Helpful relief to 'itchy' bites

mira4bai4

Living in an area that has its share of biting things, from mini little dots if front of your eyes they chew at your ears and elbows or ankles to small mozzies that seem noisier the smaller they are to these really great monsters that take half an hour to die even with great blasts of Raid etc., we have tried many things to get rid of those itches and sometimes the blisters that follow.

A couple of tips first though, the little midges or gnats will as they feed on you have a little pee, leave a little something maybe as a tip for the pleasure of your hospitality. Mozzies tend to spit with enthusiasm and as a good practice rinsing off the bites with a little soapy water is a great starter.

Okay, soap and water aren't always around but there are a couple of other options that we have (my wife Vivien, who used to blister bad) found, lip balm, the commercial stuff that's in your bag or pocket, dab that on to the bite and it certainly soothes it - not sure why. Next 100% Lavendula oil, very good and mixed with water in a bucket for a sponge over for those multiple attacks will be a great relief. The best though and this might be excellent to pack in your first aid kit, Rawleighs' Medicated Ointment, the blue and white tin, a little goes a long way.

Anyway hope that this makes your days seem a little rosier.

Nick-H

Has anyone tried those piezo-electric devices that give a small shock when you press the button on the end?

I find them to be as effective as scratching, without the disadvantage of cause more inflamation and damage to the skin, but I don't find that they do as much as it says on the box.

And while I'm on about gadgets... I carried a littel gadget around that emits a noice that's supposed to keep mosies away, and slept with it by my bed. It didn't

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Padma

Mira4bai4,
Is Lavendula a vairety of lavender oil? Would Tea-Tree work the same way I wonder, as its also antiseptic?

When being eaten alive by midgies on an island off scotland (where there are no shops, let alone a chemist) the locals I was atying with made me a paste of water and bi-carb. You look like and idiot with this stuff smeared all over you but it sooths the stinging for a while (until the whiksy kicks in at any rate).

wonderwomanusa

I've found that putting strong salt water on insect bites makes them stop itching for a while.

Wanderer22

People I know have tried these gadgets and claim they work. Therapik
The venom of a wide range of insects is thermolabile, meaning the venom is neutralized by heat.

W22

maree

Tiger balm replaces the itch with that pleasant burning sensation!

mira4bai4

There are all sorts of things that can help, the sodium bi-carb is an old one, vinegar is also good and some go with metholated spirits, dabbing whiskey on could be good to, especially a good one. Lemon was also favoured and I would suppose that Grapefruit seed oil would be excellent, in fact all citrus has excellent properties as organge is used a great deal now as an antseptic household cleaner. Salt water is useful except for the sea fleas or sea lice, epsom salts and water was also great and I remember from my grand parents days something about 'BlueO', a small bag that had blue stuff in it that you wet and placed on a sting. Brown vinegar is used a lot over here for various Jellyfish stings. A Bee sting for arthritus was also used at times.

I have tried tea tree oils, eucalyptus and they are ok. Lavender and Tea Tree are the only essential oils that are safe to put directly on to the skin without causing burning so for those with sensitive skins be careful and dilute if necessary. I know that the New Zealand Tea Tree from Leptospernum scoparium is better than the Australian Tea Tree Meleuca alternifolia as they have different antisptic properties. For a while I was using a mixture of 20% Lavender, 20% Tea Tree, 20% Eucalyptus and 40% white vinegar, this was also quite ok but the test was always on my wife whom blistered and swelled something cruel from the midgy bites especially on the feet, and so far the Rawleighs is most effective. My immune system is pretty good due to regular doses of ticks and leeches, scorpions and bull or jumping ants. Welcome to Australia. The jumping ant are cruel, real cruel and so far the best thing for that is to plunge the area as soon as possible into cold water and leave it there under a tap or in a bucket etc for at last 5 minutes, this minimises the sting and for me is now like a mozzie bite. This may also be helpful for other stings, try it and see.

