Annoying Mosquito Bites - Gone: Quick Tip

[BobD]

I went out with a new rifle last week. Before shooting on my property I 'sight in' in the woods next to the clearing I have. Well it was a fuckin monsoon here about 2 days prior and it appeared that the mosquito population tripled. Repellant can help but when there are that many there's really no avoiding it.

Ironically, the following day (after the swarm feasted on me) I got an message from my cousin (hiker) about this new way he learned to get rid of the itching from the bites. Spending most of his free time outside he claimed this was a life changer.


There are tons of household remedies for mosquito bites but after trying this I figured I would share. Its easy and can be done just about anywhere if you're creative, especially if you have a lighter.

The tip sent to me was heating a spoon under hot tap water (hotter than would wash with) and depress it across the area of the bite. As mentioned above, if you carry a lighter you can makeshift whatever you want to press and hold on your skin. The object and heat source don't really matter. No need to burn yourself, just heat up enough that's it hot to touch 'at most' slightly uncomfortable. The length of time you hold it will vary on the amount of heat and size of bite. Keep the pressure on it.

The premise behind it is that Mosquitos deposit an anti coagulant in the form of protein to aid in extracting and carrying blood. That same protein is detected by your body, and by releasing histamine gives you the urge to itch and remove what shouldn't be there. This why anti histamine or blockers reduce and prevent itching ie. benedral. Anyway, the heat applied breaks down this protein, thereby stopping your body from trying to continuously try to get it out.

*it doesn't change how the bite appears raised or inflamed on your skin, don't try to bun it away... It's not gonna happen, you will just have a blister on top of it*

It worked like a charm for me, I was covered head to toe. I did this on a handful of the really obnoxious ones.

hope it helps some of you out-

 

[Redmanss]

I had visions of "Major Payne" saying "Want me to show you a little trick to take your mind off that arm? Let me see your finger..."

I'll have to give this one a try. I've heard regular toothpaste works as well, but that might be from the internet geniuses wanting to see people covered with Crest.

 

[BobD]

Hahaha. Ah, Wayne's brothers..
Rub some dirt in it and stop bitchin most will say.

Yeah, ive seen deodorant for use as well. I believe its from aluminum salts that are supposed to dry it up. Some of them just mask it for the time being. I believe baking soda and hydrogen peroxide (both often in toothpaste) are supposed to work similarly.

I may be wrong... But my understanding is that the heat actually breaks down the protein, so done for good. Using powder or liquids sounds like it would be difficult to reach deep enough to completely denature or remove. I'm pretty sure the ones I did are no longer an issue, even with days past. It work almost instantly. As soon as heat has spent enough time the feeling is gone.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MikeeBooshay]

Hot water - like what comes out of the pisser on your outboard motor does the same for jellyfish and stingray hits. The heat breaks down the proteins, and relief is instant. Your first "idea" is to ice it down, and is the opposite of what works. Didn't know it would work on skeeter bites, but damn, what a great idea!

Meat tenderizer, like Adolph's, works pretty good too, I assume that it works the same way, breaking down proteins. The hot water is faster though.

 

[Handloader]

I am hesitant to accept that hot tap water will denature a protein. Most proteins require about 95C (203F i.e. frickin' hot) for about 5 min (and usually with a surfactant, and a reducing agent). I will be willing to bet the nerves are left on a constant state of "on" and our perception of the itch is diminished (much like how Electric stimulation works on pain).
If you are trying to denature...try Isopropanol from the store ( I have a friend that wipes down with it after a hike to denature the proteins associated with Poison Ivy).

That said, My grandpa taught me (a few moons back) a trick that works fairly well......Make small circles around the bite with deep pressure with your finger for a few minutes. Do not touch the bite site. Surprisingly, it works great (again I think this is caused by nerve confusion, and a diminished perception of the itch).

 

[jbjh]

Benadryl gel will kill the itching quick and last a while. I carry a small squirt bottle of it outdoors for any kind of sting. Works great for after-sunburn itches (use the big bottle).

 

[NMMX]

Hot water - like what comes out of the pisser on your outboard motor does the same for jellyfish and stingray hits. The heat breaks down the proteins, and relief is instant. Your first "idea" is to ice it down, and is the opposite of what works. Didn't know it would work on skeeter bites, but damn, what a great idea!

Meat tenderizer, like Adolph's, works pretty good too, I assume that it works the same way, breaking down proteins. The hot water is faster though.

Definitely get your stingray sting in hot water. Learned that one first hand last summer. Luckily for me a lifeguard told me what it was, I assumed I just stepped on coral or something. Took about two hours in HOT water for it to subside enough to get on with my day.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Mosquito, bee, wasp etc. Here is what you do. Reach in your bottom lip and pull that dip out and rub each welt with a dab. If it isn't a fresh dip, get out your can and work one up to a lather and apply to site libberally.. It works.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

What if the stingray delivers his sting directly to your aorta? Anything for that?

