Learn how to combat annoying mosquito bites at home.
Warmer weather brings out the insects, which can lead to itchy red bite marks on people’s skin. Mosquitoes in particular love to come out in the evenings to take a nibble of people and finding mosquito bite relief remedies are critical during summer months.
You can reduce the likelihood that you will suffer from them by emptying out open containers of standing water, wearing long sleeves in the evening, and applying your preferred mosquito repellent, but even the careful can get bit.
Fortunately, there are a number of mosquito bite relief remedies that people can do at home with everyday items that will take away the irritation and discomfort of mosquito bites.
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Cold Packs
The simplest method for mosquito bite relief, and the method recommended by the Mayo Clinic, is to apply something cold to the itchy spot. Crushed ice, cold compresses, and bags of frozen peas are all good things to try. The cold will temporarily numb your skin so you won’t feel the itch, and it will reduce the inflammation that is causing the discomfort. The only caveat with ice is that applying it directly to your skin for more than 5 minutes can hurt it, so you will want to wrap the ice in a washcloth.
Oatmeal Baths and Paste
This is a classic home remedy. You can make a paste out of warm water and oatmeal and then smear it on your bite. You leave it on for 10 minutes and then wipe it off.
If you prefer a bath, you can put a cup of oatmeal in a bathtub full of warm water and then soak in it for 20 minutes. If you prefer, you can use colloidal oatmeal, which is ground up oats. Either way, what you are doing is capitalizing on the soothing power of avenanthramides, a chemical found in oatmeal that a 2008 study found to reduce itching.
Baking Soda
Another classic home remedy for a lot of things is baking soda. You can create a thick paste out of a little water and bicarbonate of soda and then apply it to your bug bite. You keep it on the spot for ten minutes and then wipe it off, exactly as you would with oatmeal. There are two important differences, however: baking soda can irritate the skin by itself, and it becomes a crumblier mess than oatmeal. Oatmeal doesn’t get as dry or powdery.
Aloe Vera
A little less traditional, but still widely used, is the gel from an Aloe Vera plant. If you have the plant around your house, you can cut off a piece of leaf and smear the gel on the irritated spot. Keep applying as it dries, and the anti-inflammatory properties in the gel will go to work. Aloe Vera isn’t as well tested for this use as is oatmeal and cold packs, so you might want to use it as a last resort.
Mosquito bites are annoying, and they can really take the fun out of your day. Fortunately, getting rid of the itchiness the bites leave with stuff you have around the home is relatively easy.
For more information on Mosquito Bite Relief, visit BetterHealthKare.com
