A Conversation for SEx - Science Explained
SEx:Healing
Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE) Started conversation Jul 1, 2013
Why do things itch while they're healing? I got a blister in the top of my foot a few days ago, and I've managed to keep it from popping, so it's healing nicely, but it's been driving me crazy with itching. (The blister's an ordinary friction blister--evidently I can't wear that pair of sandals and stand 12 hours on hard ground.)
SEx:Healing
Danny B Posted Jul 1, 2013
The mechanisms by which it occurs seem to be fairly well understood - largely a combination of:
- release of chemicals by the healing tissue that activate sensory nerves, which the brain interprets as an irritant that needs to be scratched away (a similar reflex as that when you splash an irritant liquid on on your skin)
- the movement of cells in the healing tissue, which mechanically triggers sensory nerves (the same reflex as when an insect crawls on your skin and you brush it away)
Both responses have evolved so that we react when something is on the skin that shouldn't be, but no one really knows why these mechanisms are activated when a wound is healing.
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SEx:Healing
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