Darn mosquitoes! This time of year brings those little buggers out, and they seem to love our blood. Let’s face it…everyone HATES a mosquito bite. With the Zika virus running rampant around the the globe, we could all use a little help. Every wonder why they itch so much?
Some Mosquito Bite Background:
When female mosquitoes poke their proboscis through your skin so they can suck some of your blood to be later used to make eggs, they inject you with some of their saliva. This saliva helps them to drink your blood more quickly, because it contains a cocktail of anticoagulants. Once the female mosquito is full up of your blood or is disturbed, she flies away, leaving some of her saliva behind. Your body then kicks your immune system in gear as a response to the presence of this saliva. It produces various antibodies which in turn bind to the antigens in the mosquito’s saliva. This then triggers the release of histamine. (source: todayifoundout.com)
Interestingly enough, our son who used to have severe seasonal allergies every year, used to react very badly to mosquito bites. The bites would swell up to the size of big ol’ peanut M&Ms. Once we cut out dairy for him, his seasonal allergies stopped, AND he doesn’t react to mosquito bites like he used to. Now, they just itch him like they would anyone else.
Want to know how we stop mosquito bite itchies at our house?
This is the easiest remedy ever. It’s so easy, it’s almost embarrassing. Here’s what you need:
That’s it.
Just put a piece of scotch tape on your itchy bite, and within 5 minutes, you should notice relief. I have no idea why this works, it just does. Believe me, with 5 kids, we have tried this out so many times, it’s not even funny. It works, people!
Raia says
Guess I better go buy some tape… 😉
Jeanne says
Mosquitos HATE basil. My granddaughter puts a few drops on a cotton ball and tucks it under her sheets! No bites. Love the tape idea, I’ve never heard that.
Gale says
My daughter is ultra sensitive to mosquitos and has a prescription for the itching, but we’ve found ice, hand or hand sanitizer give fast relief when she doesn’t have that or Benedryl Gel available. All 3 of those give relief within a minute.
Lynne Doyle says
At our cottage in Northern Ontario we get bombarded with mosquito’s.
Hand sanitizer works A-1 and it is much less expensive than AfterBite