If you love to scratch an itchy rash, good news! A new study reveals scratching a rash has upsides -- along with the downsides your mom warned you about. Nail’d it! Scratching an itchy rash can feel ...

Studies show that scratching overrides itch signals and engages pain-modulating regions in the brain, creating a sense of ...

Despite the saying “happiness is having a scratch for every itch,” itching often makes the itchy skin condition worse. So why is the instinct so strong? In a study with mice, researchers from the ...

When normal mice were allowed to scratch, their ears became swollen and filled with inflammatory immune cells called neutrophils. In contrast, inflammation and swelling were much milder in normal mice ...

Russell has a PhD in the history of medicine, violence, and colonialism. His research has explored topics including ethics, science governance, and medical involvement in violent contexts. Russell has ...

From a relatively young age, many of us are given one overarching piece of advice when it comes to having an itch: whatever you do, don’t scratch it. Whether it’s from a mosquito bite, a sunburn or a ...

Mosquito bites are itchy and we tend to scratch itchy things. The scratching feels good in the short term but tends to hasten and exacerbate swelling and inflammation. This leads to more scratching ...

Your parents were right: Scratching an itchy rash really does make it worse. Now we know why, thanks to new research published today in the journal Science that uncovers how scratching aggravates ...