Mosquito Bites Suck--Here Are Some Awesome Easy Remedies To Reduce The Itch

Mosquito bites suck. While those who have lived in Ontario most, if not all, of their lives, it's a very common thing to deal with; and yet, there remain ways of treating them that are largely unknown. So while you're bushwhacking out in Muskoka over the weekend, or cutting your back lawn, here are some tips to treating bites from those pesky critters.

Some Medicinal Remedies For Mosquito Bites

1. Deal with the initial itch: Itching is caused by the mosquito's saliva: an anticoagulant that causes the body to produce a histamine response. Scratching will only make the itch more irritated, so try to resist the urge.

2. Treat the area immediately: To reduce the itch, clean the bite area with rubbing alcohol, alcohol wipes, or just plain water. If you have a severe reaction, apply an antihistamine cream or lotion, especially ointments containing a combination of antihistamine, analgesic, and coricosteroid. If an infection due to the bites, see your physician.

3. Select an itch-soothing solution: This may require some shopping based on budget, availability, allergies to certain ingredients, and familiarity with the solution. Always speak to your doctor if you have concerns, or have a history of allergic reactions to certain products. 

Natural Remedies For Mosquito Bites

Below are some natural treatments:

Baking soda + warm water: 

• One tablespoon to one pint of water
• Gently apply the affected area. Use your clean fingers, a cotton swab, or popsicle stick to apply
• Leave on for a few minutes, then wash off with warm water. 

Baking soda + amonia:

• Mix a few drops of household cleaning ammonia with baking soda to form a paste
• Apply to the affected area and allow to dry
• Remove with warm water.

Cider vinegar:

• Soak a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar
• Place soaked cotton ball over the mosquito bites. You can hold it or tape it into place
• Leave it there for a few minutes

Cooled Tea: Apply cooled tea to the area as a compress

Ice Pack: Put an ice pack on the bite for 20 minutes

Clear Liquor: Use neat gin or any clear alcoholic liquor on the bites. This'll cool the skin and stop the itch.

Toothpaste: Use any non-gel toothpaste, and rub it on the bite, and leave a glob of it to dry overnight. Wash it in the morning with cold water and mild soap: the toothpaste will dry out the bite and take away any irritation.

Mouthwash: Go into your medicine cabinet and pull out the mouthwash and apply onto the bite and leave to dry.

Lemon or lime: Cut a lemon or lime into pieces and rub on the affected area or just squirt a bit of juice on it. The acid in the juice as itch-relieving properties.

Banana peel skin: Peel a banana or pull out the peels from the garbage and rub the inside of it on the bite. 

Raw potato: Cut a potato in half and rub an open side of one half on the bite. The potato sap will dry on the bite and reduce the itching.

Finger nail: Use your fingernail to press an 'x' into the bite; this will disperse the protein and stop the itch for a while.

Saliva: Place your own saliva over the bite and let it soak in.

Copper: Hold a penny or copper coin over the bite. Copper often makes the skin feel better after being stung. 

Sterilized Male Mosquitos?

Dr. Flamina Catteruccia On Ending Malaria

According to the BBC, researchers and Scientists of mosquitos have discovered that females mosquitos will mate only once with a male, keeping its sperm for the rest of its life and dispensing it over its reproductive cycle. Moreover, the female does not know the difference between fertile and infertile mosquitos, the understanding of which has led to the drive to find sterilization treatments of mosquitos that do not involve radiation, thus keeping them active enough to engage with females in breeding activity. The current method is to inject male embryos with tiny doses of RNA designed to turn off a gene (called zpg) that is essential for normal sperm development. This method tricks the female mosquito into thinking that she has successfully mated, thus continuing to lay eggs without knowing that they have not been fertilized.  According to Dr. Catteruccia, as quoted in the BBC article, 

"You [could] in principle release large numbers of sterile males over many generations...and eventually all the females will have mated with the sterile males and...you can really reduce the number of mosquitos."

The objective is to reduce the number of hatching mosquitos, and hopefully eradicate what many consider to be the world's most deadly killer of humans.