Itch Clinic

​​​​Itch is the major source of morbidity in patients attending our clinics. Patients with severe and intractable itch are referred by dermatologists to the Itch Clinic. We aim to improve treatment for our patients suffering from severe and chronic itch through a holistic approach.

Scope

The scope of management of the clinic consists of the following conditions:

• Itch involving the whole body that is not due to an apparent underlying skin problem
• Itch involving a particular area of the body that is not due to an underlying skin problem
• Severe and chronic itch that is not responsive to treatment

Setup

The clinic runs weekly on Wednesday afternoons and takes referrals from dermatologists.​​ 

Multiple scratch-induced lesions on the back of a patient with severe itch involving the whole body

Clinical indicator:

Mean percentage reduction in itch score between the first and final visit to the Itch Clinic

To assess the severity of symptom in our patients, we ask patients to rate the intensity of itch they felt over the past 1 week on a 10-point numerical scale.

To monitor the progress of our patients, we determine thei​r itch scores at the first and final visits to the clinic. We subsequently calculate the mean percentage reduction using these 2 values.

< Go to Itch Clinic page