Itching
Itching is the urge to scratch. It can come from the skin itself — dryness, allergy, fungus, insects — or be a sign of something inside the body, such as a liver, kidney or thyroid problem.
- In a large population survey, about 1 in 5 adults (22%) had suffered long-lasting itch at some time in life
- About 1 in 7 (13.5%) had it on the day they were asked
- Itching all over the body can be a sign of liver, kidney or thyroid disease
- Itch and pain travel on closely linked nerve pathways
Source: Matterne et al., Acta Dermato-Venereologica (2011); MedlinePlus; NHS; Davidson & Giesler, Trends in Neurosciences (2010)
What is Itching?
Itching (pruritus) is a feeling that makes you want to scratch. It starts when chemicals in the skin — such as histamine from allergy cells — switch on fine nerve endings. The nerves carry the message to the spinal cord and the brain, which answers with the urge to scratch.
Itching can be in one spot or all over. Scratching gives short relief but hurts the skin, and hurt skin itches more — so a cycle begins. When there is no rash and the itch is all over, the cause may be inside the body.
What are the symptoms?
- An urge to scratch, in one area or all over
- Red, bumpy or blistered skin, or no rash at all
- Dry, cracked or scaly skin
- Scratch marks, and thick, leathery patches where the skin has been scratched for long
- Itching that is worse at night and spoils sleep
What causes it, and who is more likely to get it?
The skin itself
Allergy and irritation
- Allergy to food, pollen or medicines
- Insect bites and stings
- Soaps, cosmetics, perfumes and rough fabrics
Tiny creatures
- Scabies mites and lice
- Threadworms in children — itching around the anus at night
Inside the body
- Liver disease
- Kidney disease
- Thyroid problems
- Diabetes and shingles, which affect the nerves
- Pregnancy, some cancers and cancer treatments
How is it found?
The doctor first looks at the skin and asks when the itch began, where it is, and what you have eaten, used or taken. If there is no clear skin cause, tests look inside the body.
Skin examination
A rash, a ring-shaped patch, burrows of mites or scratch marks each point to a different cause.
Skin scraping
A few scales looked at under a microscope can show a fungus or a mite.
Blood tests
When the itch is all over with no rash, tests of the liver, kidneys, thyroid and blood count look for a cause inside the body.
A neurotherapist asks since when the itch has been there — recent or old — and how the motions are: loose, normal or hard. She presses Mu°, Liv° and Gal, rubs both ring fingers, checks the BP, and asks about any bite, sting or new herb.
How Neurotherapy sees Itching
LMNT has no single itching formula. Guruji's teaching reads the itch through the rest of the body: how recent it is, how the bowel is moving, which kidney point hurts more, and whether the gall bladder point is tender. It was seen that people with any skin problem had pain at Gal — and many were also constipated.
The skin chain, as LMNT reads it
- Stomachif digestion is upset, the gall bladder cannot work properly
- Gall bladdershows the strain as pain at the Gal point
- Bilehas two chief qualities in LMNT teaching: it protects from germs and keeps the bowel moving
- Skinwhen bile does not flow well, the skin shows it — as itching
When the Chole formula was first given for this, the itching reduced — but only for a few hours, and the stomach stayed upset. The lesson that shaped the New Gal formula: first put the stomach right; only then will the gall bladder work properly. For other kinds of itching, the formula follows the body on the day.
If there is no pain in Mu°, then Acid treatment is not to be given!
Neurotherapy treatment for Itching, step by step
Examine first
The therapist presses Mu°, Liv° and Gal, asks how recent the itch is and how the motions are, and checks for any bite or new herb. Itching all over with no rash is sent to a doctor for tests.
Recent itching: ATF
Where the itching appeared recently and Mu° is clearly painful, the Acid Treatment Formula is given — the form that ends with Thymus + Chest, which LMNT teaching gives for allergy from infection and recently appeared skin trouble.
Slight itching with loose motions: Ulta Normal
The Normal formula's order is reversed to slow the bowel. The motions are asked about every day, and as soon as the stool is formed like a banana, the Normal formula is given for at least one day.
Itching with Gal pain, or with the acid findings
With pain at Gal, the New Gal formula puts digestion right first and then the gall bladder. With hard motion, more pain at Mu° or the other acid findings, Kidney Clear is given, starting at a mild grade.
