The Itchy and Scratchy Show
The medical term for itching is pruritus. This word may sound familiar, as it's the root word for prurient: "having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc." Common wisdom holds that men are inveterate scratchers. They're certain more famous than women for public scratching (especially of the prurient zones). Masturbation, also more widespread and frequent in men, is often likened to scratching an itch. Is there any truth to the idea that men scratch more than women?
Jeffrey Mogil (2006) thinks not. His work at McGill University showed that female mice scratched 23% more often than male mice when treated with a drug known to induce itching. Ikoma et al (2006) in a review for Nature state that fMRI findings suggest that itching and pain activate the same neural correlates in the brain. This may be contrary to Mogil's theory that "pain and itch are wired up in the brain as opposites" -- a possible explanation for why people who tested as sensitive to itch were less sensitive to pain, and vice versa.
A review by Ethel Tur (1997) reports that women suffer from "irritative dermatitis" more often than men, but that tests do not demonstrate a difference in sensitivity to irritants; she posits that occupational exposure to irritants may be the culprit. It's also possible that this may again tie into the fact that women go to the doctor more often than men, especially as itching is the 2nd most common symptom reported at medical visits (see link to Mogil, above).
There's a great line in one of the episodes of the short-lived "Dilbert" animated cartoon, where a computer demonstrates its superiority to humans by saying "Isn't it awfully itchy in here?" and of course, all of the humans begin to scratch. Itchiness is a fascinating sensation, being as contagious as yawning, and no amount of scratching really makes it go away. Even writing this makes me want to scratch.
I've discovered that I am a lot itchier since starting testosterone, but at least I have a good excuse: I have a lot more hair. My thicker body hair makes me feel itchy a lot of the time. It feels almost impossible to get as clean as I used to routinely be. Also, small sensations, such as the wind moving hair on my arms or legs, drive me nuts. But even my scalp feels itchier than it used to. This may also be due to how estrogen makes skin more elastic. My skin may actually be more brittle (I know it doesn't feel as soft to the touch) than it was before, leaving me with more dead cells to remove. Even before starting testosterone, when I was growing out my leg hair for the first time, I ended up using a nail brush on my legs in the shower to clear away the skin that used to be removed by shaving, just to reduce the itching.
Jeffrey Mogil (2006) thinks not. His work at McGill University showed that female mice scratched 23% more often than male mice when treated with a drug known to induce itching. Ikoma et al (2006) in a review for Nature state that fMRI findings suggest that itching and pain activate the same neural correlates in the brain. This may be contrary to Mogil's theory that "pain and itch are wired up in the brain as opposites" -- a possible explanation for why people who tested as sensitive to itch were less sensitive to pain, and vice versa.
A review by Ethel Tur (1997) reports that women suffer from "irritative dermatitis" more often than men, but that tests do not demonstrate a difference in sensitivity to irritants; she posits that occupational exposure to irritants may be the culprit. It's also possible that this may again tie into the fact that women go to the doctor more often than men, especially as itching is the 2nd most common symptom reported at medical visits (see link to Mogil, above).
There's a great line in one of the episodes of the short-lived "Dilbert" animated cartoon, where a computer demonstrates its superiority to humans by saying "Isn't it awfully itchy in here?" and of course, all of the humans begin to scratch. Itchiness is a fascinating sensation, being as contagious as yawning, and no amount of scratching really makes it go away. Even writing this makes me want to scratch.
I've discovered that I am a lot itchier since starting testosterone, but at least I have a good excuse: I have a lot more hair. My thicker body hair makes me feel itchy a lot of the time. It feels almost impossible to get as clean as I used to routinely be. Also, small sensations, such as the wind moving hair on my arms or legs, drive me nuts. But even my scalp feels itchier than it used to. This may also be due to how estrogen makes skin more elastic. My skin may actually be more brittle (I know it doesn't feel as soft to the touch) than it was before, leaving me with more dead cells to remove. Even before starting testosterone, when I was growing out my leg hair for the first time, I ended up using a nail brush on my legs in the shower to clear away the skin that used to be removed by shaving, just to reduce the itching.