Don't know what gave me these fine gems, mosquitoes are the most likely culprit... unfortunately for me, biting insects find me delicious, and I have a stronger-than-average reaction to them. This is not just mildly itchy, this is stark-raving-mad-itchy. And painful too. So I've been doing some research on how to relieve the itching. Green clay mixed with aloe provided some relief, but was not very practical to use throughout the day... it has to be re-applied when it dries and it's messy. Over the counter anti-itch spray and neem oil based spray worked for about ten minutes tops. I read a LOT of home remedies... bleach, deodorant, tea tree, Windex... but ultimately, the thing that worked was really hot water. Hot enough to be uncomfortable, but not burn the skin off. Seems counter-intuitive, but it worked... something about the heat helping to temporarily dissipate the histamine from the bite... beats gouging them off with my nails!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Burning for Relief
Don't know what gave me these fine gems, mosquitoes are the most likely culprit... unfortunately for me, biting insects find me delicious, and I have a stronger-than-average reaction to them. This is not just mildly itchy, this is stark-raving-mad-itchy. And painful too. So I've been doing some research on how to relieve the itching. Green clay mixed with aloe provided some relief, but was not very practical to use throughout the day... it has to be re-applied when it dries and it's messy. Over the counter anti-itch spray and neem oil based spray worked for about ten minutes tops. I read a LOT of home remedies... bleach, deodorant, tea tree, Windex... but ultimately, the thing that worked was really hot water. Hot enough to be uncomfortable, but not burn the skin off. Seems counter-intuitive, but it worked... something about the heat helping to temporarily dissipate the histamine from the bite... beats gouging them off with my nails!
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1 comment:
I have had some horrible bites this year that aren't mosquito bites. If it's itchy and painful at the same time, I don't think it's a mosquito.
I empathize. I also used hot water on washcloths to deal with my discomfort, but I sprinkled alcohol on the hot washcloth so that the heat would penetrate more quickly.
bad bites!
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