Recently we went to our local drive in movie theater for my husband's birthday. We had a great time, but all 3 of us came back covered in mosquito bites. We didn't think to take bug repellant with us.
My poor daughter has bites on either cheek and just couldn't stop itching making her face all red and looking a bit swollen.
I didn't want to use calamine lotion because some of them have nasty ingredients. So I did a search for "natural bug bite remedies" and here are some of the suggestions:
E Medicine Health recommends that the first thing you should do is wash the area with soap and water to remove any contaminated particles left behind by the mosquito. "These particles may further contaminate the wound if not removed. Refrain from scratching because this may cause the skin to break down and an infection to form."
A woman posted on My Home Remedies that she learned in nursing school to put ice (never heat) on itchy bites as it constricts the blood vessels which keeps the histamines from reaching your skin.
Some more remedies posted on My Home Remedies that sound promising:
- Dab a little honey on the bites
- Mix a paste of baking and water, apply and let it dry
- Try a combination of both, mix baking soda with raw honey
- Make a paste of crushed asprin and water (if there's asprin in your first aid kit this may be a good one when out hiking or camping as you'll have it with you anyway)
- Dab with toothpaste
Several tips people posted included putting included putting bleach or ammonia straight on the bite. Please don't do this! These products are dangerous and should never be applied directly to the skin, nor should they be inhaled.
After reading all of the tips, and looking to see what we had in the house, we tried three different things to see what would work the best. We tried the baking soda paste. I also tried using Miessence Purifying Mineral Mask since I know it works well on bee stings. I also noticed that I had some Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment so we tried that. We had enough bites to try each one in several places.
The baking soda paste and mud mask worked equally well. They didn't take any of the redness or swelling away, but they did take the itch away for most of the day. The baking soda is a much cheaper treatment but the mask was less likely to drip. So either would work based on your preferences.
The Res-Q Ointment didn't take the itch away at all. The greasiness was a reminder not to itch every time we touched the bites, but I think I'd rather the itch just go away.
So, try to remember your natural or organic bug repellant the next time you are out. And if, like me, you forget, check out your pantry or medicine cabinet. You might already have everything you need right there.
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