capsaicin - for itches!?

[berdollos]

Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers has been used for horse linament. I found it usefull for itches, even though it is advertised for arthritic pain.

Has anyone else found it useful for itches? and what kind?

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

http://www.nursing.uiowa.edu/sites/adultpain/Topicals/CAPSAIte.htm

In addition to relieving pain it also apparently relieves itch - which sometimes can be as nasty as the pain itself.

http://www.halcyon.com/iasp/TC96SeptOct.html

Itch is readily abolished in skin areas treated with the nociceptor excitotoxin capsaicin (Tóth-Kása et al. 1986; Handwerker et al. 1987).

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/3378/capsaicin9.htm

Capsaicin is believed to deplete the chemical in the body that’s responsible for transmitting the “itch” signal to the brain. When capsaicin hits the skin, nerves release a flood of that transmitting chemical, called substance P. You feel relief after the initial deluge, researchers speculate, because the body is slow to replenish substance P.