Skin scratches, also known as artificial urticaria, is a special type of allergic urticaria. It can occur in people of any age, and children are no exception, often with itchy or burning skin, and after scratching, light stroke or rubbing, linear wheals will appear, which will arise according to the lines of the scratch.
Clinically, there are two common types of skin scratches: one is called simple skin scratches, and the other is called symptomatic skin scratches.
The main symptom of simple skin scratches is that red streaks can appear immediately after lightly scratching the skin with nails or other blunt objects. But the streaks are not itchy, have no other discomfort, and come and go in a hurry, usually disappearing after 10 to 15 minutes. According to statistics, about 5% of people in the normal population can experience this phenomenon, and most of them are young women. Because no specific cause can be found, doctors call this phenomenon "physiological abnormal reaction".
Symptomatic skin scratches, common in young people with allergies. Mostly because the skin is physically stimulated by the outside world, the mast cells release the biologically active substances of histamines, causing the capillaries of the skin to dilate, the permeability is enhanced, and the plasma and tissue fluid penetrate into the dermis layer and cause disease. People with this skin scratch disease often feel itchy skin for no reason, but instead of the rubella mass throughout the body like the common urticaria, when the skin is scratched with nails or other blunt objects, a series of erythematous air masses appear locally, and then the wheals are edema higher than the skin, and a red halo appears on the edge of the erythematous air mass, which is shaped much like the marks left by the skin after being whipped by the skin whip. Some patients with severe symptoms may experience swelling of the lips even after they have been bitten by their teeth.
At present, there are many kinds of treatments for skin scratches. For example, in the case of exorcism, doctors ask the patient to recall what they had been exposed to before the onset of the disease, what medications they had taken, or what foods they had eaten. Food, medication, insect bites, infections, emotions, physical stimuli, etc. can all be causes. If the cause is found, it should be removed immediately; if the cause is unknown, the various factors that promote the onset should be reduced, such as avoiding scratching, avoiding drinking, and avoiding spicy, fishy and other foods. During the rainy season, indoor moldy items should be removed. In addition, there are Western medicine treatment, Chinese medicine treatment and acupuncture point injection therapy.
This article was scientifically checked by Huang Shaohua, a senior teacher of the second middle school in Chaisang District, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province.
Xinhua Network Science Popularization Division
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