Patients should avoid the particular things that cause or worsen their itching. Also, patients can take measures to maintain skin health.

Itch Prevention Suggestions include:

• taking short baths in warm water
• using mild soaps and rinsing well
• applying bath oil or moisturizing cream after bathing
• avoiding use of cosmetics, perfumes, deodorants, and starch-based powders
• avoiding wool and other harsh fabrics
• using mild laundry detergents and rinsing thoroughly
• avoiding use of dryer anti-static sheets
• wearing loose-fitting cotton clothing
• avoiding high-friction garments such as belts, pantyhose, and bras
• maintaining a cool environment with a 30% to 40% humidity level
• using cotton sheets
• avoiding vigorous exercise (if sweating causes itching)
• avoiding skin products that are scented or contain alcohol or menthol

An itch demands a scratch, but science has barely begun to scratch the surface of why an itch itches, and how to make it stop.

The itch-scratch cycle sits right at the fascinating intersection of pleasure and pain, reflex and compulsion, but it has received relatively little scientific attention. Ten years ago, one of the small band of international itch researchers called itch "sadly neglected," an "orphan symptom."

But new developments are slowly beginning to refine scientific understanding of itch. They include the identification of nerve fibers devoted to transmitting itchy sensations, of brain sectors that process itch, and of molecules that seem to provoke itch. Itch experts hope that better treatments for itchy patients will soon follow.

People who sail through the occasional mosquito bite without a conscious thought may be unmoved by this news. But for the many others whose itch-scratch cycle has been deranged by yet-unknown neurochemicals into a tortured process that scars their skin, destroys their sleep and sometimes sends them to the brink of suicide, the dearth of scientific understanding and treatment options for itch is deeply frustrating.