Itchy throat at night

Itchy Throat: A Cause of Many Sleepless Nights

Suffering from an itchy throat at night is, unfortunately, one of many things capable of completely preventing you from sleeping when you are supposed to — not only plaguing you with discomfort, but leaving you exhausted the next day.

Many people experience the unpleasant symptom of an itchy throat during the night occasionally. It might even get so bad that you try to scratch the troublesome spot in your throat in a bid to eliminate the terrible irritation and uneasiness that this itching can cause.

Numerous different factors can be responsible for this nasty symptom, some more serious than others. Nevertheless, if you repeatedly suffer from an itchy throat at night, you will definitely want to look into the possible causes, symptoms, and treatment for nightly throat itching.

Reasons Behind an Itchy Throat at Night

Firstly, the most common cause of the condition of an itchy throat during the night is excessive dust in the air you breathe in while you are in your bedroom. The air in your bedroom (or wherever else you may sleep) is often dusty due to living next to a construction site or a busy road with lots of traffic; perhaps passing cars, or perhaps trucks. This leads us to pollution as one of the main culprits of a dusty sleeping environment as well. Namely, taking into consideration that we live in more and more polluted environments every year, it is not strange that our throat becomes itchy due to our constant inhaling of smog, industrial waste and various other poisonous substances take in along with our beloved oxygen.

You may also, of course, simply not have been vacuuming your sleeping area frequently enough. If you don't already, try to hoover your bedroom daily, taking care to move even bigger pieces of furniture wherever you are able, and getting the pesky dust in hard to reach areas out of the way. (If you happen to have stuffed animals or other fabric-based decorations in your bedroom, know that they are a notorious dust magnet and vacuum and/or wash them regularly as well.)

Secondly, the air in your room may be too dry. A lack of air humidity is often caused by leaving your air conditioners on during the night. The constant use of air conditioning units will make the surrounding air dry, causing your throat to become irritated and itchy. Certain seasons during the year, like winter, may lead to this lack of air humidity as well. Alternatively, we might be allergic to substances present in our room or household. Common allergens that can certainly lead to an itchy throat if you are allergic include animals (or their dander), certain materials, plants, pollen, dust might, and so on. Allergies may easily trigger the troublesome itchiness in our throat.

Pregnant women may experience an itchy throat at night, as well. In their cases, the cause is probably completely natural, due to the fact that their body is experiencing numerous transformations and changes, making some parts of their respiratory organs more prone to getting irritated.

How Can an Itchy Throat at Night Be Treated?

One of the best cures for an aggravatingly itchy throat as you're trying to sleep is having a glass, bottle, thermos or some other container full of warm water close to you while you are sleeping. Then, if your itchy throat wakes you up, you may provide it relief by drinking this warm water. Cough syrup presents an excellent alternative for these purposes.

Finally, you might consider chewing ginger and letting its juices calm down your throat. Also, taking a spoonful of honey will most certainly make the itching go away and provide you with a night of good sleep.

If home remedies are not helping you or you find yourself in signficant discomfort for a long time, however, don't hesitate to make an appointment with your doctor. You may just discover that the symptom of an itchy throat points to an underlying medical condition that requires treatment with medications.