps, dry skin, burrows between the fingers, or marks from scratching.
- Other people: whether people you live with or your partner are itchy too.
- Your health: tiredness, weight loss, night sweats, yellow skin, and known kidney, liver or thyroid problems.
- Medicines and products: anything new, including painkillers, soaps, detergents and skincare.
- Pregnancy: whether you are pregnant.
Before the call, find good light and show the itchiest areas. Do not apply creams just before, so the doctor sees the skin as it is.
Common causes of itchy skin
Itch is probably the most common symptom of skin conditions: in any 2-week period, almost 1 in 10 people report significant itching. Itch that lasts more than 6 weeks is called chronic pruritus. The look of the skin, and where the itch is, usually point to the cause:
Swipe sideways to compare →
| What you notice | Possible cause |
|---|---|
| Dry, rough, flaky skin, worse in winter | Dry skin |
| Dry, itchy, inflamed patches in the creases, coming and going | Eczema |
| Raised, itchy welts that move around within hours | Hives |
| An itchy rash where a product or metal touched the skin | Contact dermatitis |
| Intense itch at night, small spots and lines between the fingers or on the wrists | Scabies |
| Red, scaly ring or patch in the groin, feet or body | Fungal skin infection |
| Tiny itchy or prickly spots after heat and sweating | Heat rash |
| Flaky, itchy scalp | Itchy scalp |
| Itching around the bottom | Anal itching |
| Thick, scaly plaques on the elbows, knees or scalp | Psoriasis |
| Itchy red spots after swimming in a lake | Swimmer’s itch |
| Bites that keep itching, from bed bugs, lice or other insects | Bed bug bites or pubic lice |
| A new or changing spot or mole that itches | Possible skin cancer, which needs an in-person check: melanoma |
Insect bites, lice and some medicines cause itching too. The skin rash page covers other rashes.
Itchy skin with no rash
Dry skin is the most common reason for itching all over without a rash, especially in people over 65. Less commonly, itchy skin is a sign of a condition inside the body, and the itch can be its only symptom:
- thyroid problems, especially an overactive thyroid
- liver problems, where the itch often starts on the palms and soles and is worst at night, sometimes with yellow skin or eyes
- kidney disease, where the itch is often on the back, arms and legs, especially in people on dialysis
- iron deficiency, sometimes with a sore tongue or cracks at the corners of the mouth
- blood conditions, such as polycythaemia, where the itch often comes after a bath or shower
- some blood cancers, such as Hodgkin lymphoma
- nerve problems, which cause itch in one spot without a rash, such as on the arm or the back, or after shingles
- medicines, such as opioid painkillers, aspirin and some blood pressure medicines
- diabetes, where itching around the genitals or bottom is often due to yeast infections
When the cause is not clear, the doctor can arrange blood tests: a full blood count and iron levels, kidney, liver and thyroid function, and a test for inflammation, and sometimes an HIV test or a chest X-ray, depending on your symptoms. For some people no cause is found, more often in older adults, and treatment then focuses on calming the skin and the itch.
Why is itching worse at night?
Itching often feels worse at night. Getting warm in bed can set it off, because overheating makes itching worse. Some causes have a typical night-time pattern: scabies itches most at night, and itch from liver problems is typically worst at night.
- Keep the bedroom cool, and use light, breathable bedding.
- Moisturise before bed, and have a cool or lukewarm shower rather than a hot bath.
- Keep your nails short to limit damage from scratching in your sleep.
- Use a fan to cool the skin when you feel hot and itchy, and avoid heavy bedclothes.
- Keep a tub of moisturiser in the fridge: chilled emollient can soothe itchy skin.
- Ask about an antihistamine that makes you drowsy, to help you sleep through the itch.
Can itchy skin be a sign of something serious?
Usually not. Most itching comes from the skin itself, and itchy skin is not usually a sign of anything serious. Less commonly, it is a sign of a condition inside the body, and rarely of cancer. These combinations need a doctor’s check:
- itching all over the body, with no rash, that does not settle with self-care
- itching with night sweats, a high temperature, weight loss or a painless lump in the neck, armpit or groin, which can be signs of Hodgkin lymphoma
- itching with yellow skin or eyes, dark urine or pale stools, which can mean a liver problem
- a new or changing spot or mole that itches
Is skin cancer itchy?
It can be. For many people, the only sign of skin cancer is a new or changing spot, and that spot may itch. Treating the cancer can stop the itch. A changing mole needs an in-person check, and the doctor tells you how urgently.
Which cancers can cause itching?
Itching can be linked with lymphoma, especially Hodgkin lymphoma, with leukaemia, with a lymphoma of the skin called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and sometimes with other cancers, such as lung or bowel cancer. Itch is also a side effect of some cancer treatments: ask the team treating you, who may suggest ways to ease it while you continue treatment.
