Creates an itchy, enveloping sensation. Why do we scratch and why does it get easier when you scratch? Using improvised means

(thodonal/iStock)

Still, all the other organs of our body are securely packed inside, where they are fully protected by the immune system. The skin is the first level of protection from the environment, it is in constant contact with the outside world, so it is logical that it has developed its own methods of protection.

But all this does not explain why itching manifests itself in such a unique, terribly annoying sensation.

Ten years ago, scientists thought that itching was just another, milder form of pain, using the same epidermal receptors that send pain messages through the bone marrow to the brain as chemical and electrical signals.

But now we know that the itch has its own network, which involves its own chemicals and cells.

And although we all react to pain in different ways, itching causes the same desire for everyone.

Scratch.

It turns out that scratching causes weak pain signal, which reaches the brain and interrupts the itching signal. This gives us a sense of satisfaction. That is why itching can be removed by pinching or slapping the irritating area of \u200b\u200bthe skin.

Unfortunately, some of the chemical compounds that provide relief, - particularly serotonin, - may make it easier for the itching signal to reappear.

That is why scratching sometimes causes even more itching, which you immediately want to scratch ... a person goes into a cycle.

The cycle results in nerve damage and, as a result, uncontrollable itching that technically has no stimulus. When this happens, a disorder develops.

There are many different reasons for its appearance. Sometimes researchers don't even know the root cause. Sometimes the culprit is a viral infection that attacks the nervous system. So postherpic itching is sometimes a complication of herpes zoster.

Shoulder itch is caused by a pinched nerve in the neck. There is also aquagenic itching, which appears when the skin comes into contact with water. Some cases of these disorders have been associated with a very rare condition where a person has too many red blood cells.

All of these disorders cause people to feel persistent itching that does not respond to scratching.

How to stop itching?

Throughout history, mankind has come up with many different ways. The ancient Greeks and Romans used mineral baths and animal fat. The Persians used silver. In ancient China, itching was treated with menthol. And since the 13th century, camphor has been used, a chemical derived from the camphor tree that was historically used to make explosives.

Today are used anesthetics causing complete numbness of the skin, anti-irritants, which, for example, use chili extract, antihistamines funds and steroid cream.

In any case, remember that it's not just about the skin and the causes of itching can be very different. Do not self-medicate, always consult a doctor.

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Have you ever had an itchy back in a hard to reach place? That was flour! But as soon as you managed to scratch, it immediately became easier. A moment later, this place began to itch again, as if no one scratched it.

In general, you may have something to itch even while reading this book. This property makes itching related to yawning - you hear someone yawning, and this can already cause it. Well, the brain is involved in producing itching, and the brain, like a mesmerized audience during a magic show, is easily suggestible.

Pain and itching are two sensations perceived by our nerves, but they are very different. Many researchers have studied pain over the years: what causes it, what it can be a symptom of, and how it can be reduced.

As for the itch, no one has ever taken it seriously. Scientists know surprisingly little about it, and just as surprisingly little can be done in many cases where you have something itchy. There is no wide field for university and laboratory research, so it is not every day that we learn something new about itching.

If the New English Journal of Medicine is to be believed, what we have learned about pain can also be applied to itching. Both of these sensations are transmitted in the form of electrical impulses through nerve cells (neurons).

From the neuron, like tentacles from a starfish, fibers extend to the sides. There are three main types of nerve fibers - A, B and C. The sensation of pain and the sensation of itching are transmitted through the C-fibers, which are the smallest of the three (C-fibers also conduct electrical impulses more slowly than other fibers).

However, some scientists believe that the "itch neurons" may be different from the "pain neurons" and that each of them uses C-fibers to transmit their excitatory impulses.

There is plenty of evidence that pain and itching go their separate ways. For example, when something hurts, the central nervous system releases natural opiates, which act like codeine or other painkillers. But the same opiates, according to scientists, can actually increase itching. In fact, an opiate blocking drug may also relieve some uncontrolled itching.

Like pain, itching can be caused by a myriad of causes, from the most common to the most serious: insect bites, poison ivy, sunburn, dry skin, hives, lice, mites, chicken pox, measles, drug reactions, allergies, skin infections, fungal diseases of the feet, anemia, psoriasis, diabetes, hepatitis, cancer ... All of the above can provoke a reaction of the nervous system.

How does this happen? Let's take an insect bite as an example. When you get bitten by, say, a mosquito, your body releases histamine in response to the mosquito's saliva remaining in the wound. Histamine causes an itching sensation that spreads along the nerves. (Histamine is what makes our eyes itch during the flowering season; antihistamines block histamines and make us feel better.)

Why does scratching help, but only temporarily? While scientists don't know all the details, they say that scratching stimulates certain nerves that help regulate the movement of itch impulses through the cells. Thus, scratching temporarily stops the movement of the itch impulse.

But no matter how pleasant it is to scratch, scratching can only increase the itch in the end. You just get into a vicious circle: the more you scratch, the more it itches. Your scratching stimulates the nerves that cause itching, and thus makes it worse. And now you can no longer stop, and in fact this can damage the skin and cause an infection.

So, what is the best way to get rid of itching? Try damp, cool clothes, a baking soda or oatmeal bath, aloe vera lotion or gels. Try to limit yourself to home remedies for minor itching, especially since scientists themselves admit how little they know about the nature of itching.

Almost everyone likes stroking their heads, because it reminds them so much of their childhood and mother's hands. Scientists have found out why this is such a pleasure. It turns out that certain nerve endings in human skin send signals of pleasure to the brain when they are activated at a certain rate.

When a person is stroked at a speed of 4 centimeters per second, a special group of nerves - C-fibers, which usually transmits a signal of pain, captures pleasure. This was found out by scientists from Britain, Germany and the USA in their study, which was published in the journal nature neuroscience.

The researchers demonstrated the response of C-fibers in volunteers using a "tactile stimulator" - a mechanical hand with a soft brush. While the robot stroked the volunteers, the scientists recorded the C-fiber signals that arose from them. “If you have a mote in your eye, a toothache, or biting your tongue, you feel pain because there are a lot of C-fibers. In our study, we showed that C-fibers also have other functions. They are not only pain receptors, but also pleasure receptors,” said one of the researchers, Professor Francis McGlone. The results of the study, according to scientists, explain why touching when combing and hugging is so pleasant.

Nerves with "pleasure" receptors are found on the skin covered with hair, but they are not on the palms of the hands. “We believe that it is Mother Nature who has ensured that conflicting messages do not enter the brain when a person uses this functional tool,” said Professor McGlon.

Image copyright iStock

Skin itching makes us scratch ourselves instinctively. Why does scratching your own skin with your nails almost instantly relieve the unpleasant sensation? the observer asked.

Zoologist Jay Traver began experiencing persistent itching around the age of 40 and continued to suffer from it until her death 40 years later.

Why do bright lights make us sneeze?

Traver sought help from general practitioners, dermatologists, neurologists and other medical specialists.

Trying to kill the ticks, the woman poured hazardous pesticides on herself in industrial quantities.

She inflicted wounds on herself, trying to fish out the source of irritation with her nails from under the skin, and sent tissue samples obtained in the process to entomologists.

One doctor thought of referring her to a neurologist for examination, but the patient managed to convince the specialist that she did not need his services.

Happiness is the ability to itch every time you want Ogden Nash, American poet

“Until now, no treatment has helped me completely get rid of ticks,” she wrote.

The woman suffered from a mental disorder known as dermatozoic delusions, in which patients try to find the physical causes of their discomfort, often injuring themselves in the process.

On the other hand, more ordinary itching is an everyday phenomenon familiar to almost everyone.

And no one really knows what it is.

Image copyright Image caption Almost all people experience itching at least once a day, and the cause of it is not always known.

The definition still used by most physicians and researchers was proposed approximately 350 years ago by the German doctor Samuel Hafenreffer.

He wrote, in a somewhat streamlined fashion, that an itch is any "unpleasant sensation that causes a conscious or reflex desire to scratch the itchy spot."

According to this explanation, whenever you scratch, the phenomenon that causes this action is itching.

Perhaps this definition is accurate, but it does not clarify the causes of itching.

Weak stimulation of nociceptors causes a sensation of itching, strong - pain.

So says the intensity theory, according to which nociceptors have no specialization.

But there is an alternative theory of specificity, which suggests different properties of different nociceptors: some are responsible for the feeling of pain, others for the sensation of itching.

However, it is possible that the same receptors are responsible for both sensations, somehow determining different types of effects on the skin.

obsessive scratching

The fact that the sensation of skin itching can be caused by various reasons does not fully explain this phenomenon.

Itching can be severe - this sensation is familiar to most of us, and can occur, for example, after an insect bite.

There is also a chronic, pathological type of itching caused by dry skin, eczema, psoriasis and other skin diseases.

Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, chronic liver failure, lymphomas, AIDS, hypothyroidism, and neuronal damage can also cause chronic itching.

Image copyright Image caption The pain of scratching the skin is very different from the pain of a burn.

Even more interesting is that the sensation of itching can be reduced by painful stimuli.

Scratching is a weak but still painful stimulus, but the slight sensation of pain that we experience when we scratch the skin with our nails really helps with itching - as does applying cold or hot objects to the irritation site, capsaicin (an alkaloid that gives hot peppers), or even exposure to weak electrical discharges.

At the same time, paradoxically, a possible side effect of taking analgesics designed to relieve pain is an increase in sensitivity to the sensation of itching.

Despite the apparent similarity between the mechanism of the sensation of pain and the sensation of itching, there is one very obvious difference between them.

When we experience pain, we reflectively move away from the source of this sensation. Try to bring your hand as close as possible to an open fire, and you will immediately want to remove it.

But the scratching reflex (or "processing reflex"), on the contrary, draws our attention to the irritated area of \u200b\u200bthe skin.

This phenomenon can be explained from the point of view of evolution: staring at the site of irritation and quickly scratching it is a more effective method of eliminating an insect crawling on the skin than a withdrawal reflex.

Here's how it works in a mosquito bite: skin cells release a chemical (usually histamine), prompting nociceptors to send the appropriate signal to the spinal cord, from where it travels down a bundle of nerves known as the spinothalamic tract to the brain.

In 2009, researchers experimented with injecting non-human primates with histamine to induce an itchy sensation in their legs, using an electrode to measure activity in the animals' spinal-thalamic tract.

Immediately after the injection, neuronal activity sharply increased. When the researchers scratched the stimuli, the activity of the neurons decreased.

So it was found that scratching affects the activity of the spinal-thalamic pathway, and not the brain. (Indeed, there is no "itch center" in the brain).

But in those cases where scratching preceded the injection, it did not bring any relief to the experimental subjects.

That is, somehow the spinal cord "knows" when scratching should help and when not.

Image copyright Image caption Scratching may have helped our ancestors get rid of pesky insects

Are you itching already? If so, it's because, like yawning, itching can be "contagious."

Doctors say that after taking patients with scabies, they themselves begin to itch reflexively.

Researchers once did an experiment where they gave a lecture on the topic of itching specifically to find out if the audience would show the corresponding symptoms.

And it worked: Hidden camera footage showed that attendees scratched themselves much more during a lecture than during a talk on a more neutral topic.

"Contagious" itching is also observed in monkeys - perhaps this is due to the fact that itching yourself when others do it can be beneficial in terms of the survival of the species.

In an article published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology in 1948, neuroscientist George Bishop of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis described this paradox: ".

So, patients with eczema say that they itch not until the itching disappears, but until the scratching process ceases to cause pleasant sensations.

“Happiness is the ability to itch whenever you want,” the American poet Ogden Nash once said. Perhaps he himself did not realize how right he was.

You can read it in English on the website.

The need to scratch your back can bring to the handle. If you have a sharp itching back, use one of the many ways to soothe irritation. For starters, try scratching with your own nails. If you can't reach your back, try to help yourself with improvised means. If you often face this problem, you must take action and solve the problem of itchy skin.

Steps

Use your nails

Try to get to the itchy spot on your own. The easiest way to scratch your back is to do it yourself. To do this, put one or both hands behind your back and try to find the place that itches. If your shoulders, lower back, or upper back are itchy, chances are you can scratch yourself.

Don't scratch too hard. Do it gently and gently. Scratching too hard can damage the skin, thereby increasing itching. This can worsen the itching later on.

Minimize your attempts to relieve itching. While scratching can be pleasurable, you shouldn't do it too often. Itching won't go away if you scratch it too long. If itching is the result of an infection or rash, it will only make things worse.

Ask a friend for help. If the itchy area is in the center of the back, it will be very difficult to reach it. Ask a friend, family member, or significant other to help you. Ask this person to scratch your back and show you where it itches. Ask him not to scratch too hard, otherwise the itching will only get worse.

Using improvised means

Buy a back scratcher. Back scratchers are sold in many beauty salons, supermarkets and beauty salons. This device is designed so that you can scratch hard-to-reach places on your back. As a rule, they are long wooden sticks with slightly pointed edges, which are designed to relieve itching.

Depending on the type of comb, some of them should not be used on bare skin. Using a comb with very sharp edges can be harmful to your skin.
As with normal itching, don't scratch it too often with a comb. This can aggravate itching. If a rash is the cause of the itching, excessive scratching will only make the itching worse.

Wrap a coarse cloth around the shoulder blade. If you can't reach your back, make a comb out of a rough cloth and spatula. To do this, take a spatula and wrap its end with a coarse cloth. If necessary, secure the rag with an elastic band. Use this device to scratch your back.

Use the water pressure in the shower. If you have a removable shower head, use it to scratch your back. Turn on the water harder and point the shower head at the itchy spot. It might ease the itching.

Scratch your back on a rough surface. If a pocket scratcher doesn't help, rub your back against a rough surface. For example, rub your back against a rough wall, wood, carpet, wall corner, and other similar surfaces. This should relieve some of the itching.
- Use this method with caution. If you decide to scratch outside of the house, be sure to do it with your clothes on so you don't accidentally introduce bacteria or toxins. For example, the same brick wall can be incredibly dirty.
Use a comb. The back can also be scratched with a regular comb. A hairbrush is better for this task, as its design is somewhat similar to a back scratcher. Take the brush by the handle, wrap it around its back and run it over the itchy area.
- Rinse your comb if you have a sweaty back and have used it directly on your skin.
- If you borrow someone else's comb, be sure to ask permission first.

Elimination of itching

Apply a cold wet compress. Low temperatures have a much more beneficial effect on the itchy area than scratching. Apply an ice pack to the itchy area, which you can buy at any nearest pharmacy. Never apply an ice pack directly to the skin. Before applying ice, wrap it in a rag or paper towel.

However, some scientists believe that the "itch neurons" may be different from the "pain neurons" and that each of them uses C-fibers to transmit their excitatory impulses.

Itching and a lot of the troubles that accompany it can be caused by a huge number of reasons. To accurately establish the source, it is best to visit a doctor, of course, but this is where the problem arises - which specialist should I sign up for ?! Or go to everyone in a row - inspection is never superfluous! Let's see what the reasons are and which doctor is worth visiting.

With severe, persistent itching of the scalp necessarily see a doctor! Don't pull! The sooner you apply, the less consequences will be!

Likely Causes

seborrhea, dandruff

Incorrect work of the sebaceous glands leads to big problems with hair. One of the very unpleasant ones is dandruff (seborrhea), accompanied by unbearable itching and damage to the skin. As well as shoulders and backs covered with white scales. Just these scales are the source of itching, they irritate the skin.

In mild cases, dandruff is perfectly treated on its own at home. More complex cases are best treated together with a trichologist, and approach this comprehensively and tune in to the duration of the process.

Dry scalp

Again, the wrong work of the sebaceous glands and some more and the skin of the head. The glands are actively trying to relieve dryness and protect weakened skin from the negative effects of the environment, and thus the entire surface is covered with a layer of sebum. Hair begins to get dirty quickly, a lot of dirt sticks, bacteria and microbes develop strongly. You can mistakenly suspect oily skin and oily hair type. Frequent washing of the hair dries out the skin even more, cracks and scratches itch a lot. After washing, everything is fluffy and electrified, the hairs split and break off.

This problem is not badly dealt with, replenishment of vitamins and microelements in the body, proper and healthy nutrition, compliance with the rules of washing, drying, protection of curls from the sun, wind, frost.

fungal infection

These are serious diseases that require mandatory treatment. In addition to constant parsley, plaques (lichen) also appear on the skin, which look very repulsive. It is best to undergo treatment in a medical institution under the supervision of a specialist dermatologist, but if for some reason this is not possible, then try to relieve symptoms with tea tree oil wraps and special antifungal shampoos.