Care must be taken if any bite or sting gives swelling, effects your breathing, makes you feel weak or give any reaction at all. There are 3 levels of reaction, mild, severe and extreme and anaphylactic shock from any bite is very dangerous. If you have any reactions to bites or stings consult a doctor and carry appropriate emergency medication with you.

The Lavendula is the botanical name sorry years of botany, the product that I use mostly and this is only because it is the cheapest uses Lavendular intermedia 80% and Lavendular angustifolia 20%, angustifolia is possibly the better bu more expensive on its own. Something else that is interesting about lavender and that ass I have used it on leeches, they drop off quickly with it I have also found that it stops the bleeding or slows it quite quickly. I have used it on some pretty good cuts and after a couple of minutes the tissue socked in lavender can be removed and no more bleeding. Ticks die quickly with it also and is great on dogs, not cats though as they do not like lavender. And for those that suffer from pimples etc, well lavender is really good dabbed directly onto the skin.

I really hope that I can get lavnder in India as I do use it for many things and there is a lot grown here in Aust.

vistet

I was in Scotland this summer , came out of an infernal glen with rashes that made grown men gasp. The locals swore and again again that only one one thing really helped against the midges: Skin So Soft from Avon. I thought they were pulling my leg until I caught the smell of lilacs from men I wouldnt expect it from.

mira4bai4

Yes we used the Avon Skin So Soft but found it neded to be plastered on quite thick and got a bit sticky for us, we used it as a barrier. Friends from the US who hated the bug life here in Aust swore by the stuff but shifted back to Arizona after a rather heavy dose of midges.

In amongst the Sheoaks here, Cassurina's there is some little bug and all that you know of is a feeling like acid on your skin, pin pricks of it, nasty stuff.

Nick-H

Thanks. Thats $22 you just cost me

I'm almost looking forward to being bitten to see if it works!

[later...] plus $18 delivery

But I can't find this available in Europe, I'm really intrigued and decided to go ahead anyway.

Baldy

good old fashioned calamine lotion I've found best ...

SydneyKate

I find the best thing to do with mozzie bites is DON'T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SCRATCH THEM!! I know this is easier said than done (particularly, for some reason on the feet) but it really does work. The more you scratch, the more you have to! With leeches what we do is light a match, blow out and quickly apply the hot end to the leech which will drop right off. With ticks (this works with my cat and kids), douse the tick in acetone (nail polish remover) which kills it, then lever out using a blunt knife, make sure you get it all out. Cats hate it but it doesn't seem to do them any harm. You are right to warn that with any bad reactions to bites/stings, see a doctor.

mira4bai4

Actually I think what happens when we scratch the itch is to introduce some bacteria from our finger nails, more than likely wrong here but it seems a possibility and would explain why they then seem to get infected or more irritated.

The ticks on my wee Jack Russel Mira Bai I find after applying the lavender directly on to them with a cotton bud are best left alone, I apply it 2 or 3 times and then don't touch it again as they either fall out running backwards or are dead and then if so I leave them to come out naturally. The beauty of doing this is that the lavender fights any infection at the same time as killing the tick. This builds up the immunity of the animal and is harmless to them, even the paralysis tick if found quickly is best handled this way.

Not keen on acetone, it is a bit severe on sensitive skin, children and cats have extremely sensitive skins, remember that the tick has burrowed deep into the skin, that is through the epidermis and under the thicker outer layer is a very tender inner layer where the nerve endings are and so the liquid runs into this area. It does need to be remembered that all oils etc are chemicals and only lavender and tea tree are safe enough to be used directly undiluted on the skin.

Nick-H

Not very impressed withthe Therapic. Seems to either do nothing or cause a blister. Maybe I'm just getting the timing wrong.

traceyam

I heard about that Skin So Soft trick prior to my Appalachian Trail thruhike. The general concensus among thruhikers was that it didn't do a darn bit of good.

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