How to relieve itchy skin at home
Do
- pat or tap your skin instead of scratching it
- hold something cool on the skin, such as a damp towel
- have cool or lukewarm baths or showers
- use an unperfumed moisturiser or emollient regularly
- wear loose cotton or silk clothing
- use a laundry detergent for sensitive skin
Do not
- wear tight clothes, or clothes made from wool or synthetic fabrics
- use perfumed soaps, deodorants or moisturisers
- spend a long time in the bath or shower, use hot water, or wash more than once a day
- use soap or foaming shower gels, which strip the skin’s natural oils; an emollient makes a good soap substitute
A pharmacist can suggest antihistamines, which help some causes of itching, and cooling creams with menthol. See a doctor if the itch affects your daily life, does not get better with self-care or keeps coming back, is all over your body or severe, comes with a new rash, lump or swelling, or happens in pregnancy.
Which itchy skin treatment might the doctor recommend?
Treatment depends on the cause, so the first step is finding it. This is the framework the doctors use, in line with NHS and dermatology guidance.
Swipe sideways to compare →
| What you have | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry, itchy skin | Emollients and soap substitutes | Yes | Not usually needed |
| Itchy rash: eczema, fungus, scabies or hives | Treatment for the cause | Yes | If it does not respond |
| Itch with no rash | Blood tests, and emollients meanwhile | Yes, to assess | For the blood tests |
| Itch keeping you awake | A drowsy antihistamine at night, alongside treating the cause | Yes | Not usually needed |
| Itching in pregnancy | Contact with your midwife or doctor, and a blood test | Yes, to advise | For the blood test |
| Long-standing itch without a cause | A dermatologist’s review, sometimes light treatment | Yes, to assess | For specialist care |
Itching that will not settle? A doctor can find the cause and treat it in one consultation.
See available times →Treatment options for itchy skin
What you can do yourself
- Moisturise several times a day, especially after washing, with an unperfumed emollient: the drier the skin, the more often. Expensive products have no clear advantage over simple, inexpensive ones.
- Keep cool: overheating makes itching worse.
- Keep your fingernails short and clean.
- Notice when and where you scratch most, and keep your hands busy then. It helps break the itch-scratch cycle.
- Cut down on alcohol and caffeine if they seem to set off the itch.
Fire safety: emollients soak into clothing, dressings, bedding and hair and make them catch fire more easily, even after they dry. Keep away from naked flames and lit cigarettes, and wash clothes and bedding often.
Prescription treatment
A prescription is never issued without a consultation. The doctor treats the cause: steroid creams for eczema, antifungal creams for fungal infections, a scabies treatment for everyone in the household, or antihistamines for hives. For itchy inflamed skin, a mild steroid cream is used for short periods. Antihistamines help most with hives; for other causes, a drowsy antihistamine at night can help you sleep. Long-standing itch sometimes needs specialist treatment: ultraviolet light treatment, which works particularly well for itch from kidney disease, or certain antidepressant or anti-epileptic medicines, which can reduce itch. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
What does not help
Scratching damages the skin and makes it itch more. Hot baths, long showers and perfumed products dry the skin out and make itching worse. Aqueous cream, often used as a moisturiser, can irritate the skin and worsen itch. Antihistamine creams should not be used for long-standing itch, and calamine lotion is for a few days at most, and not for dry skin.
Special situations
Pregnancy
Itchy skin is common in pregnancy, but it can sometimes be caused by a liver condition called intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, so tell your midwife or doctor about any itching. About 2% of pregnant women have itching with no skin cause that can be seen. Itchy skin in pregnancy covers it in detail.
Menopause
Itchy skin is common around the menopause and usually improves over time. Regular emollients help, and other symptoms are covered in menopause.
Older age
Long-term itching becomes more common with age, because the skin becomes thinner and drier. Dry skin is the most common cause, but there may be more than one, and new itching all over, without a rash, is worth discussing with a doctor.
While travelling in Europe
New itching on a trip often has a simple cause: bites from bed bugs or other insects, swimmer’s itch after a swim in a lake, or heat rash in hot weather. Pack an unperfumed moisturiser, and show the rash to a doctor if it spreads or does not settle.
Itching with yellow skin or eyes
Itching with yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes, dark urine or pale stools can mean a liver problem and needs prompt medical advice.
Children
Mobi Doctor consultations are for adults aged 18 and over. A child who is unwell needs a paediatrician or a local doctor in person, and emergency signs in a child mean 112.
When itchy skin is treated online, and when you need in-person care
Treated online: itchy rashes such as eczema, hives, fungal infections, contact dermatitis and scabies, dry skin, itching at night, and arranging blood tests for itch without a rash.
In-person care: blood tests and their follow-up, itching with yellow skin or eyes, long-standing itch that needs a dermatologist or light treatment, and any severe allergic reaction.
When to get in-person care
Call 112 or go to an emergency department now for:
- itching or hives with swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing
- a rash that does not fade when you press a glass against it, especially with a fever
Get medical advice the same day for:
- itching with yellow skin or eyes, dark urine or pale stools
- itching in pregnancy: contact your midwife or maternity unit
- itching with a high temperature and a spreading rash
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: daily 7am–11pm CEST. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, and the exact price is shown before you pay.
