How to relieve itchy feet at night: causes and remedies

Why do my feet itch at night?

If your feet feel fine all day and start itching the moment you get into bed, you’re not imagining it. Several things change at night:

• Your skin warms up. Body temperature and blood flow to the skin rise in the evening, and warmth makes itching worse. Socks and heavy blankets add to it.
• Your skin loses more moisture at night, so dry skin gets drier.
• Cortisol drops. This hormone helps calm inflammation, and your body makes the least of it in the evening and overnight.
• There’s nothing to distract you, so you notice every itch.

None of this means something is wrong. But night-time makes any itch you already have feel worse, so it helps to find and treat the cause.

How to stop itchy feet at night

Try these for relief tonight:

• Cool the skin. Hold a cold, damp cloth or a wrapped ice pack on your feet for 5 to 10 minutes, or soak them in cool water.
• Moisturize right after. Pat your feet dry and apply a thick, fragrance-free cream or ointment while the skin is still slightly damp. Skip the spaces between your toes, which should stay dry.
• Keep your bedroom cool, and use a lighter blanket over your feet.
• Wear clean cotton socks to bed if you scratch in your sleep. They protect the skin and help the moisturizer soak in.
• Don’t scratch. It feels good for a moment but damages the skin and makes the itch worse. Keep your toenails short.

Over-the-counter options

• Antifungal cream, such as terbinafine or clotrimazole, if the skin between your toes or on your soles is peeling, cracked, scaly or white. Our guide to choosing an athlete’s foot cream compares the options.
• 1% hydrocortisone cream for itchy, red patches from eczema or a skin reaction. Use it for a few days at most, and don’t use it on athlete’s foot or broken skin, since it can make a fungal infection worse.
• Anti-itch lotions with menthol or pramoxine can calm the itch for a few hours.
• Antihistamines. Non-drowsy ones such as Allegra, Zyrtec and Claritin help when an allergy is behind the itch. Drowsy ones such as Benadryl can help you sleep, but they can leave you groggy the next day and aren’t recommended for older adults because they raise the risk of confusion and falls. Ask a pharmacist before using them regularly.

Common causes of itchy feet

Athlete’s foot

Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection, and it’s one of the most common causes of itchy feet. Look for itching, burning, peeling or cracked skin between the toes, or dry, scaly skin across the sole. It spreads in warm, damp places like shoes and shared showers. Over-the-counter antifungal creams usually clear it in 2 to 4 weeks. If they don’t, a podiatrist can prescribe something stronger.

Dry skin

Dry skin is especially common in winter, in older adults, and after long, hot showers. Feet have no oil glands on the soles, so they dry out easily. The skin may look rough, flaky or cracked, especially around the heels. A thick moisturizer once or twice a day usually helps within a week or two.

Skin irritation and allergies

Allergic contact dermatitis is a reaction to something your skin touches, such as chemicals in new shoes, dyes in socks, detergent or a lotion. It causes itching, redness and sometimes blisters, often in the shape of whatever touched the skin. Dust mites and pet dander in bedding can also make itchy skin worse. Switching to fragrance-free detergent and washing bedding weekly in hot water can help.

Eczema and psoriasis

Eczema causes dry, itchy, inflamed skin. One type, called dyshidrotic eczema, causes small, very itchy blisters on the soles and sides of the feet. Psoriasis on the feet causes thick, scaly patches that can itch and crack. Both are long-term conditions that flare and settle, and both respond well to prescription treatment.

Bug bites and scabies

Bites from bed bugs, fleas or mosquitoes can cause itchy bumps on the feet and ankles. Scabies, caused by tiny mites that burrow into the skin, causes intense itching that’s much worse at night, often with small bumps or lines between the toes and fingers. Scabies is contagious and needs prescription treatment for you and the people you live with.

Health conditions that can cause itchy feet

Sometimes itchy feet are a sign of something happening elsewhere in the body:

• Diabetes can dry out the skin, reduce circulation and damage nerves, all of which can cause itching. It also raises the risk of skin infections, so itchy, cracked skin on the feet needs attention. See diabetic foot care at Evolve Health.
• Kidney disease can cause itching, often worse at night, as waste products build up in the blood. If you have kidney disease and itching, tell your kidney doctor. Evolve Health offers nephrology and kidney care.
• Liver disease can cause itching that often starts on the palms and soles.
• Pregnancy. Intense itching of the palms and soles, often worse at night and usually late in pregnancy, can be a sign of a liver condition called cholestasis of pregnancy. Call your doctor or midwife right away if you notice it.
• Thyroid problems can cause dry, itchy skin.
• Nerve damage from neuropathy can cause itching, tingling or burning in the feet. Our guide to neuropathy in the feet explains more.
• Vein problems can cause itchy, discolored skin around the ankles and lower legs.
• Medicines. Some medicines cause itching as a side effect. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if yours could be the cause, and don’t stop a medicine on your own.

If it feels less like an itch and more like a crawling urge to move your legs at night, that may be restless legs syndrome, which a doctor can help with.

Home remedies for itchy feet

These can soothe itchy skin alongside treating the cause:

• Colloidal oatmeal soak. Add finely ground colloidal oatmeal to a basin of lukewarm water and soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes. It’s gentle and good for dry, irritated skin.
• Cool water or Epsom salt soak. A cool soak calms the itch. Epsom salt can make it feel more soothing, though there’s little evidence it treats the cause. Keep soaks to 10 to 15 minutes and moisturize afterward, since long soaks dry the skin.
• Aloe vera. Pure aloe vera gel feels cool and soothing. Stop if it makes the skin red or itchier.
• Diluted apple cider vinegar. Some people dab on a mix of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water for athlete’s foot or itchy skin. Don’t use it on cracked, raw or broken skin, where it will sting and irritate.

If you have diabetes, neuropathy or poor circulation, check water temperature with your hand or a thermometer, keep soaks short, and ask your podiatrist before trying home remedies. You may not feel water that’s too hot or a small cut that gets infected.

Preventing itchy feet

• Wash your feet daily with lukewarm water and a mild, fragrance-free soap, and dry them well, especially between the toes.
• Moisturize every day, but not between the toes.
• Choose breathable shoes and socks. Leather, canvas or mesh shoes and cotton or moisture-wicking socks let your feet breathe. Change socks every day, or more often if your feet sweat.
• Rotate your shoes so each pair dries out between wears.
• Wear sandals in shared showers, pools and locker rooms to avoid athlete’s foot.
• Use fragrance-free detergent, and wash bedding weekly.
• Manage long-term conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and diabetes with your healthcare provider to prevent flare-ups.

When to see a podiatrist or doctor

Make an appointment if:

• the itch lasts more than two weeks, even with home care
• the rash is spreading, or you have blisters, oozing, deep cracks or bleeding
• there are signs of infection, such as redness, warmth, swelling, pus or a fever
• you have diabetes, neuropathy or poor circulation
• you itch all over, or also notice yellow skin or eyes, dark urine or unexplained weight loss
• you’re pregnant and your palms or soles itch
• the itch keeps you up at night

A podiatrist can examine your skin, test a small scraping for fungus, and prescribe stronger antifungal or anti-inflammatory creams when over-the-counter options aren’t enough. You can find a podiatrist near you and book online.