Medicinal herbs in the treatment of pruritus based on Iranian medicine references

Itching is a mental feeling that elicits desire to scratch and results from stimulation of itch, pain or palpation receptors in the skin. In Iranian medicine, itching is referred as hekka. Several factors can cause this symptom. Various drugs are used to treat itching. They are sometimes costly and not readily available and have side effects. Given the time-consuming and cost-effective processes for the discovery of effective drugs, new strategies are needed to reduce processes time and costs. One of these strategies could be the use of previous experiences on medicinal plants and spices used in traditional medicine schools.
In this review, we searched the keyword "itching, pruritus" in three reference books of pharmacology of Iranian medicine, including The Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanon fi al-Tibb), Tohfe Momenin, and Makhzan- Al' Advieh and ened up with a list of 60 multifaceted plants effective in improvement of pruritus. The efficacy of each of them was categorized based of available evidence. Therefore, it is recommended to use the rich experience of Iranian traditional medicine in the production of new drugs for pruritus.