{"id":904567,"date":"2026-07-01T03:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/904567\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T03:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:50:17","slug":"scratching-that-bug-bite-might-feel-good-at-first-but-science-says-its-a-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/904567\/","title":{"rendered":"Scratching that bug bite might feel good at first but science says it\u2019s a bad idea"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 You\u2019ve likely heard it since childhood: Don\u2019t scratch that bug bite<\/a> or rash, you\u2019ll make it worse. But why would something that feels so good be bad<\/a>?<\/p>\n

A lot of things can cause itchiness,\u00a0sometimes serious diseases. Whatever the cause, doctors have long warned that scratching too much can damage\u00a0the skin. Now researchers better understand why even a mildly annoying itch could put you on an itch-and-scratch cycle if you give in.<\/p>\n

How did they find out? In part by putting tiny \u201ccones of shame\u201d onto mice to uncover what happens\u00a0on a cellular level\u00a0when an itch gets scratched \u2014 or left alone.<\/p>\n

\"WomanDoctors have warned that excessive scratching can damage\u00a0skin. New Africa \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

They also gained insight into why a good scratch, at least at first, brings a sigh of relief. After all, not just people and other mammals scratch, even fish do. The commonality suggests there must be some evolutionary reason, and the mouse experiment hints at a little germ protection \u2014 but still not a reason to scratch.<\/p>\n

Expect a more swollen, itchier spot if you can\u2019t ignore that bug bite<\/p>\n

Dr. Daniel Kaplan, a University of Pittsburgh dermatologist whose lab studies immune reactions in skin, was exploring a run-of-the-mill type of itch called allergic contact dermatitis<\/a>, caused by irritants such as poison ivy or nickel in jewelry.<\/p>\n

\"AThrough the experiment, they also gained insight into why scratching an itch can bring a sense of relief. nataba \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Kaplan\u2019s research team put a rash-inducing irritant on the ears of mice. Normal mice scratched and inflammatory immune cells rushed to the site, increasing swelling. The rash was much milder in mice bred with defective itch-sensing nerve cells. But was the difference really the scratching?<\/p>\n

Normal mice put into collars like those veterinary \u201ccones of shame,\u201d so they itched but couldn\u2019t scratch, gave the answer: They, too, had much less swelling and fewer inflammatory cells.<\/p>\n

Kaplan said that evidence matches people\u2019s everyday experiences that scratching really can make things worse.<\/p>\n

Ignore a mosquito bite and the itch<\/a> is \u201cgone in five or 10 minutes for most people,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you start scratching it, it\u2019s your friend for a week,\u201d getting itchier and more inflamed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 You\u2019ve likely heard it since childhood: Don\u2019t scratch that bug bite or rash, you\u2019ll make it…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":904568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[884,210,51879,1183,933,29884,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-904567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-diseases","tag-health","tag-mosquitoes","tag-research","tag-scientists","tag-skin","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116842688103603379","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}