By Murray Sherriffs
Science has entered the fray about grandma’s advice to not scratch that mosquito bite because it only makes things worse.
Using mice, researchers have determined how a mildly annoying itch can put you on an itch-relief-scratch cycle.
University of Pittsburgh dermatologist Dr. Daniel Kaplan led the research team which has scientifically determined that—if you can ignore the bite and its lure—the urge to itch is “gone in five or 10 minutes for most people, but if you scratch, it will last about a week.”
They put collars on some mice—others were collarless—dropped itch inducing chemicals on the animal, waited and observed that the mice who could scratch did a whole lot more scratching than the cone-wearers.
So like, grandma said, don’t scratch, put some mud on it and get on with your day.
