How to Get rid of Mosquito Bites

How to Get rid of Mosquito Bites

Get Rid Of Mosquitoes Mosquito Mosquito Bite

How to get rid of mosquito bites is a repeated question I hear again and again. Since this question bothered the American military, a chemical formula by the name of N,N-Diethyl-meta-Toluamide was developed during previous century 40′s, commonly known as the nick name DEET.

DEET is a highly effective mosquito repellent that stays active up to 8 hours. Many people fighting how to get rid of mosquito bites end up using DEET mosquito repellent, making it one of the most commonly used mosquito repellents, if not the most common one.

During the last 2 decades or so, several scientific studies raised the suspicion that DEET is a highly unhealthy mean how to get rid of mosquito bites.  Once spread on our skin, DEET penetrates into our blood system and is suspected to be carcinogenic, harmful for our fertility, harmful for our nerve system and more. Nevertheless, it would be only fair to mention that many other studies claim the exact opposite.

So how to get rid of mosquito bites? There is DEET and there are currently numerous other alternative products. Autan and Cutter, for instance, are examples of mosquito repellents that contain synthetic compound called Picaridine (also named Icaridin or Bayrepel), which is synthesized from black pepper and has similar long lasting effect as DEET. Other products use pure organic compounds as natural mosquito repellent.

While not all organic compounds are necessarily harmless, to the best of my knowledge those that are commonly used in natural mosquito repellents are safe. The downside of organic products is usually their price, which is higher than the synthetic repellents. In addition, many organic repellents get rid of mosquito bites as well as DEET, but their effect is limited to only a couple of hours and they carry strong odors which some people like and others do not.

So what’s the best way to get rid of mosquito bites? Lemon Eucalyptus essential oil and the organic compound Citradiol that can be produced out of it, proved to have long lasting impact with reasonable odor. Repel and Mosi-guard offer very good natural mosquito repellents with these organic active ingredients, that provide a long lasting solution like DEET, yet without any known health impact.

Catnip is another organic long lasting active ingredient one should consider for how to get rid of mosquito bites. Refined Oil of Nepata Cataria is such a natural mosquito repellent. Other essential oils are also effective as natural mosquito repellents but for relatively short times, like citronella, lavender and geranium.

Finally, how to get rid of mosquito bites is not the only nuisance bothering people around the globe. Many of the mosquito repellents may be effective against bed bug bites, flea bites, tick bites and others biting insects. There are some exceptions, where the product is a good mosquito repellent but not affecting another biter. Still, in many cases mosquito repellents will reduce flea bites on humans, bed bugs bites and others.

To learn more on mosquito bites, read more interesting facts in The secret behind Mosquito Bites.

The Secret Behind Mosquito Bites

The Secret Behind Mosquito Bites

Mosquito Mosquito Bite

Mosquitoes (Culicidae) are a thoroughly studied insect family, mainly because of the frequent mosquito bites we all suffer from and the search for mosquito bites treatment.

The mosquitoes belong to a large order of insects called DIPTERA. While most winged insects (PTERYGOTA) have two pair of wings at their adult stage, adult Dipterans have only one pair. There are about 3500 mosquito species worldwide known to science, but their true number is probably higher. It doesn’t mean that all 3500 species of mosquitoes bite us on a daily basis…

Different species can be found in different parts of the world.  For example, around 200 species are recorded in the USA, around 80 in Canada and around 30 in the British Isles. The tropics (with very hot and moist whether) include the highest number of mosquito species. Accept the north and south polar areas, mosquitoes can be found anywhere else. Furthermore, not all the species of mosquitoes bite humans.

So why the mosquito bites? 

To gain energy, mosquitoes feed on sugars like nectar or fruits. Still, mosquitoes acquire proteins from blood to produce their eggs. Therefore, the female mosquito bites to get her required blood dose so she can oviposit (lay eggs) and thus create more mosquitoes and mosquito bites…

What the mosquito bites? 

Some mosquito species will look after a wide range of victims, while other will have more specific attraction and may bite mostly humans for example. Some will prefer mammals, some will look for birds and some will even specialize on biting reptiles or amphibians.

How the mosquito bites? 

The mouth organs of mosquito females (proboscis) construct in a shape of a tubular feeding and sucking organ. Accordingly, the better term for mosquito bites would be mosquito stings. Soon after the mosquito bites and before she starts to suck blood the mosquito female inject with her saliva a cocktail into the host blood. This cocktail prevents blood coagulation and prevents our immune system to attack the proboscis edge.

The side effects of the saliva cocktail injected during the mosquito bites are normally minor swelling, redness and itchy feeling around the mosquito bites. In most cases a local relief with Fenistil ointment or Alovera should be enough. There are many “grandma remedies” in use to treat the mosquito bites but the most important thing is to find what works for you – so you stop scratching the bite.

Mosquito bites and the itchy feeling that proceed are the reason why mosquitoes are a nuisance. If the saliva glands are infected with viruses (like in West Nile Fever) or any other disease factor such as: protozoa (like in Malaria), microscopic worms (like in Dog Heart worms), etc., the mosquito bites can infect the bitten host as well.

This fact promotes the mosquito bites of many species (e.g. the Asian tiger mosquito, many Anopheles species, Some Culex species) to a real risk factor for public health. Adequate mosquito control means are necessary to mitigate that risk and can be used by home owners to help meet this target. See additional details on my recommendation for best mosquito bite treatment.

Mosquito Bite Treatment

Mosquito Bite Treatment

Mosquito Mosquito Bite

Well what is a good mosquito bite treatment? When I was a child, my grandma used to put a tooth paste on the bites, and few minutes later, if I managed not to scratch, it stopped itching. To this day I don’t know if the tooth paste really helped, or the fact that I stopped scratching. Since in the old days there was no official mosquito bite treatment handy, tooth paste worked fine for me.

Today there are several mosquito bite treatments, so I will focus only on some I’m familiar the best with. I used to put on me and my family mosquito bites Fenistil Gel. I heard many good reviews about this product so I used it. To tell you the truth, I was not sure it really helped. Like the tooth paste, maybe the gel was really helping or just the result of waiting without scratching… but it doesn’t really matter, does it?

Fenistil Drops is a whole other story when we talk about mosquito bite treatment. I have seen it makes wonders to severe mosquito bites reactions. Since it is a prescription medicine, you must see your doctor (M.D.) before using it. If one of your kids suffers from mosquito bite allergy, you better ask your physician for a spare Fenistil bottle.

Out of my experience, a mosquito bite near the eye that causes the eye to swell is generally followed by prescription for Fenistil Drops.  After taking the medicine the eye swelling is almost gone in just few hours. The other mosquito bites stopped itching as well shortly after swallowing the drops, even though the bitten child kept scratching.

You probably heard of and maybe tried few of the common homemade first-aid mosquito bite treatments, like baking soda or soap with water, ice, alcohol, fruit remedies (i.e. banana skin or lemon/lime), aloe-vera and more. Since the mosquito bite reaction and treatment for each of us is personal, you should always use what works best for you! A cheap soap, of the kind that dries your skin, used to work fine for me.

Beside mosquito bites treatment to control their itch and swelling affects, you should also consider the risk of infection by scratching the bites and the more severe infection by diseases carried by the biting mosquito, like West Nile Virus & Malaria. Accordingly, avoiding bites by using a good mosquito repellent is always the best preventive treatment!