When we itch, we scratch. That's the basic human response. However, a recent study suggests that it is only counterproductive as it only makes you itch some more.
A team of Washington University in St. Louis researchers led by Dr. Zhou-Feng Chen discovered that there's a strong link between more scratching and itching: serotonin.
Serotonin is a brain neurotransmitter that is responsible for many things including controlling the pain. However, sometimes when it's released from the brain, it doesn't deal with the pain but the itch, thereby increasing its intensity.
To understand this further, scratching an itch causes a bit amount of pain that the body picks up. It then sends signals to the brain that you're in pain, which then compels it to produce serotonin. However, as serotonin is dispensed into your bloodstream, it somehow "changes course" and deals with the itch, only it intensifies it. The cycle then goes vicious-the more you itch, the more you scratch.
However, blocking serotonin isn't the best option to stop itching since it may only affect other vital processes of the body including regulating your mood and inducing growth. Rather, the most ideal technique is to deal with a certain neuron that causes serotonin to make you itch more.
This neuron is called GRPR, which is responsible for sending the itch signal to the brain. During their experiment with genetically modified mice, the researchers discovered that this works with a receptor known as 5HTIA, which acts like a switch for the neuron. When you therefore itch, you scratch, and this creates pain signals sent to the brain, which in turn produces serotonin to control pain. However, serotonin also makes the receptor more active, producing the "itching neurons."
The team is still working on gaining better understanding to this complex molecular relationship, but in the meantime, they provide you a practical advice: the next time you itch, try your hardest not to scratch.