Why do we scratch?

Question

We seem to derive great pleasure from a good scratch.

Answer 1

anything which irritates the top layer of our skin can cause an itchy sensation e.g. an insect bite, an irritating cream or soap or fabric etc. this irritation tells our skin to release a naturally occuring chemical in our bodies called histamine as a response to what our skin perceives as an attack. it is actually this histamine which either causes or accelerates the itch. the higher the level of histamine, the greater the itch. antihistamine creams can be used to relive the itch. we derive pleasure from scratching because we are responding to what our bodies want at that time. this may sound like the right thing to do e.g. if it itches, scratch it. but obeying what our bodies want is not always the right thing to do e.g. a drug addict has trained their body to need their drug of choice but what their body wants can kill them. it is better to try not to scratch the itch if you possibly can (i.e. disobey your body) because the more you scratch, the more histamine you release and therefore unwittingly increase the need to scratch/the irritation.

Answer 2

I don't scratch unless I itch, and even then I try to avoid it as I find it counter productive. Some of the pleasure may come from the relief that comes from having something else to think of/feel other than the irritation.
However it is clear that some people enjoy a good scratch, as do many animals, even when there is no irritation present.
I think the relatively gentle stimulation of the nerve endings in the skin may be pleasurable to some. A little like being caressed, but rougher.
If we do it to ourselves, we have complete power over where and how strong the scratching will be, so I would imagine self-scratching would be the most pleasurable, though dogs and cats obviously love to be scratched by their owners, but that may be because the owners can reach parts that the animals cannot reach.

Answer 3

Itch sensation are found almost exclusively in the superficial layers of the skin.We scratch to relieve the itchiness.Scratch is an important spinal cord reflex. This reflex is initiated by the itch sensation. It involves two different functions; a position sense that allows the hand to find the exact point of irritation on the surface of the body and a to and fro scratching movement. Hence any itching sensation will automatically get scratching as the immediate response.This scratching removes the irritant and the itch is relieved. Sometimes the scratch is strong enough to elicit pain. The pain signals are believed to suppress the itch signals in the cord.

Answer 4

I heard it was because the pain caused by the scratching motion temporarily overrides the itching sensation of whatever we are scratching which also releases endorphins.

Answer 5

The act of sratching is a semispontaneous reaction to bacteria on the "itchy area" That is why when u come out of the bath, you dont feel like scrathing!

Answer 6

The skin stretches and becomes tense. Body oils seem to make the skin feel better, but a good back rub feels better.

Answer 7

oooh i love a good back scratch .

we just do, something is annoying our skin and you got to scratch (although an skin condition is not nice to scratch so im feeling sorry for those who have to scratch because of excema my son had it not nice)

Answer 8

The nerves that make us feel pain also tell us to itch. It's so we can remove skin cells. I know weird but that's what I learned from science.

Answer 9

An irritant(dust, microbs, infection etc) causes a slight inflammation in the skin. The nerves in your skin pick up on this irritation and you feel it.

Answer 10

To relieve the itching sensation.