Patients with kidney disease are prone to this complication in autumn and winter, so be careful!

Kidney disease patients have toxin accumulation and calcium-phosphorus metabolism disorders, which can easily lead to skin itching. Especially in autumn and winter, when the climate is dry and windy, dry skin is more likely to occur, and dry skin is more likely to cause itching. Itching may seem like a small problem, but it actually causes great harm to patients and should not be underestimated!

1. Sleep disorders

The itching of the skin of kidney disease patients often intensifies at night, which can have a serious impact on the patient's sleep. Continuous itching can interfere with the patient's sleep cycle, causing difficulty falling asleep, multiple awakenings, reduced sleep time and poor sleep quality, making the patient drowsy during the day, which in turn affects work and daily life.

2. Impact on mental health

First, insomnia and decreased sleep quality caused by itching can directly lead to anxiety, depression and emotional instability in kidney patients. Second, itching often brings great discomfort and distress to patients, especially when itching is difficult to relieve, which may lead to anxiety, depression, irritability and mood swings, thus affecting the patient's mental health.

3. Skin damage

Long-term itching may make it difficult for kidney disease patients to control the urge to scratch, leaving skin scratches, ulcers, infections, pigmentation, scars, etc.

Patients with kidney disease should pay attention to skin itching, actively treat it and pay attention to daily care. Treatment mainly includes topical medications and oral medications. Topical medications include urea ointment, 10% salicylic acid ointment, vaseline, glycerin and other topical ointments, local anesthetics such as pramoxine lotion and anti-inflammatory substances such as γ-linolenic acid. Oral medications can include antihistamines, antiepileptic drugs, antidepressants, opioid receptor antagonists/agonists, etc. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the adequacy of dialysis, which is the basis for relieving skin itching in patients with kidney disease. Hemoperfusion combined with hemodialysis treatment and high-flux hemodialysis can be selected according to the patient's condition.

In daily life, you should keep your skin clean and moist. When cleaning your skin, do not use irritating lotions such as alkaline soap and alcohol. Keep the water temperature below 40 degrees. After cleaning your skin, apply moisturizing lubricants such as body lotion and moisturizing cream in time. In autumn and winter, static electricity is easily generated between the skin and clothes, which irritates the skin and increases itching. You can choose clothes made of pure cotton or silk to reduce the generation of static electricity. Most importantly, do not scratch the affected area to avoid scratching the skin and causing infection. If the itching is unbearable, you can gently pat the affected area.