DIY Diagnosing: Sciency to Explain How Scratching Self-multiplies

Well you have to say there are some benefits of knowing a hypochondriac. Yes, I have to confess that there is something within me which has to know the exact reason for the slightest of health issues. I need a reason and logic behind every prescription. Due to this habit, every now and then, I decode answers to some everyday health issues that are usually ignored by typical health and fitness blogs. Apparently this problem is referred to as Excoriation and it can affect people of all age-groups, gender and social-economic backgrounds.

One such question is that why when you scratching one part of the body, the need to scratch more, in other places arises? Skin picking and scalp picking happen to be one of the most common types of recorded and explained obsessive behaviors recorded among men and women. Something similar is trichotillomania which is a severe form of hair pulling, sometimes to extreme that it can cause hair thinning or balding patterns to emerge...

Understanding How Skin Picking Multiplies into an Acute Bout

My limited understanding of medical science says that this is because of nerves. These are essentially a major mess, like thousands of conductive cable wrapped around and spread in our bodies. Nerves carry electrical pulses and affect every feeling we experience and our response to it. Usually, nerves lie in a somewhat dormant state and are interconnected to each other through thousands of intersections and cross-sections. When I scratch behind my ear, the nerves of this area are pushed into an animated state. The excess pulses created here travel through the many conduits of nerve pathways.

This leads to that typically prickly sensation in other parts of the body. I respond by scratching the other, over-sensitized area, assuming the scratch is spreading. This can start any time, more likely when my overthinking patterns are underway and I cannot distract my mind towards something that keeps me busy, something more physical like painting the planters rather than something that occupies the mind. Physical work at this time, started at the first symptom surfacing, can really help!

You might want to read about my other discussions, by clicking here, about skin picking, skin scratching, scalp scratching and other things that cause you to induce some harm on your skin...