The ability of the human body to heal and repair most wounds is truly remarkable; from small cuts and scrapes to larger injuries and ailments, our bodies seem to be on a constant mission to keep us 100% intact and healthy.
However, a peculiar thing happens when our wounds are healing – the unavoidable “itchiness” of the wound. In particular, this happens after scabs have begun to form and the healing process is moving in the right direction. For many people, scratching that itch is far too satisfying to avoid, which can often disrupt the healing process, making it take even longer!
If the human body is clever enough to heal itself, then why does it also make those wounds so itchy?
The Healing Process
For those who think the itch of a healing wound is just one of Nature’s great practical jokes, I’m here to burst your bubble. It is actually a normal side effect of one of the body’s natural healing stages.
When our body sustains a wound, a number of chemical and physical processes almost immediately begin to protect our bodies from infection and pain. A wound will initially bleed, flooding the space with chemicals and fluids to clean the area and set the stage for healing to begin. Following this, the wound will become inflamed, which is a sign that white blood cells have reacted to the potential for infection; additional cleansing of the wound happens at this point, in addition to preliminary repairs on the skin bed.
Four Stages of Healing (Photo Credit: designua / Fotolia)
Those first two stages (bleeding and inflammation) are typically considered “painful”, but in the third stage, the tissues begin to regrow, blood vessels are repaired, and a scab begins to form over the healing wound. This part of the healing process is where the itchiness begins, and to understand an itch, we need to look at the nerves.
Chemical and Physical Causes of an Itch
Every square inch of our skin is connected to nerves, which provide us with our sense of touch and sensitivity to external stimuli. There are also many itch-specific nerve fibers located on our body’s largest organ. These fibers tell our central nervous system that something is irritating the skin in a certain spot, with the intention of eliciting a response from the body (scratching the itch).
Various Nerve Fibers in the Skin (Photo Credit: designua / Fotolia)
