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-- The itch that just wouldn't stop

Posted by MrJiveBoJingles on Jul-01-2008 21:21:

The itch that just wouldn't stop

COR version: Interesting New Yorker story about the physiology and neurology of itching, centering around a woman who had an itch that was apparently caused by something going wrong in her brain, not by anything happening to her skin -- an itch so bad that she eventually scratched all the way into her brain as she was sleeping.

quote:
One day, she went to see a doctor because she wasn�t feeling well, and learned that she had contracted H.I.V. from a contaminated needle. She had to leave her job. She lost visiting rights with her children. And she developed complications from the H.I.V., including shingles, which caused painful, blistering sores across her scalp and forehead. With treatment, though, her H.I.V. was brought under control. At thirty-six, she entered rehab, dropped the boyfriend, and kicked the drugs. She had two good, quiet years in which she began rebuilding her life. Then she got the itch.

It was right after a shingles episode. The blisters and the pain responded, as they usually did, to acyclovir, an antiviral medication. But this time the area of the scalp that was involved became numb, and the pain was replaced by a constant, relentless itch. She felt it mainly on the right side of her head. It crawled along her scalp, and no matter how much she scratched it would not go away. �I felt like my inner self, like my brain itself, was itching,� she says. And it took over her life just as she was starting to get it back.

Her internist didn�t know what to make of the problem. Itching is an extraordinarily common symptom. All kinds of dermatological conditions can cause it: allergic reactions, bacterial or fungal infections, skin cancer, psoriasis, dandruff, scabies, lice, poison ivy, sun damage, or just dry skin. Creams and makeup can cause itch, too. But M. used ordinary shampoo and soap, no creams. And when the doctor examined M.�s scalp she discovered nothing abnormal�no rash, no redness, no scaling, no thickening, no fungus, no parasites. All she saw was scratch marks.

...One morning, after she was awakened by her bedside alarm, she sat up and, she recalled, �this fluid came down my face, this greenish liquid.� She pressed a square of gauze to her head and went to see her doctor again. M. showed the doctor the fluid on the dressing. The doctor looked closely at the wound. She shined a light on it and in M.�s eyes. Then she walked out of the room and called an ambulance. Only in the Emergency Department at Massachusetts General Hospital, after the doctors started swarming, and one told her she needed surgery now, did M. learn what had happened. She had scratched through her skull during the night�and all the way into her brain.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/...currentPage=all

Posted by smakmagik on Jul-01-2008 21:24:

Re: The itch that just wouldn't stop

quote:
Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
�this fluid came down my face, this greenish liquid.�

Posted by Gauss on Jul-01-2008 21:37:

Posted by iammesol on Jul-01-2008 21:40:

Posted by noikeee on Jul-01-2008 22:09:

useless-fact-that-i-really-didn't-need-to-know of the day.

Posted by pkcRAISTLIN on Jul-01-2008 23:37:

how does one scratch through bone with their bare hand?

Posted by nchs09 on Jul-01-2008 23:38:

quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
how does one scratch through bone with their bare hand?
Scratching.

Posted by Gauss on Jul-02-2008 00:08:

quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
how does one scratch through bone with their bare hand?

I was wondering the same thing... Wouldn't she expend her nails before reaching the brain?

Posted by Sunsnail on Jul-02-2008 00:31:

damn terrorists

Posted by cmay119 on Jul-02-2008 00:37:

Re: The itch that just wouldn't stop

quote:
Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
COR version: Interesting New Yorker story about the physiology and neurology of itching, centering around a woman who had an itch that was apparently caused by something going wrong in her brain, not by anything happening to her skin -- an itch so bad that she eventually scratched all the way into her brain as she was sleeping.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/...currentPage=all

Is there an end to this story? Did she survive the brain trauma?

Posted by Ygrene on Jul-02-2008 00:39:

quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
how does one scratch through bone with their bare hand?

By letting the Batman ride do all the work. Worst joke I've ever made.

Posted by pkcRAISTLIN on Jul-02-2008 00:50:

quote:
Originally posted by Ygrene
By letting the Batman ride do all the work. Worst joke I've ever made.

you've been itching to say that haven't you?

Posted by iammesol on Jul-02-2008 00:52:

I just can't scratch the thought of Ygrene's shenanigans.

Posted by nefardec on Jul-02-2008 00:53:

this thread has actually made me itchy

Posted by Domesticated on Jul-02-2008 01:22:

quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
how does one scratch through bone with their bare hand?

Posted by RandomGirl on Jul-02-2008 06:27:

Wow... that article was incredibly interesting.

Definitely worth the read for those of you who are interested in neuro-science or psychology.

Posted by pwnage1 on Jul-02-2008 08:07:

quote:
Originally posted by nefardec
this thread has actually made me itchy
That is explained in the article actually. Fantastic read.

Posted by MSZ on Jul-02-2008 11:10:

didnt read teh article but i just washed my balls and they still smell