Itch overview
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Itch Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Itch overview On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Itch overview |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
An itch (Latin: pruritus) is a sensation felt on an area of skin that evokes the desire or reflex to scratch that area. Itching can be related to anything from dry skin to cancer. Itch has many similarities to pain and both are unpleasant sensory experiences but their behavioral response patterns are different. Pain creates a reflex withdrawal while itch leads to a scratch reflex.[1] Unmyelinated nerve fibers for itch and pain both originate in the skin, however information for them are conveyed centrally in two distinct systems that both use the same peripheral nerve bundle and spinothalamic tract.[2]