Why is it so easy to scratch itch?

Pruritus is a very familiar experience and causes a feeling of frustration - especially if scratching seems to have no effect.

Itching is thought to have developed as a way to protect the skin - our largest organ - to avoid parasites and not accumulate dead cells.

All of our other organs are safely protected inside the body by the immune system. But our first skin, defense, constantly has to be exposed to the outside world, so it must develop in a way that protects itself.

But why does the itch phenomenon create such a feeling of crazy and crazy?

Pruritus is an extremely strange feeling that scientists still don't understand.

Until a decade ago, researchers actually thought that itching was just another mild 'pain' - expressing the same receptors in the epidermis, relaying chemical and electrical messages to the spine and brain to notice that certain parts are hurt.

But now we know that pruritus actually has its own circuit, involving its own chemicals and cells.

And while we all have different reactions to pain, there is a common reaction to itching.

Scratching makes us feel very comfortable as it causes a low-level 'pain' signal to spread to the brain and override the itch signal, providing us with timely, necessary help. That's why scratching or sticking to itchy spots can make us so comfortable.

Unfortunately, some of the chemicals that relieve itching, including serotonin, can actually make itching easier to reactivate.

That's why even when you scratch your skin, you feel even more itchy, which turns out to be a vicious cycle that scientists call the itch-scratching cycle .

Causing damage to the nerves associated with this cycle can lead to uncontrollable itching, without any stimulation; When that happens, they are collectively referred to as itchy disorders .

There are many reasons why these things happen, and sometimes researchers don't even know the cause. Some may be due to viral infections affecting the nervous system, such as atherosclerosis, and shingles.

There are also conditions such as itching due to a restricted nerve in the neck. And itching in the water, itching after contact with water. Some cases have actually been associated with a rare condition where the body has too many red blood cells.

All of these disorders can cause people to itch, often without a clear cause and the possibility of not being itchy.

In an extreme case study, a woman with zona had such an itch within a year, she scratched straight through the skull and into the brain painfully.

Moreover, scientists are still learning more about this unique itchy reaction so in the future we can finally stop the phenomenon of uncontrolled itching.