Question: why do we itch? :)

Jean Bourke answered on 16 Nov 2012:

That is a really hard question to answer. We know what causes itching but not exactly how or why it comes about. We know we are not the only animals that feel itch so it has been around a long time in the natural world, presumably it serves an important purpose.

Itches are only felt in the skin, never in muscles or joints. Studies were done where tiny bits of itching powder were injected into different depths of skin and it was found that the itch was not very deep.

We are not entirely sure how we feel itches but we know that pain (scratching) reduces the feeling of itchiness.

The itch itself tells us something is where it shouldn’t be (an infection such as athlete’s foot, insect bite, itching powered and other irritants) or that something isn’t quite right (dry skin, scabs etc). We respond by trying to remove the problem: scratching. The itch make us aware of something that is a problem but not really dangerous. For the dangerous stuff we have the pain sensation. So when something is really wrong, e.g. a cut, you feel pain, as that cut heals a scab forms, this can itch because it’s not a serious threat (not bleeding freely and the scab helps prevent infection) but it’s still not quite right so you feel and itch.

Hope that makes sense!