So why is the instinct so strong?
Daniel Kaplan of the University of Pittsburgh, senior author of the study, said in a universitystatement.
Our study helps resolve this paradox by providing evidence that scratching also provides defense against bacterial skin infections.
Itching makes it worse.© Freepik
They induced the symptoms in normal mice, as well as mice without itch-sensing neurons.
When normal mice scratched their ears, the appendages swelled and filled with neutrophils (inflammatory immune cells).
This difference in outcomes confirms that, unfortunately, your parents were right: scratching does make it worse.
The finding that scratching improves defense againstStaphylococcus aureussuggests that it could be beneficial in some contexts, said Kaplan.
But the damage that scratching does to the skin probably outweighs this benefit when itching is chronic.
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