Scratching an itch can bring a contradictory wave of pleasure and misery. A mouse study on scratching, reported in the Jan. 31 Science, fleshes out this head-scratching paradox and could point out ...

For people living with relentless itching, the suggestion that their symptoms are “all in their head” can feel like a second ...

We all know that picking and scratching at a scab is a bad idea — it'll just make it take longer to heal and could even lead to infection. But a healing scab just begs to be scratched. So why do scabs ...

Like humans, mice normally scratch themselves in response to itchy compounds. As such, scientists can use mice to study new approaches to treat chronic itch conditions like atopic dermatitis (eczema) ...

Scientists show for the first time that bacteria can cause itch by activating nerve cells in the skin. The findings can inform new therapies to treat itch that occurs in inflammatory skin conditions ...

In genetically engineered mice that are prone to chronic itching, researchers identified elevated signaling (shown in red) in nerve cells involved in both itch and in pain. Disclaimer: AAAS and ...

A new study conducted in mice suggests that, although it's not all good, our urge to scratch at itchy skin may have an evolutionary benefit. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...

It seems hard to believe that a basic human sensation — one that can be evoked by a simple mosquito bite — still has scientists scratching their heads. Yet despite centuries of study, understanding ...

We’ve all had that urge to scratch an itch. But why do we do it? Credit: Tambako/Flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0 The pandemic has us feeling a lot of things: anxious, stressed, tired. But what about itchy? Have ...

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.

Itching is an unpleasant sensation that drives us to scratch reflexively in an effort to remove harmful substances from our body. It’s also how I get most of my physical activity for the day. Not ...

Chronic skin itch affects 7% of U.S. adults but until recently neuroscientists considered the mechanisms of skin itch the same. Researchers have uncovered differences in itch on hairy versus non-hairy ...