itch
Sign in to saveAn itch (also known as pruritus) is a sensation that causes a strong desire or reflex to scratch. Itches have many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasant sensory experiences, their behavioral response patterns are different. Pain creates a withdrawal reflex, whereas itches lead to a scratch reflex.
AI overview
An itch is a sensation that makes you want to scratch, and it's related to pain but causes a different response—while pain makes you pull away, an itch triggers a scratching reflex instead. Understanding itch matters because it's a common sensory experience that affects how our bodies respond to irritation in distinct ways compared to other unpleasant sensations.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Medical condition.name
- Itch
- Medical condition.image
- Itch 01.JPG
- Medical condition.caption
- A man scratching his back
- Medical condition.field
- Dermatology
- Medical condition.symptoms
- Compulsion to scratch an irritated area of skin
- Medical condition.causes
- Certain infections, allergies (from rashes, welts or hives), blood derangements and environmental factors
- Medical condition.risks
- Dry skin
- Medical condition.diagnosis
- Often based on the causes of itching
- Medical condition.differential
- Pain
- Medical condition.treatment
- Antipruritics, phototherapy
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
28 sectionsContents
- Classification
- Signs and symptoms
- Contagious itch
- Itches due to specific stimuli
- Itch inhibition due to pain
- Causes
- Infectious
- Environmental and allergic
- Skin
- Other diseases
- Medication
- Related to pregnancy
- Other
- Mechanism
- Pruritoceptive
- Molecular basis
- Spinal itch pathway
- Neuropathic
- Neurogenic
- Psychogenic
- Peripheral sensitization
- Central sensitization
- Treatment
- Epidemiology
- History
- See also
- References
- Further reading
An itch (also known as pruritus) is a sensation that causes a strong desire or reflex to scratch. Itches have many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasant sensory experiences, their behavioral response patterns are different. Pain creates a withdrawal reflex, whereas itches lead to a scratch reflex.
Unmyelinated nerve fibers for itches and pain both originate in the skin. Information for them is conveyed centrally in two distinct systems that both use the same nerve bundle and spinothalamic tract.