An itch can feel like a burn, an electric shock, or a crawling sensation. It’s caused by stimulated nerve cells in the skin, which make you want to scratch the affected area. Share on Pinterest If ...

What’s common between a scratchy sweater, a mosquito bite, and poison ivy? A brush with any of them guarantees an itchy spot on the skin. Scratching that itch is extremely tempting because of how ...

It can be a relief to scratch the occasional itch, but when itch gets out of control, it can become a serious health problem. How does the body know when to stop? It can be a relief to scratch the ...

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Russell has a PhD in the history of medicine, violence, and colonialism. His research has explored topics including ethics, science governance, and medical involvement in violent contexts. Russell has ...

It can be a relief to scratch the occasional itch, but when itch gets out of control, it can become a serious health problem. How does the body know when to stop? Scientists at UC San Francisco are ...

One of the greatest pleasures in life is to scratch an itch — in both the real and figurative sense. Although scratching an itch provides immediate (albeit temporary) relief, it may actually trigger ...

Have you ever wondered why scratching sometimes makes itching even worse? The neurotransmitter serotonin has been fingered as one troublemaker as the brain tries to control pain caused by scratching.

I remember it well: our dark winter of itch when the kids were small. It started with a note sent home—years before the pandemic—that my child had been exposed, not to a deadly virus but to lice.

Feeling itchy? A wearable sensor can measure how bad it is by tracking how often you scratch yourself. Itching is associated with many diseases and in some cases can be debilitating, but diagnosing ...