We are all familiar with the itching sensation and scratching gives us some relief. But what causes it and why scratching gives a soothing sensation?

               When the pain nerves in our skin are stimulated a little, we do not feel pain but feel a tickling sensation in our skin, which causes a desire to scratch. A mosquito bite irritates the pain nerves of our skin just enough to cause an itch. Dryness of the skin or wounds on the body surface and various allergies can also cause itching. Similarly many other diseases like kidney disorders and cancer can cause itching.

               The best way to deal with mosquito —bite itch is to scratch lightly in a circle all around, but not directly on the place of bite.

               Scratching the skin at one spot may help for a while but can produce an itch at some other places of the body. According to some doctors, the reason behind it is that the pain nerves in the area around an itch become more sensitive. Scratching stimulates these nerves just enough to start a new itch. So the feeling spreads.

               Now the question arises, why is the skin the only part of our body that can feel an itch? This is a big mystery. We have pain nerves inside our body also but we never feel an itch in the inner organs such as liver or heart. The medical scientists are still quite ignorant about the reasons.