History Main / InconvenientItch

* CheechAndChong use this in ''Nice Dreams''. Scene opens with Cheech screaming his lungs out and writhing, clearly in a straitjacket and prison cell. Maybe all those psychelics he took finally fried his brains? Finally he manages to get his wits together to enunciate the problem. [[spoiler: MY BALLS ITCH!]] Enter Chong.

* In one ''DannyPhantom'' episode, Danny and Valerie end up in the Ghost Zone and are forced to team up against Skulker. After a while, they end up trapping him, tying him up, and leaving him on the floor as they exit the zone. At that point Skulker exclaims: "Err...Guys, there is a problem... ''my nose is itching''."

* In one episode of {{NCIS}}, McGee gets a poison ivy rash. On his crotch. At one point Abby turns around to find him trying to ease the pain by rubbing his groin on the corner of a table.

* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' - on "Some Assembly Required", Xander is playing around with a model head in the science lab, making it say "Hello - I wanna get ''a-head!''" and "For the love of ''God'', will someone scratch my ''nose?!''"

* In the {{Tintin]}} book ''Land of Black Gold'', Prince Abdullah is kidnapped by Dr Mueller and driven away in a car, only to throw a SpannerInTheWorks when he puts itching powder on the back of Mueller's neck.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Mash}}'', Margaret is afflicted by a rash on her backside but can't scratch because she doesn't want anyone to learn of her plight.

* CheechAndChong use this in Nice Dreams. Scene opens with Cheech screaming his lungs out and writhing, clearly in a straitjacket and prison cell. Maybe all those psychelics he took finally fried his brains? Finally he manages to get his wits together to enunciate the problem. [[spoiler: MY BALLS ITCH!]] Enter Chong.

* One ''CalvinAndHobbes'' Sunday strip has Calvin trying desperately ''not'' to scratch his mosquito bites, because he knows that scratching will just make it feel worse later. Calvin's pain [[MrImagination is visualized]] by showing Calvin being eaten alive by ants, or with his head on fire.

* On ''DextersLaboratory'', Dexter gets the chicken pox and is told not to scratch the pox, or he'll turn into a chicken. He tries ways of keeping from scratching, even restraining himself completely, but nothing works and he eventually goes on a scratching spree... after which he indeed turns into a chicken.

When a character suddenly becomes afflicted by an intense itch, and they either can't scratch it for fear of certain consequences, or have no means of scratching it on their own. The intensity of the itch will often scale upwards with their inability to take care of it, especially if they are tied up or busy holding a sensitive package full of Explodium.

Nearly always PlayedForLaughs, the victim of an Inconvenient Itch will often be left begging for their companions (or even antagonists) to help them out. If the afflicted character is left tied up and alone, the humor of the situation may arise from their attempts at contorting their body in an effort to find relief. Though the Inconvenient Itch can hit any part of the body, the nose is a popular target.

A subtrope of RuleOfFunny. Compare AmusingInjuries, PottyEmergency, and AntiSneezeFinger. This trope is a typical result of being BoundAndGagged in comedic works.
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!! Examples:

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/UndeadOrAlive'': Luke's nose starts to itch when he and Elmer are stripped naked and forced to ride on a horse together with their hands bound. Once they are finally untied, Luke spends several moments flailing about with his now-numb hands trying to scratch it.
* When he first starts working out, Dennis in ''Film/RunFatboyRun'' gets a nasty, itchy rash in his crotch that he absolutely has to scratch... as he is at work as a security guard in a lingerie shop. One can guess what this [[AccidentalPervert looks like]].
* Shrek in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} the Third'' is trussed up in some ImpossiblyTackyClothes for a royal appearance, and suddenly develops a horrible itch on his rear. He has some poor servant scratching that itch when the curtains open, giving the waiting crowd a view they really didn't want.

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'': This happens to Tom Sawyer when he is trying to hide silently in the dark.

** In ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel'', while trekking across the lunar surface, Kip itches all over but can't scratch because of the space suit he's wearing.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Marshall realizes he has head-lice halfway through a job interview, and starts "discreetly" trying to scratch it. Eventually, it's too much for him and he screams out "I HAVE LICE!". Suffice to say, he did not get the job.

[[folder:NewspaperComics]]
* One ''CalvinAndHobbes'' Sunday strip has Calvin trying desperately ''not'' to scratch his mosquito bites, because he knows that scratching will just make it feel worse later. Calvin's pain [[MrImagination is visualized]] by showing Calvin being eaten alive by ants, or with his head on fire.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''FiddlerOnTheRoof'', there is a scene where one character invokes this:
--> "May he get an itch he cannot scratch!"

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In one ''DannyPhantom'' episode, Danny and Valerie end up in the Ghost Zone and are forced to team up against Skulker. After a while, they end up trapping him, tying him up, and leaving him on the floor as they exit the zone. At that point Skulker exclaims: "Err...Guys, there is a problem... ''my nose is itching''."
* In the WartimeCartoon "Donald Gets Drafted", ''DonaldDuck'' is instructed by Sergeant Pete to stand still. Unfortunately, he's standing on an anthill.
* In the ''LooneyTunes'' short "An Itch In Time", Elmer's dog tries very hard not to scratch a flea bite lest he get the ultimate penalty: [[HatesBaths a bath!]]

* RobertHeinlein's ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel''. While trekking across the lunar surface, Kip itches all over but can't scratch because of the space suit he's wearing.
* ''StarshipTroopers'' also addresses this as the only major fault in Mobile Infantry power armor.

* Shrek in ''ShrekTheThird'' is trussed up in some ImpossiblyTackyClothes for a royal appearance, and suddenly develops a horrible itch on his rear. He has some poor servant scratching that itch when the curtains open, giving the waiting crowd a view they really didn't want.

* In TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen, the king of the Moon (RobinWilliams) is gleefully happy to be rid of his lower body, leaving his head to roam freely in intellectual pursuits. Then he begins feeling a terrible itch in his non-existent body, and is completely unable to do anything about it.

* On ''HowIMetYourMother'', Marshall realizes he has head-lice halfway through a job interview, and starts "discreetly" trying to scratch it. Eventually, it's too much for him and he screams out "I HAVE LICE!". Suffice to say, he did not get the job.

* In one episode of ''{{MASH}}'', Margaret is afflicted by a rash on her backside but can't scratch because she doesn't want anyone to learn of her plight.

* When he first starts working out, Dennis in ''[[{{Ptitleldq5x9gt}} Run, Fatboy, Run!]]'' gets a nasty, itchy rash in his crotch that he absolutely has to scratch... as he is at work as a security guard in a lingerie shop. One can guess what this [[AccidentalPervert looks like]].

* RobertHeinlein's ''[[{{ptitlejmjfnb3h}} Have Space Suit - Will Travel]]''. While trekking across the lunar surface, Kip itches all over but can't scratch because of the space suit he's wearing.