Why mosquito bites feel so good to scratch.

Scratching

I’m not talking about the turntable technique also known as scrubbing, we’re leaving the DJ moves behind today and talking about biology.

Why we scratch normally?

Scratching is a sneaky evolved way of your brain getting you to scrape off dead skin cells and promote healthy skin re-growth. When you scratch you are essentially slowly removing your skin.

The urge to itch is connected to the same part of our brain that deals with pain, when we receive an itch signal we naturally scratch the area, when we do this we are actually causing pain to our skin. Our body sends pain suppressing chemicals that cancel out the itch and this action feels good. Your brain is also happy as you have removed the old skin and achieved its goal; what a sneaky brain.

A mosquito bite follows the same nerve path, however, it’s not a normal itch and does not go away after a  good scratch.

Why does a mosquito bite itch?

A mosquito does not just suck your blood, they also inject their own saliva when they bite you. This thins your blood and makes the blood easier for them to access your veins.  This saliva remains in our body after the bite and our immune system acts to promptly neutralize it. After the bite, your body responds to the saliva left behind and antibodies are produced to bind to the salvias antigens and neutralize the invasion of foreign cells. In this self defense war, histamine is produced to help your cells fight the invasion. Histamine works by swelling up your cells and creating a barrier that contains the invaders.

On the surface, this fight creates an inflamed area around the bite and hence the bump appears. This surface disturbance triggers your brain to send an itch signal to the bite( the same way it triggers a normal scratch).  Just like in a normal itch your bran cancels the pain and makes it feel good, however, this does not solve the problem and you are soon sent a scratch signal to the same bite again. This loop continues as your brain keeps sensing the need to itch. Essentially one part of your brain is glitching out and telling you to keep scratching until your skin is perfect.

Why does scratching it make it worse?

Scratching is good for a normal itch, for a bite tho it is not helpful. When you scratch a bite the inflamed area becomes irritated, your body is overwhelmed by this and produces more histamine to neutralize the saliva and this causes the inflammation to grow and also makes it scratchier.

Scratching the bite also removes more skin, opening up the chance for bacteria getting in the the bite and causing an infection and if you scratch it enough there is also potential for scaring to occur.

If you’re one of the lucky ones, mosquitoes don’t like you and you rarely get bitten. Im on the other end, a mosquito magnet. If you’re like me and looking to keep the fight in the air grab an electric zapper or some other mosquito killing machines and hopefully catch and kill them before they even get close.  The electric zapper ones are mean to the mosquito but don’t use chemicals or repellent so last forever and need no maintenance. Some say they are not as effective as chemicals but in my experience, it depends on placement in your house. If your out and about during dusk and dawn (when there likely to bite) sprays are probably your best line of protection.

Don’t scratch a bite, fight against your brain response and let the immune system handle the war! Or even better let machines and chemicals eliminate the chance.