Special kinds of itching
Itching from a scorpion or snake bite or a poisonous herb: hospital first; (30) Medulla is LMNT's supporting treatment. Itching or swelling of the scrotum: the Hydrocele point on the calf — and the swelling is always examined by a doctor.
Points and formulas used
ATF, form (b)
The Acid Treatment Formula ending in Thymus + Chest — for recently appeared itching, given only when Mu° is clearly painful.
Works through
Open →Ulta Normal
The Normal formula in reverse order, to slow the bowel — for slight itching with loose motions, for a few days only.
Works through
Open →New Gal
Five formulas as one — digestion and absorption first, then the gall bladder — for itching with pain at Gal.
Works through
Open →Kidney Clear
Works the two kidney points and the acid–alkali balance — for itch with one of the acid findings, in four grades from mild upwards.
Works through
Open →Never do this
- ATF is never given without clear pain at Mu°. Its Thymus + Chest ending is not given in pregnancy, diabetes, heart disease, RA or other autoimmune disease, or kidney disease. ATF, form (b)
- Ulta Normal: the motions are asked about every day. It is stopped as soon as the stool is formed, and the Normal formula is given for at least a day — given longer, it causes constipation. Ulta Normal
- New Gal carries (10) Medulla, which is not given in diabetes or cancer. (30) Medulla is not given to heart patients. (30) Medulla
- Go to a hospital at once after a snake or scorpion bite, or for itching with swelling of the face, lips or throat, or difficulty breathing. See a doctor soon for itching all over with yellow eyes or dark urine, a new swelling in the scrotum, or itching that lasts more than a few weeks.
- Children get half the adult dose and light treatment only, given by a trained therapist.
- Cancer: if the person has cancer, (10) Pan, Thymus, Pit, Lu + Sh, Rt. Ov / Lt. Ov and (30) Medulla are never given — the therapist changes the plan.
- Keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
Watch
A demonstration of the Ulta Normal formula for loose motions: (8) Pan on both thighs, then Spl before Gal and Mu before Liv — the Normal formula's order reversed to slow the bowel.
The video's counts ((3) Spl, (3) Gal, (5) Mu, (7) Liv) differ from LMNT teaching, which gives (1) Spl, (1) Gal, (1) Mu – 3 points and (1) Liv – 3 points. Ulta Normal is stopped as soon as the stool is formed, and the Normal formula is given for at least one day.
Shows the Acid Treatment formula step by step: (8) Pan, (3) Gal, (5) Mu°, 3 Acid on the side of the right thigh, (4) Chest Only, and (6) Adr on the upper back, given without breaks. It is used to support the body's acid–alkali balance when acid is raised.
Note: the Acid Treatment formula is given only when the Mu° point is tender, and (6) Adr is not given in high BP, diabetes, cancer or HIV — the therapist checks first.
The Ulta Normal formula (for slight itching with loose motions) and the Acid Treatment Formula, demonstrated step by step. The ATF video shows the form that ends with (6) Adr; for recently appeared itching, LMNT teaching ends it with Thymus + Chest instead.
From Ayurveda and the kitchen
Pitta, the transforming fire
Classical Indian medicine placed pitta — the principle of heat, digestion and transformation — around the stomach and small intestine, and gave one of its divisions the lustre and health of the skin. The link LMNT draws between the gall bladder and itching is an old observation reached independently. It does not mean every itch comes from the gall bladder — LMNT checks the pain points first.
Test yourself
What research says
- Strong evidence
Itch is carried by several nerve pathways — some triggered by histamine and some not — that are closely linked with the pathways for pain. The review also describes how scratching can damp down the itch signal inside the nervous system.
- Emerging evidence
In a survey of 2,540 adults from the general population, 13.5% had long-lasting itch at the time, 16.4% in the past year and 22% at some time in life. How severe the itch was — not just having it — decided how much it hurt daily life and mood.
No clinical trial of Neurotherapy in itching has been published yet. Improvements reported by neurotherapists are clinical observations.
For you
Anyone with itching all over
If there is no rash, ask your doctor for blood tests of the liver, kidneys and thyroid before treating the skin alone.
Pregnant women
Itching in pregnancy should be told to your doctor. Tell the therapist too — Thymus-containing treatments are not given in pregnancy.
Everyone
Pat or tap instead of scratching, hold something cool on the skin, use unperfumed moisturiser, and wear loose cotton clothes.
This page explains; it does not diagnose. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, and see a doctor for any new or severe symptom.