If it itches, scratch it!

I just read a book call Spontaneous Healing  by Andrew Weil who talks about the body's ability to heal itself.  After all, it is how the human race, and most living things, survived.  You get cut, your skin heals.  You get an infection, and your body sends little white blood cell soldiers to attack and repair.  Your skin is constantly renewing and replacing old skin.  Your body wants to survive and wants to be in a state of wellness. This is a great book!

So that brings me to my itch.  And why I scratch it against everyone else's admonishing "LEAVE THAT ALONE!"  What the hell sense does that make?  My body is sending me a signal:  something is bad here,needs help to repair so pay attention to this area! Scratch me! Now, please! (FYI - this is NOT in Dr. Weil's book!  It is my own revelation about how the human body works).

Think about this.  If I swallow wrong, and start choking, which is my body's normal reflex to save itself.  It is a series of violent spasms set off by my brain after it says "holey crap, we're losing oxygen fast and we gotta get this damn thing outta here".   Not one person in the room will say "hey Jackie! Stop that extreme coughing and hacking!"

When I cut my finger, not one person will say "hey! don't press on that - just let it bleed!"  Nor will they say, "Stop that sweating! Right now!  You don't need to sweat!  I'm sure you'll cool off your internal organs and brain some other way."

But when you have an itch. . .now, that's a different story, eh?  Stop scratching!  Quit that!  You'll make it bleed!  God, you are making ME itch now!

Well, this is how I feel about that.  If I itch, I WILL scratch.  And I have been.  This year, for the first time in my life, I have developed eczema on my legs that turns into hives.  I've soaked in oatmeal baths, used all manner of creams, sprays, lotions, and have had steroid shots and pills.  Through all of it, I continued to itch and only scratching brought relief.  So I scratch.

Did it bleed?  Yep, it did.  Did it scab? Yep, it did.  Did it bruise from such crazed scratching?  Yep it did.  Did it heal?  YEP IT DID.  All of it.  And I felt better while scratching and after scratching.  That is what God invented scratching for!  In case you get an itch!

I've had plenty of time to think about why the body itches in the first place.  Something bad is inside and wants out.  It wants out so badly it will erupt and nudge, and jiggle your nerves until you help it out by scratching it right the hell out of you.

I actually believe that by scratching, you send some signal to the brain saying "Hey buddy, I'm helping you out as much as I can here!  Here's the place!  Yep, right here!  Send white blood cells!  Dude, you aren't sending enough!  What if bleeding and open sores happen?  Will you send more little white cell soldiers then? Good, because here comes a bleedy sore for you!  Yeah buddy, right here right now". 

And the brain GETS IT!  It says "finally, you moron!  I've been nudging your nerves all day now to get you to scratch here to help the blood flow faster to that area with the yucky stuff, and finally you listen to me!  Here's some relief for ya sister!  And stop listening to those people who say "stop that itching".  What the hell do they know?  They are not your BRAIN!"

So that's my take on it.  Not very scientific, except for the part that the body was meant to survive, be healthy and reproduce.  And I know it sends me signals to help it do that:  hunger pangs mean feed me, sneezing means get this crap out of my nose, pain in my ear means turn the music down, and itching means . . .scratch me!

Can you deny this?  Go ahead.  Tell me your thoughts. Just don't tell me to quit scratching, cause I won't!

TTFN