Another very serious lesion, which also requires mandatory and urgent treatment (it is necessary to visit a dermatologist). Most often it is lice. A louse can jump over anywhere, especially where there are large crowds of people or large teams of employees. You can find it under a magnifying glass, carefully examining the scalp (it is better if a doctor does it). Tick-borne infection cannot be detected at home.

Treatment for pediculosis is quite simple and not long in time. Special shampoos and some folk remedies will do the trick.

Allergy

Perhaps one of the most common sources of itchy skin, and all because an incredible number of new allergic reactions have recently appeared. The main ones are reactions to food. Also, many today are allergic to hair care products (shampoos, balms, masks, styling products ...) and decorative cosmetics. It is usually accompanied by rashes, redness, itching, and sometimes swelling.

Allergies also happen when you change your usual hair care products. If returning to the old remedy does not solve the allergy problem, then you should contact a trichologist.

The solution to the problem is to find the allergen and, of course, to eliminate it. It is best to do this in the allergist's office.

Allergy to paint

It also happens quite often, especially if the master used not very high-quality paint or paint containing ammonia or hydrogen peroxide. There is only one way out: be sure to control what exactly the master paints you and choose ammonia-free paints or tint shampoos for coloring. In addition, it is advisable to test for allergic reactions before the procedures.

Allergy to powders

Washing powders, fabric softeners contain many different chemical components. Any of them can cause skin irritation, and, accordingly, allergies and itching.

Stress, neurosis

The source of many of the most diverse problems with the body is nervous strain, stress, depression, neurosis. Hair and scalp are also affected. Stress can cause a change in hair type, and disturbances in the functioning of the sebaceous glands, and spasms of blood vessels, and problems with blood microcirculation. Against this background, the metabolism suffers greatly and irritation of the skin occurs.

To remove this irritation, first of all, it is necessary to exclude stressful situations and calm your nerves, drink a course of sedative drugs (prescribed by a neurologist upon treatment), massage the scalp and cervical spine.

Improper nutrition

Excessive consumption of sweet, spicy, coffee, smoked, canned food and more. These are not very useful products and overeating them inevitably affects the skin: dermatitis, eczema, acne, rash. These skin manifestations are always accompanied by itching and strong scratching of the rash. Coping with this problem is quite simple: temporarily exclude “harmful” food, drink more plain water, consume lean foods with a small amount of spices. Itching and rashes will quickly go away!

Wrong headgear

Tight and synthetic headgear often causes discomfort on the head. The argument makes the situation even worse. I want to scratch my head all at once and as quickly as possible. There is only one way out - to immediately change the hat to a more pleasant one, made of natural material, and besides this, different hats must be worn at a certain temperature () and try not to overheat the scalp, as well as not to overcool.

In addition to these main reasons, there are also secondary ones. These include:

disorders in blood circulation;
diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
passive lifestyle;
frequent use of hair dryers, curling irons ...;
surge...

Of course, there are many reasons and it is possible to paint each one for a very long time. If your cause is not among the main ones, then it is worth looking with a specialist in rarer ones. But the reason why the scalp itches must be found, as this can be a symptom of a serious illness, and it becomes problematic to go to the hairdresser.

Skin itching makes us scratch ourselves instinctively. Why does scratching your own skin with your nails almost instantly relieve the unpleasant sensation?

Text: Jason G. Goldman/BBC Future

After spending 17 years trying to get rid of the disease, the woman published a scientific paper describing her medical history in the medical journal Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington - perhaps in an attempt to find someone who could alleviate her suffering.

Traver sought help from general practitioners, dermatologists, neurologists and other medical specialists. Trying, the woman poured pesticides on herself in industrial quantities. She inflicted wounds on herself, trying to fish out the source of irritation with her nails from under the skin, and sent tissue samples obtained in the process to entomologists.

One doctor thought of referring her to a neurologist for examination, but the patient managed to convince the specialist that she did not need his services. “Until now, no treatment has helped me completely get rid of ticks,” she wrote.

"Happiness is the ability to itch every time you want"

Traver's story is similar to that of other people with delusional delusions dermatosis, but such cases are very rare: they take less than 2.5% of the working time of dermatologists.

On the other hand, more ordinary itching is an everyday phenomenon familiar to almost everyone. And no one really knows what it is.

The definition, which is still used by most doctors and researchers, was proposed by a German doctor about 350 years ago. Samuel Hafenreffer. He wrote, in a somewhat streamlined fashion, that an itch is any "unpleasant sensation that causes a conscious or reflex desire to scratch the itchy spot."

According to this explanation, whenever you scratch, the phenomenon that causes this action is itching. Perhaps this definition is accurate, but it does not clarify the causes of itching.

At first glance, itching and pain are one and the same. In our skin there are many pain receptors, nociceptors that transmit information about the presence of various types of irritation to the spinal cord and brain. Weak stimulation of nociceptors causes a sensation of itching,. So says the intensity theory, according to which nociceptors have no specialization.

But there is an alternative theory of specificity, which suggests different properties of different nociceptors: some are responsible for the feeling of pain, others for the sensation of itching. However, it is possible that the same receptors are responsible for both sensations, somehow determining different types of effects on the skin.

obsessive scratching

The fact that the sensation of skin itching can be caused by various reasons does not fully explain this phenomenon. Itching can be severe - this sensation is familiar to most of us, and can occur, for example, after an insect bite.

There is also a chronic, pathological type of itching caused by dry skin, eczema, and diseases. Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, chronic liver failure, lymphomas, AIDS, hypothyroidism, and neuronal damage can also cause chronic itching.

In addition, the sensation of itching can be associated with psychological and cognitive factors, not all of which are as creepy as dermatozoic delusions.

Obsessive scratching may be a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder; at the same time, constant scratching of the skin can lead to its mechanical damage, which only exacerbates the problem.

Even more interesting is that the sensation of itching can be reduced by painful stimuli. Scratching is a weak but still painful stimulus, but the slight sensation of pain that we experience when we scratch the skin with our nails really helps with itching - as does applying cold or hot objects to the irritation site, capsaicin (an alkaloid that gives hot peppers), or even exposure to weak electrical discharges.

Despite the apparent similarity between the mechanism of the sensation of pain and the sensation of itching, there is one very obvious difference between them. When we experience pain, we reflectively move away from the source of this sensation. Try to bring your hand as close as possible to an open fire, and you will immediately want to remove it.

But the scratching reflex (or “processing reflex”), on the contrary, draws our attention to the irritated area of \u200b\u200bthe skin. This phenomenon can be explained from the point of view of evolution: staring at the site of irritation and quickly scratching it is a more effective method of eliminating an insect crawling on the skin than a withdrawal reflex.

Here's how it works: skin cells release a chemical (usually histamine), prompting nociceptors to send the appropriate signal to the spinal cord, from where it travels down a bundle of nerves known as the spinothalamic tract to the brain.

In 2009, researchers injected non-human primates with histamine to induce an itchy sensation in their legs, using an electrode to measure activity in the animals' spinal-thalamic tract. Immediately after the injection, neuronal activity sharply increased. When the researchers scratched the stimuli, the activity of the neurons decreased.

So it was found that scratching affects the activity of the spinal-thalamic pathway, and not the brain. (Indeed, there is no “itch center” in the brain.) But in those cases where scratching preceded the injection, it did not bring any relief to the experimental subjects. That is, somehow the spinal cord "knows" when scratching should help and when not.

Are you itching already? If so, it's because, like yawning, itching can be "contagious." Doctors say that after taking patients with scabies, they themselves begin to itch reflexively.

Researchers once did an experiment where they gave a lecture on the topic of itching specifically to find out if the audience would show the corresponding symptoms. And it worked: Hidden camera footage showed that attendees scratched themselves much more during a lecture than during a talk on a more neutral topic.

"Contagious" itching is also observed in monkeys - perhaps this is due to the fact that itching yourself when others do it can be beneficial in terms of the survival of the species.

And think about this: scratching is not usually considered a painful process - on the contrary, it can be a pleasure.

In an article published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology in 1948, the neurophysiologist George Bishop of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, described this paradox as follows: "the furious scratching of an itchy area that would cause pain anywhere else can be a great pleasure."

However, although the scratches left on the back by a loved one in a fit of passion can be very pleasant, scratching can lead to serious problems in patients with chronic diseases accompanied by itching. So, patients with eczema say that they itch not until the itching disappears, but until the scratching process ceases to cause pleasant sensations.

“Happiness is the ability to itch every time you want,” an American poet once said. Ogden Nash. Perhaps he himself did not realize how right he was.