Woman Scratches Through Her Skull: The Itch

One morning, after she was awakened by her bedside alarm, she sat up and, she recalled, “this fluid came down my face, this greenish liquid.” She pressed a square of gauze to her head and went to see her doctor again. M. showed the doctor the fluid on the dressing. The doctor looked closely at the wound. She shined a light on it and in M.’s eyes. Then she walked out of the room and called an ambulance. Only in the Emergency Department at Massachusetts General Hospital, after the doctors started swarming, and one told her she needed surgery now, did M. learn what had happened. She had scratched through her skull during the night—and all the way into her brain.

This is one of the creepiest stories I have ever read. You've no doubt heard 'What has been seen cannot be unseen' to me this was 'What has been read'. I have woken up in the morning a number of times with scratch marks around my hair line. I sometimes remember getting an awful itch in the middle of the night and just scratching as hard as I can. How can someone actually scratch through their own skull though? This woman actually became partially paralyzed from her injury. Please read the whole story, it is fascinating and horrifying.

Link

reply to post by Domo1


That. Is. Messed. Up.

That must of been a really bad itch.

that is horrid! female skulls are a little thicker than male skulls, at .279 inches (7.1 mm). i'm not sure how she managed that, but i'm very disturbed.

maybe she picked up a fork and was like "damn itch, i'll teach you!"

reply to post by Bob Sholtz


Possibly she did use some sort of tool. I can't imagine not waking up to something like that but again, I have awoken a number of times with scratches, sometimes deep around my hairline, nose and eyebrows. A few of the women I've been sleeping with have informed me that I scratched my head while I was sleeping to the point that it woke them up. The latest lady friend now wakes me up if I get too squirmy at night. This was really extra creepy for me.

I am not clicking on the link, while I chant to my self "Urban Myth, Urban Myth"

Darn it, and I was just getting ready to go to bed.

hi op thats creepy
i can relate though
i suffer from eczema and many times woken during the night with blood on my pillow and arms
and in extreem itchiness ive even used a knife to scratch myself
i even bite my nails right down but still wake up bloody
so far ive been ok
but the hot weather triggers it thats why i prefer winters lol

reply to post by calstorm


LOL the story come from The New Yorker. Think it is probably legit. I'll be honest, reading it made me itch like crazy. ARRRGHH.

Above poster, heat is what gets me too. I don't have dry skin or any ailments but MAN when it's hot out I scratch a lot.

reply to post by Domo1


OMG this made me FREAK out.........

once i scratched my itch SO hard, i awoke without a sock!!

but NOTHING like this woman..OMG

arrrghhhh yucky

i'm not even going to read the story.

your headline and me thinking about your headline was enough.

it gave me the creeps.


i've seen similar things on meth addicts, eventually that drug crystalizes under your skin wich causes an itch.
i've seen people with gaping wounds because of this.

but scratching through your own skull is something i've never heard off and hope to never hear off again.

I'd really reccomend reading the article, its about itching in massive depth, what was quoted by the OP is all the article contains about that woman.

reply to post by Domo1


i honestly don't see someone scratching through with their nail. i guess it depends on how big their nails are, but the skull is very hard.

that has to suck.

reply to post by BigBruddah


Yes please do read the article. It goes into a lot more than that snippet I posted in the OP. It is actually fascinating and I think you've read the worst part if you read the EX TEXT. They talk about people having phantom feelings in amputated limbs etc. It's really quite good and fascinating.

The husband is an itchy guy. Everything not covered by his uniform back when now itches at times. As in scratch till it bleeds itches, up in the middle of the night splashing cold water on it itch, and give me benadryl or Im using sand paper itch. Ive caught him using my hairbrush to scratch the itch in the past. No derm can figure out why.. it just does. It also can get so bad it kinda makes a person crazy to stop that itch... especially when NOTHING works.

Saying that, I can not imagine scratching through the skull. That must have been one of those make you crazy intense itches.

Geeez, how the hell did she do that!?!? must of been a corker of an itch.

reply to post by Advantage


The skull thing just boggles my mind. I would think that a persons finger nails would surely give out before you got too far. Also, OUCH! I'm a weird sleeper, a lady friend can shake me, pinch etc. and I'll remain snoozy but the second I hear a weird noise I'm instantly awake. I think the sound of my nail on my skull would constitute a weird sound!

Im calling BS on this. I don't think its possible.The skull is incredibly strong ,to get through it surgens have to use a drill.Not to mention her bed would have been covered in blood.

reply to post by tarifa37


I sort of feel the same way. It seems impossible. Still, I feel like The New Yorker is a reputable source. You would think her head/bed would be covered in blood. Head wounds bleed like crazy.

Also what shocked me was the greenish liquid coming out from her head? Guessing there should be more redish liquid coming out (blood) rather then greenish liquid (brain goo?)

upon seeing the title, i suddenly got an itch on the top of my head. ha..

I vote myth as well, here's why. The only way she would have been able
to scratch her way through her skull is if she was holding a fishing knife
to do it, her nails are made of razor sharp steel or she had a cracked skull
and was not aware of it.

However... there is
only one other way. If she was sleeping and imagining this while actually
doing it in her sleep, then there is a possibility it could happen.

They've done studies on this, as well as people who are put under
Hypnosis, who believe they are being burned, then wake up with
an actual burn mark on them. Things like this are documented.

Originally posted by Alpal
Also what shocked me was the greenish liquid coming out from her head? Guessing there should be more redish liquid coming out (blood) rather then greenish liquid (brain goo?)

Totally agree , brain is pink not green. I think somebody at the New Yorker is having a laugh.