system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Does scratching at irritations like bug bites harm or delay the healing process at all?
gpt
It will cause more histamine release and more immune cells to infiltrate the area, causing more irritation. Theoretically it might have the potential to fight against certain microbes, but in terms of healing, it would not help. 

First of all, the scratching causes more damage to the area. Then the immune cells release substrates that can damage the tissue matrix which is not good for healing.