Itching powder


Itching powder is a powder or powder-like substance that induces itching when applied onto human skin. This is usually done as a practical joke or prank to an unsuspecting victim.
The cause of the irritation can be mechanical, such as products containing ground rose hips. Another common ingredient is Mucuna pruriens, a type of legume that produces seedpods coated with thousands of detachable spicules, the spicules contain an enzyme that causes severe itching, and they have been sold commercially as itching powder. Mucuna pruriens has been used to test the efficacy of anti-itch drugs.
The term "itching powder" is colloquial; there is no one specific source of the powder, though some gag companies do tend to have favourites. Two very common, accessible, and fairly harmless sources are maple samara and rosehips. These are used in home recipes popularized by sites that publish how-to guides such as wikiHow and eHow. For the safety of the maker and of the victim, gloves and caution are strongly encouraged whenever handling the processed powder. Rosehips contain prickly hairs that are used as the active ingredient, whereas the body of the bigleaf maple samara is covered with spiny hairs that cause skin irritation, and are used to make itching powder.
Itching powder was created from mucuna pruriens in the early 19th century as a cure for lost feeling in the epidermis. When a person would lose feeling on their skin in conditions such as paralysis, the powder was used as a local stimulant believed to treat the condition.

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