Home Remedies for Mosquito Bites
The reason there are so many home remedies for mosquito bites is that people have been searching for thousands of years for ways to relieve the intense and almost instantaneous itching caused when you’re attacked by one of these pesky critters.
For the most part, mosquito bites aren’t dangerous. You’ll usually get a small but well-defined welt or bump that itches like mad for a few hours, but if you don’t scratch them, they will heal in a few days. Scratching often makes them raw, however, so you do need to treat them quickly to stop the urge to scratch.
Bathroom Home Remedies for Mosquito Bites
There are several quick and easy ways to stop the itch of a “skeeter bite” that you can find in your bathroom or medicine cabinet. A bar of soap rubbed over the spot will stop the itch instantly. Dove soap works particularly well, but any soap will do in a pinch.
You can also try putting a dab of toothpaste on your bite (the paste kind, not the newer gel formulas). This will dry on the bite and draw out some of the histamines under the skin. An alternative is to dab a few drops of mouthwash onto the spot. This works under the same basic action as witch hazel, which you could apply if you don’t have mouthwash. Both are astringent and cooling.
You can check your medicine cabinet for aspirin or Tums as well. Crushing a tablet of either one then adding a few drops of water to form a thick paste will give you enough paste to cover several mosquito bites and quickly eliminate the itch.
Kitchen Home Remediy for Mosquito Bites
Some people swear by placing a warm tea bag over a mosquito bite. If you try this, make sure it is warm enough to soothe the area but not so hot that it will burn or irritate your skin. The tannins in tea are naturally soothing and will calm your nerve endings so that you don’t itch.
Honey is a wonderful way to get rid of the itching and protect your mosquito bite from possible infection. Honey is especially good if you’ve already scratched a raw spot on your mosquito bite, as it has natural antimicrobial properties that will protect your bite from infection. Honey is also soothing without the associated stink of some remedies that have alcohol in them.
Baking soda mixed with water forms another paste that is extremely good for mosquito bites. This is a home remedy for mosquitos that has been around for generations. If you don’t have baking soda, dry meat tenderizer can also be mixed with water to form an effective paste.
The inside of a fresh banana peel also aids healing and takes away the sting, but it is a bit messy and may draw fruit flies, so only use this if you’ll be indoors. There’s no use messing with more bugs!
Finally, if you are stuck outside and have a mosquito bite that’s really bothering you, try crushing the leaf of a broadleaf plantain. The resulting mush can be rubbed gently onto the bite to relieve the pain until you can get home to thoroughly clean it.