Itching

Itching itself is a symptom that can occur during the development of a large number of illnesses. A fundamental distinction is made between

• Itching on skin that is not yet inflamed. This includes, for example, itching that is caused by contact with water (aquagenous pruritus) or itching that occurs with certain basic illnesses e.g. diabetes mellitus, liver and kidney diseases, iron deficiency, thyroid gland disorders, and many more, or itching which can occur as a side-effect when taking certain drugs. Unpleasant pruritus can also occur during pregnancy.
• Itching on skin that is inflamed. With the inflammatory skin disease neurodermatitis (atopic eczema), itching is, for example, the cardinal symptom. Further skin diseases for which itching is a frequent problem are, for example, other eczemas (e. g. contact eczema), psoriasis or also urticaria. With skin infections involving fungi, bacteria, viruses or insects, itching can, however, also accompany the inflammation of the skin.

When skin itches, this is normally countered with scratching, rubbing, scrubbing, pressing or even kneading. The result is that the itching – normally after short-term improvement – becomes worse (see also under Cause). For scratching encourages inflammatory reactions in the skin and leads to symptoms such as redness, dot-shaped bleeding (excoriation) and crusts. In extreme cases, pigment changes, scars or hair loss, e.g. in the eyebrows, can occur. In rare cases, scratching can also immediately make the skin itching worse, without any prior improvement. Those affected then voluntarily do without scratching (e. g. with urticaria).