Talk:Itch

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[edit] Old talk

Treatments?

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make whatever changes you feel are needed. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in! (Although there are some reasons why you might like to…) The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. JFW | T@lk 20:47, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Q: Nerve damage can cause itching, right?

I believe (based on my experience) that nerve damage, such as spinal cord injury, can cause itching, but I don't know the first thing about it, and the spinal cord injury article doesn't mention it. Is that generally the case? Does anyone know enough to add some information about nerve-based itching? Thanks. -- Creidieki 4 July 2005 18:29 (UTC)

I have been reading the pages on itching, allergies, vomitting & diahrrea and cannot find anything connecting them. The reason I am searching is that I have had three episodes that began with severe itching of the palms, then the soles of the feet, within a minute of the start of the itching-dizziness and violent bouts of vomitting & diahrrea. The first episode was the most severe and included loosing consciousness, extended abdominal cramping and a trip to the emergency room. No doctors have been able to tell me what it was. I have learned more here than anywhere else on other issues so I'm hoping someone has heard of this. Thanks

I would say it looks like the body needing calibration due to altered nerving. My advise is then to touch or scratch lightly on the place of itching so that the body can recalibrate. When recalibration is done the itching should disappear. I also wish someone to try this claim scientifically. Davidjonsson (talk) 18:15, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Risk Factors source

The Risk Factors section comes entirely from the NCI page here. Their site policy says: "This material is in the public domain and is not subject to copyright restrictions. Therefore, no special permission is required to use it or reproduce it. However, any reproduced material should contain proper acknowledgement of NCI as the originator and the NCI Web site, www.cancer.gov, as the source".

I'm not sure how such a proviso squares with Wikipedia policy, which assumes no restrictions or authorship conditions. Tearlach 18:38, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Just mention the URL as a source. JFW | T@lk 22:55, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Cancer Overemphasized

"It can occur in people who have cancer or in those who have received cancer treatment."

  • It can occur in people who are obese or those who are on a diet.
  • It can occur in people with diabetes and people without diabetes.

Seriously, that sentence about cancer should be removed, unless other causes of itch are given proportional attention. The statement about "Pruritis can be related to anything from dry skin to undiagnosed cancer" should be the last thing said about cancer in an introductory summary. Detailed information about cancer's relation to itch should come later.

You are correct - I removed a lot of cancer stuff that was clearly over the top. Most people with itch do not have cancer; they should use less soap and use a neutral deodorant though. JFW | T@lk 00:11, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguation Page

I think there should be a disambiguation page for this and Radiohead's Itch. Cryptic C62 13:24, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Done! -- Rmrfstar 23:19, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help This Article!

Wow, I am suprised to see how little there is about such a universal physiological function. Somebody out there with a good amount of knowledge of biological/health/physiological information needs to add lots of important information to this article. I don't have the capablitiy to write about these things, but I feel they are important. For instant, what about the strange interection between itching and scratching? Why does an itch provoke a scratch? How can this be explained scientificly? And also, why do certian drugs like narcotics (opiates) cause intense itching sensations? there are many more unexplained questions regarding itching, please, lets try to answer them!Icculusioso 10:44, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Purpose of Itching

I would like to see something added to this article about the purpose of itching (and the desire to scratch) from an evolutionary context. Any reflex as strong and widespread as the itch-scratch reflex has to have some sort of strong selection pressure causing it to be so dominant. In our society we are often taught "not to scratch" but isn't there a greater purpose for itching, in the wild? For example, to dislodge thorns or parasites? This is just speculation though...I think this article would be greatly improved by looking up and citing some scientific articles that address this question. Cazort (talk · contribs)

How about you Google for it and enlighten us? Given that itch and pain share roughly the same neural pathways it may be a warning sign that, like pain, may be misinterpreted. JFW | T@lk 11:58, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
The article does now mention it. -- Beland 00:16, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Itching powder

How does itching powder actually work? JFW | T@lk 07:01, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Leyperson speculation

I was wondering about itching... I understand that the natural state of the nerves is to generate pain impulses and that this is naturally regulated so that we don't feel it. If we were to become heroin dependant so this regulation was taken over chemically we would suffer excrutiating pain on withdrawal until the natural regulation re-tuned. Can it be that itching is really a very minor pain reflex, and that scratching, which would naturally be pain inducing, just stimulates the pain regulation technique? This would explain how "Tiger balm" type treatments work, they give the IMPRESSION of heat and generate a real response. As someone who as a child suffered from very painful eczema I strongly remember putting a very hot hot-water-bottle on the affected area and gaining great relief. I often pinch painful itches even now, do others?. Contra thought, is "cold turkey" skin pain? I guess not.Geoff Clout 10:07, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

As far as my research went, it was a theory before (in the 90s and before that) that itch might be stimulated via the same nerves as the ones with pain receptors. However in an experiment by Martin Schmelz et al (1997) it was suggested that there are actually distinct C-fibres (affarent nerve fibres) that cause the sensation of itchiness (through a rather complcated and not well understood pathway). Apparently nerves from the pain pathway can inhibit itch though, therefore scratching helps to combat itch.

[edit] Scratching

Since there is no article on Wikipedia about scratching, perhaps this should be renamed 'Itching and scratching'. Both subjects seem equally important, though it could also be simply be left as 'Itch' but expanded slightly to deal with scratching. Richard001 02:35, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What makes itching stop?

Histamine makes you (or a dog?) itch. Which makes you scratch. But then, what makes the itching stop? What makes the scratching stop?-69.87.200.24 23:38, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Poor hygiene

Is poor hygiene (being covered in sweat, dirt, etc.) also a potential cause for itchiness? -- Beland 00:16, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "pathway" several times

Itch#Mechanism says "pathway" several times. Please combine the sentences. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jidanni (talk • contribs) 03:48, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Is the difference between pruritis and pruritus, itching and the cause of the itching?

Is the difference between pruritis and pruritus, itching and the cause (sensation of discomfort in skin) of the itching? Or is that being too simple? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.126.124.83 (talk) 01:07, 10 January 2008 (UTC)