Subject: Re: Prevent swelling/itching - Mosquitos?

From: [email-masked] (Noel Gilmore)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 21:15:49 -0400

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Maxina A. Gohlke)
wrote:

> >   Is there anything one can put on a Mosquito bite to keep it from
> -> itching and keep the swelling down?  

Allow me to pass on my husband's rather simplistic (and annoying) remedy
to keep mosquito bites from itching and swelling...DON'T SCRATCH 'EM.  For
years I suffered all summer while he did not and he would always tell me
it was because he disciplined himself not to scratch. Last year we went to
the Yucatan jungle for vacation and I couldn't bear to cover myself from
head to toe each day with repellant, so I asked him to help me remember
not to scratch, and I have to admit it worked!

Noel Gilmore

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From: [email-masked] ("Melinda Coss")
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 1995 10:48:26 GMT

I don't know if anyone else has notice but insect bites really start
to itch when you drink alcohol.. a half glass of wine will set them
off.
Melinda Coss

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From: [email-masked] (Timothy J Keenan)
Date: 24 Jul 1995 17:23:20 GMT

Noel Gilmore ([email-masked]) wrote:
: In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Maxina A. Gohlke)
: wrote:

: > >   Is there anything one can put on a Mosquito bite to keep it from
: > -> itching and keep the swelling down?  

: Allow me to pass on my husband's rather simplistic (and annoying) remedy
: to keep mosquito bites from itching and swelling...DON'T SCRATCH 'EM.  For
: years I suffered all summer while he did not and he would always tell me
: it was because he disciplined himself not to scratch. Last year we went to
: the Yucatan jungle for vacation and I couldn't bear to cover myself from
: head to toe each day with repellant, so I asked him to help me remember
: not to scratch, and I have to admit it worked!

: Noel Gilmore

As someone who has lived and worked on the arctic tundra and in the 
boreal forest for decades, I have to agree...I never use DEET or any 
other repellant.  If the bugs are so thick I can't breath without 
inhaling them, I use a "SkeeterGuard" fine-mesh net jacket, with a net 
hood that zips across the throat.  Otherwise, I hit 'em if I feel 'em.  
If I don't feel 'em, I hardly ever develop any reaction. If I have a 
reaction, usually if I get bit somewhere where the skin is thin (over a 
wrist bone, etc.) I generally ignore it and it goes away.  I never get a 
bump _unless_ I scratch.

This goes for black flies, too.  I think the best answer is to get bit 
early and often, and you will become aclimatized to it.

Rubbing and scratching causes all sorts of local histamine response, 
which really aggravates the situation.

Tim Keenan

Cliff Ecology Research Group
Botany Department
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario