ah, hot water... stupid me always tried with a lighter, looking like a junkie and worried about burning myself.
not much to add, but that heat really works, as it breaks down the proteins that cause the infection/itching
I'm just reading all of these comments and chuckling into my coffee. Do none of you use OTC Topical corticosteroids like normal people? Itching is gone for 12 hours.
To be honest I literally just got over about 13 mosquito bites. I often develop what's known as skeeter syndrome where my body has an extreme reaction to mosquito bites. Google it if you dare.
Well it got infected because of the nature of the severity of the bites so I had to go to urgent care. I got antibiotics and I also got what really actually helped me -
Benadryl GEL. The gel is good because it's cooling and adds a protective layer when it dries. Also, downside is that its diphenhydramine and that sucks but it actually helped the hardcore itching. This was like chickenpox levels
A combination of heat and cold! Use one of those bug pens (or a cotton ball dipped into very hot - about 70°C - water) and press it against the bite for about 10-15 seconds. Repeat if necessary.
Afterwards, use ice, frozen peas, a cool pack, or a cloth saturated with a mixture of vinegar and cold water, and apply it to the bite.
Cream/spray and then stick bandaids all over the bites. I have to, or I’ll keep picking at them. Why yes, it does look like I just ran face first into a thorn bush.
Calamine Lotion dabbed on with a cotton ball at the site of the bug bite does a good job with itching.
If you live in a location where fire ants are a problem, keep some apple cider vinegar on hand. It neutralizes the venom and gives instant relief.
If you've got several all over, I use an antihistamine like Benadryl or even Allegra. The itchiness is an allergic reaction and the antihistamine helps to calm your immune system down.
I vouch for this. I found a video years ago showing a benadryl pill being crushed in a small bowl and just enough water added to make a paste, then spread over the bite. Works well with the nagging mosquito bites!
Hydrocortisone, for whatever reason, hasn't helped me with this.
100% a placebo and bad habit so don't do this, but if it's a single bite I'll gently squeeze it like a pimple, and for some reason that tricks my monkey brain into thinking I did something about it.
I had a bad problem with always attracting all the chiggers when we went camping when I was younger. After I had scratched each of them raw, my dad would soak a grease-rag with gasoline and have me wipe them down with it. It burns like hell, but I'll be damned, it stopped the itching and the raw bites would dry up pretty quickly afterward. Old-country remedy from his farming days I guess.
I‘m using a gel from the pharmacy called Euceta, it has these ingredients:
100 g gel contain: Active substance: aluminium acetate tartrate Other ingredients: Propylene glycol, ethanol, hydroxyethyl cellulose, polysorbate, acetic acid, sodium hydroxide, purified water; camphor, rose and camomile aroma
Works on all sorts of stuff like the bug bites but also sunburn.