Scratching an itch can bring a contradictory wave of pleasure and misery. A mouse study on scratching, reported in the Jan. 31 Science, fleshes out this head-scratching paradox and could point out ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Itching, and the subsequent urge to scratch, can make eczema worse. Kinga Krzeminska/Moment via Getty Images Itching can be ...

The itch from bug bites, rashes, and other skin conditions can sometimes be so overpowering that it feels impossible to avoid scratching them. But new research explains why you might want to hold off ...

This is Explainer, a column that answers questions we all have (or should have). Anyone with skin knows the feeling of having a bad itch that won’t go away. Whether it’s a mosquito bite, hives, or ...

One of the greatest pleasures in life is to scratch an itch — in both the real and figurative sense. Although scratching an itch provides immediate (albeit temporary) relief, it may actually trigger ...

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 ...

What’s common between a scratchy sweater, a mosquito bite, and poison ivy? A brush with any of them guarantees an itchy spot on the skin. Scratching that itch is extremely tempting because of how ...

Have you ever wondered why scratching sometimes makes itching even worse? The neurotransmitter serotonin has been fingered as one troublemaker as the brain tries to control pain caused by scratching.