 

[E. Bryant]

Heat reduces itching by causing the rapid release (and ultimately, temporary depletion) of histamine, and once that occurs, the itch will go away for some period of time. I've used this before when suffering from contact dermatitis, but one has to be very careful not to overdo it or else localized skin drying/damage can occur (with the potential result of making the itch worse, not better).

 

[pyplynr]

My dad used to use a straight pin and a lighter. Heat up the pin and poke it into the skeeter bite.

 

[flounderv2]

Mosquito, bee, wasp etc. Here is what you do. Reach in your bottom lip and pull that dip out and rub each welt with a dab. If it isn't a fresh dip, get out your can and work one up to a lather and apply to site libberally.. It works.

Yup. Learned this from my aunt growing up. Except she pulled the tobacco out of her cigarette, mashed it with some water and put that on a nasty wasp sting I had. Must be something with the nicotine.

 

[E. Bryant]

Nicotine will stimulate the release of histamine, just as heat does (and with potentially the same result, which is the temporary relief from itching that comes from completely exhausting the local supply of histamine).

 

[Legba]

Hand dryers work good on bites and poison ivy.

 

[Hunbramericano]

Mosquito bites are more dangerous than people would think. They carry more and more diseases that are often misdiagnosed by doctors since not used to be normal in the USA. Buy some multi vitamins that has a good load of B-complex and take it regularly. It might help a little your general health also but it gets rid of mosquitoes for good.

 

[bullseye13]

Mosquito, bee, wasp etc. Here is what you do. Reach in your bottom lip and pull that dip out and rub each welt with a dab. If it isn't a fresh dip, get out your can and work one up to a lather and apply to site libberally.. It works.

+1 on this as well. Have only tried it on be stings, but works awesome.

 

[Turd in the Pool]

Good thing they weren't red wasps. You'd be begging for skeetos.

 

[badger62]

Put a little bleach on a q-tip and dab it on the bite.it has always worked for me.

 

[Decoy]

Mosquito, bee, wasp etc. Here is what you do. Reach in your bottom lip and pull that dip out and rub each welt with a dab. If it isn't a fresh dip, get out your can and work one up to a lather and apply to site libberally.. It works.

Absolutely the truth, was mending a fence the other day and two ground hornets came out and nailed my forearm within .150" of each other. Dropped a little Copenhagen dip on them and rubbed it in, 30 seconds later it was gone. Number one tool in my bite kit!

 

[Flea21]

Interesting

 

[phillipjr]

clear finger nail polish works

 

[xs hedspace]

Another related hint--saw a guy at a 1K match, where the skeeters were driving me nuts, flying around my head. He had a strip of duct tape(NOT DUCK TAPE, DUM-DUM!) around his cap, inside out. Must been 50 skeeters stuck to the tape. He explained, they like to bounce around, looking for a tasty spot. This time, they don't bounce!

 

[hlee]

Another related hint--saw a guy at a 1K match, where the skeeters were driving me nuts, flying around my head. He had a strip of duct tape(NOT DUCK TAPE, DUM-DUM!) around his cap, inside out. Must been 50 skeeters stuck to the tape. He explained, they like to bounce around, looking for a tasty spot. This time, they don't bounce!

Dum, dum, hmmm???

[From Wikipedia...]

"The Revolite division of Johnson & Johnson made medical adhesive tapes from duck cloth, beginning in 1927. In 1942 during World War II, a team headed by Revolite's Johnny Denoye and Johnson & Johnson's Bill Gross developed a new adhesive tape for the US military, intended to seal ammunition cases against moisture.[10] The tape was required to be ripped by hand, not cut with scissors. This unnamed product was made of thin cotton duck tape coated in waterproof polyethylene (plastic) with a layer of rubber-based gray adhesive ("Polycoat") bonded to one side.[5][11][12][13][14][15] It was easy to apply and remove, and was soon adapted to repair military equipment quickly, including vehicles and weapons.[11] This tape, colored in army-standard matte olive drab, was nicknamed "duck tape" by the soldiers.[16] Various theories have been put forward for the nickname, including the descendant relation to cotton duck fabric, the waterproof characteristics of a duck bird, and even the 1942 amphibious military vehicle DUKW which was pronounced "duck".[17]...

The product now commonly called duct tape should not be confused with special tapes actually designed for sealing heating and ventilation ducts. To provide lab data about which sealants and tapes last, and which are likely to fail, research was conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Environmental Energy Technologies Division. Their major conclusion was that one should not use common duct tape to seal ducts (they had defined duct tape as any fabric-based tape with rubber adhesive). The testing done shows that under challenging but realistic conditions, common duct tapes become brittle and may fail.[26][27]

Common duct tape carries no safety certifications such as UL or Proposition 65, which means the tape may burn violently, producing toxic smoke; it may cause ingestion and contact toxicity; it can have irregular mechanical strength; and its adhesive may have low life expectancy. Its use in ducts has been prohibited by the state of California[28] and by building codes in most other places in the US. However, higher quality metallized and aluminum tapes used by professionals for sealing ducts are still often called "duck/duct tapes"."

Dollars to doughnuts the roll the tape came from said DUCK not DUCT.