Very interesting read! How little we know about the human body. The part about the man who suffered the pain in his arm and how it was solved was amazing.

Urk! I REALLY wish I didn't read that. I feel queezy as hell now...

I can't even fathom something like that. I think you might see something like that in a movie or a tv show where you would sit there and say, "No way."

I've had a persistent itch in my thigh since I got nerve damage from giving birth to my first child, over a decade ago. Luckily most of the time it's only mildly annoying, but sometimes it itches so bad that I can't stand it, and I have to wear thick jeans, then find something non-sharp to rub it with, just to get some relief without tearing up the skin.

The area is also almost completely numb, and painful at the same time, so I don't get the signals I should when I scratch too hard, or put something too hot in the area. I've never severely damaged myself, but I can totally see how it would happen if someone had it worse than I do.

Scratching through the skull..OMG... That freaks me the heck out....ugh.

That's just freaking amazing. My jaw dropped when I read what she did to herself in her sleep.

I have noticed that I have a spot on my back, just a little out of reach over my left shoulder that has that kind of numb-itchy sensation.

Want to know itchy?!?! This is me, from earlier tonight. Mosquitoes. Ugh.

"Unlike, say, the nerve fibres for pain, each of which covers a millimetre-size territory, a single itch fibre can pick up an itchy sensation more than three inches away."

Why does the New Yorker use British spellings? Is that pretention or what?

How horrifying!

And cyco...It's nice to know I'm not the only one to get huge lumps from mosquito bites. :( Sorry, I feel your pain. Take an oatmeal bath and some antihistamine!

Man. Incessant itching is the absolute worst. I can only imagine that its a personal hell for someone with chronic itching. I've broken into hives all over my body before, I'm talking gigantic welts ALL OVER, from a severe food allergy. I thought I was going to lose my mind. And that only lasted a couple hours.