- Speak to a licensed doctor about the itch: show the itchy areas on camera in good light, and mention new medicines, products and other symptoms.
- Leave with a plan: what to do, what to take and for how long, and which signs mean you should be seen in person. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
No sign-up needed
Itchy skin can have more than one cause. Tick every symptom you have to see each condition page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call.
Tap the body — an area or a point — to browse symptoms anywhere
Similar symptoms, different condition? Eczema can start the same way. Compare them, or look up any other symptom in the full symptom checker.
Frequently asked questions about itchy skin
What causes itchy skin?
Most often dry skin, eczema, hives, allergic reactions, fungal infections, scabies or heat rash. Less commonly, itching is a sign of a thyroid, liver, kidney or blood problem.
What are the symptoms of itchy skin that point to the cause?
Itchy skin with dry, flaky patches is usually dry skin or eczema; with raised weals that move around, hives; with a scaly ring, a fungal infection; with burrows between the fingers and itch that is worst at night, scabies; with a rash that follows contact with jewellery or cosmetics, contact dermatitis; and itch all over with no rash points to iron deficiency, thyroid, liver or kidney disease or a medicine. Yellow skin, weight loss or night sweats with itch need prompt tests.
What is pruritus?
Pruritus is the medical term for itch. It can affect one area or the whole body, and itch that lasts more than 6 weeks is called chronic pruritus. In any 2-week period, almost 1 in 10 people report significant itching.
Why do I have itchy skin but no rash?
Dry skin is a common reason. Itch without a rash can also come from thyroid, liver or kidney problems, iron deficiency, some medicines, nerve problems and, rarely, blood conditions, so a doctor may suggest blood tests.
What deficiency causes itching all over the body?
Iron deficiency. Itching all over with no rash can be a sign of low iron, sometimes with a sore tongue or cracks at the corners of the mouth. A blood test shows it, and the itch can improve once the cause is treated.
Why is my skin itchier at night?
Warmth in bed sets off itching, because overheating makes almost every itchy skin condition worse, the skin loses more water at night, the body’s natural anti-inflammatory hormone dips in the evening, and there is nothing to distract you. Scabies and itch from liver problems are typically worst at night, so an itch that wakes you most nights is worth a consultation.
How long does itchy skin last?
It depends on the cause: itchy skin from dry skin settles within a week or two of regular moisturising, hives usually within 6 weeks, scabies itch within 2 to 4 weeks of treatment, and eczema flares in 1 to 2 weeks with the right cream although the tendency returns; itch from iron deficiency or thyroid disease fades over weeks once the cause is treated. Itch that lasts more than 6 weeks is chronic pruritus and needs a proper search for the cause.
What is the best remedy for itchy skin?
Hold something cool on the skin, pat instead of scratching, have cool showers and use an unperfumed moisturiser several times a day. Menthol creams cool the skin. Antihistamines help most when the itch is from hives or an allergy, and treating the cause matters most.
How can I prevent itchy skin?
Moisturise every day with an unperfumed emollient, especially after washing, use a soap substitute and lukewarm rather than hot water, keep showers short, wear loose cotton, keep the bedroom cool, use fragrance-free washing powder, protect the skin from sun and wind, stay hydrated, and limit alcohol and spicy food, which widen blood vessels and set off itching. Treating a skin condition early, before scratching damages the skin, prevents the itch-scratch cycle that keeps itchy skin going.
When should I see a doctor about itchy skin?
If the itch affects your daily life, does not improve with self-care, keeps coming back, is all over your body or severe, comes with a new rash or lump, or happens in pregnancy.
Is itching in pregnancy normal?
It is common, but it can sometimes be caused by a liver condition called intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, so tell your midwife or doctor about any itching.
Can itchy skin be a sign of cancer?
Rarely. Itching can be a symptom of Hodgkin lymphoma and other blood cancers, which also cause symptoms such as night sweats, weight loss or a painless lump in the neck, armpit or groin, and a new or changing spot that itches can be a skin cancer. Itch all over with no rash, or with other symptoms, needs checking with a doctor.
Can stress cause itchy skin?
Stress and itch are linked. Itch is common in some psychological conditions, long-standing itch can itself cause anxiety and low mood, and specialists address stress alongside the itch. A doctor first looks for a skin or body cause, and breaking the itch-scratch cycle helps.
Can menopause cause itchy skin?
Yes. Itchy skin is common around the menopause and usually improves over time. Regular unperfumed moisturisers help, and a doctor can check for other causes if the itch is severe or does not settle.
Can an online doctor treat itchy skin?
Yes, usually. A doctor can find the cause of itchy skin on camera, treat conditions such as eczema, hives, fungal infections and scabies, and arrange blood tests when the cause is not clear.
- Itchy skin, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 19 July 2023.
- Pruritus, DermNet, New Zealand, updated December 2016.
- Pruritus (itching): patient information leaflet, British Association of Dermatologists, updated December 2025.
- 10 reasons your skin itches uncontrollably and how to get relief, American Academy of Dermatology, updated 19 September 2024.
- Hodgkin lymphoma: symptoms, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 14 October 2025.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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