Friday Facts #16 Sleep and eczema

At all ages, amongst the many important effects on Quality of Life caused by atopic eczema, an adverse effect on sleep is common. Many remark on how itching and scratching at night in bed leads to a poor quality of sleep. Some with eczema say they sleep themselves, but scratch and disturb others ... and wake to hear about it in the morning, as well as see then the bloody results on the sheets and pillows.

The relationship between sleep and eczema is two-way. Whilst troublesome eczema can lead to loss of sleep, lack of sleep for other reasons can be associated with eczema relapsing.

What is great to report is that, regardless of difficult-to-answer questions about whether or not scratching in sleep is caused by itch or by habit, within two weeks of starting The Combined Approach, most who have previously reported sleep problems say that these have now resolved. This applies both for the person with the eczema, and anyone else involved: great relief all round! And improved sleep further boosts skin healing:
  



This is achieved by following The Combined Approach - optimized topical treatment combined with habit reversal - while wide awake, during the day - this is quite enough for the skin to heal sufficiently for sleep disturbance to resolve. Better sleep then further contributes to the healing process as The Combined Approach programme is completed.