Transactions - 1907 Author:American Medical Association Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SIGNIFICANCE AND TREATMENT OF ITCHING. L. DUNCAN BULKLEY, A.M., M.D. Physician to the New York Skin and Cancer Hospital, Consulting Physician to the New Y... more »ork Hospital. NEW YORK CITY. Itching, or pruritus, is an unpleasant sensation which most individuals have undoubtedly experienced at some time, and yet which it is difficult to describe, any more than pain can be described. But all recognize and know that as a sensation in the skin it may be very disquieting, and that it is one often urgently calling for relief; at times also it may be so distressing that the sufferer will submit to almost anything in order to be freed from it, and will frequently claim that any amount of pain would be preferable. Nature's treatment of itching is by scratching, and in the effort to get relief from intolerable itching animals and human beings, the latter especially, will often indulge in this, even until great injury, followed by much pain, is inflicted on the delicate tissues of the skin, as is especially seen in infants with eczema. But this alleviation is generally only temporary, while the real trouble may be greatly aggravated by the scratching. Fortunately, however, science can come to the aid of the sufferer, and by discovering and removing the cause of the sensory disturbance more permanent relief can usually be effected. I will endeavor to mention briefly and to analyze the causes of pruritus, or itching, which may beconnected with and dependent on many disordered and diseased states of the skin and general pystem, and will also consider some of the measures best suited to reach the different conditions. Itching, or pruritus, varies greatly in different individuals, partly according to the cause and partly also in proportion to their varying nervous sensibility. It is v...« less