Why do we like to scratch a wound when its healing?

Answer 1

Natures Way

Scratching an itch is a puzzling biological and behavioral response in any case. It is especially odd to scratch a healing wound since logic would indicate that scratching would hinder rather than help the healing, this can be viewed from two sides.

One theory of why we itch suggests that scratching stimulates the release of endorphins. These are naturally occurring opiates which block pain sensation. We release a flood of endorphins to block the pain of the initial injury, while the scratching only injures our skin only a little more. The gain from the endorphins thus outweighs the loss from the slight injury.

Using natural skin balms like repcillin would help the wound heal and also relieves the 'itching'. Repcillin is made from the fat of CITES farmed Nile Crocodiles in Africa. Researchers were amazed at the some of the wounds crocodiles had, that were seemingly immune to infection, not even in the unsanitary water conditions. Their research showed crocodile fat contains strong peptides that would fight bacterial infections and promote a quicker healing time.