itch

Also known as pruritus, itching, itchiness

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.

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

Research

37,295 papers

Physiology and Pathophysiology of Itch.ReviewPhysiological reviews · 2020Cevikbas F, Lerner EADOI: 10.1152/physrev.00017.2019
Itch: Epidemiology, clinical presentation, and diagnostic workup.ReviewJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2022Roh YS, Choi J, Sutaria N et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2021.07.076
Itch: Pathogenesis and treatment.ReviewJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2022Sutaria N, Adawi W, Goldberg R et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2021.07.078
Itch: From mechanism to (novel) therapeutic approaches.ReviewThe Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2018Yosipovitch G, Rosen JD, Hashimoto TDOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2018.09.005
Peripheral itch sensitization in atopic dermatitis.ReviewAllergology international : official journal of the Japanese Society of Allergology · 2022Tominaga M, Takamori KDOI: 10.1016/j.alit.2022.04.003
Itch.ReviewCurrent biology : CB · 2025Murphy LN, Lumpkin EA, Bautista DMDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.021
Basic mechanisms of itch.ReviewThe Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2023Misery L, Pierre O, Le Gall-Ianotto C et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2023.05.004
Atopic Dermatitis Itch: Scratching for an Explanation.ReviewThe Journal of investigative dermatology · 2024Biazus Soares G, Hashimoto T, Yosipovitch GDOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2023.10.048

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Itch.jpg

Show 3 more facts

exact match: purl.obolibrary.org/obo/SYMP_0000432
ICPC 2 ID: S02
NCI Thesaurus ID: C3344

Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~15 min read

Article

28 sections

Contents

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

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.