Background and objectives: Treatment of pruritus as observed in many dermatological and internal diseases may be very often disappointing. There are many reports describing the topical use of capsaicin, the pungent agent in red pepper. Long term administration of capsaicin depletes neuropeptides in unmyelinated, polymodal C-type and small myelinated A delta-type cutaneous nerves that conduct pruritus and pain.
Patients/methods: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, safety and practicability of capsaicin in the treatment of pruritus and pain of different origin in a total of 40 patients.
Results: Capsaicin suppressed completely itch in all patients.
Conclusions: In addition to its excellent antipruritic and analgetic effect, capsaicin significantly contributed to healing of some dermatoses, such as prurigo nodularis and psoriasis.