What purpose does an itch serve, other than to irritate the hell out of you? Well, it’s your body’s alarm system alerting you that, hey, you have something in your skin and you need to get it out, stat.
“The scratching that is triggered prevents external elements like insects, toxins or irritants from getting into the deeper part of the skin and the bloodstream,” said Associate Professor Tey Hong Liang, a senior consultant and consultant-in-charge at National Skin Centre’s Itch Clinic.
Although itch and pain are distinctly different sensations, they are closely related and actually share some neural pathways, he said. So how does your brain decide to make you scratch or wince in pain? And why does scratching a mosquito bite – or even better, making an “X” indentation with your fingernail in your skin – feel so good?
What about those non-specific, unreachable back itches that start with “higher, lower… nop333 casino, go higher but to the left” – but ultimately, no one seems to be able to hit the spot? We scratch the itch to find out.
(Photo: iStock/Phanuwat Nandee)