Itching is one of the most annoying skin symptoms that exist. Whether the source of your itchiness is a bug bite or a too-close encounter with a poisonous plant such as poison ivy or an allergic rash, itching is just plain miserable.
Itching from insect bites happens because the insect injects a tiny amount of venom or other substance into your skin. This triggers your immune system to respond. How itchy you become depends on how sensitive you are to the substance.
Poisonous plants like poison ivy, poison oak and sumac, make you itch when they contact your skin because they contain an oily sap called urushiol. Again, this substance causes an allergic reaction in your skin.
Itching may also be caused by harsh soaps, detergents or chemicals that can irritate your skin. Allergies to nickel, rubber and other common substances can also aggravate skin and cause it to break out with an itchy rash. It's important to try to soothe itchy areas, because scratching can lead to broken skin and skin infections. Calamine lotion is often recommended by doctors to stop itchiness. Colloidal oatmeal, oatmeal milled to a fine powder, is a natural ingredient that has been used for well over a century to relieve itching. Warm baths with an oatmeal powder made especially for bathing, are a wonderful way of soothing your itch and moisturizing your skin at the same time.
AVEENO® Soothing Bath Treatment is made of 100% pure natural colloidal oatmeal and relieves irritation and itching due to poison ivy/oak/sumac, rashes, insect bites, and soothes chicken pox.
For topical relief, AVEENO® has a line of anti-itch products, which includes AVEENO® Anti-Itch Cream and AVEENO® Anti-Itch Lotion that provide temporary relief of the itching associated with minor skin irritations, rashes and insect bites.