Can’t seem to ease those itchy bug bites? Try these home remedies
Shelby Pritchett
| 3 min read
Nothing kills the mood of relaxing outside during summer nights more than a bug bite. To help relieve your itchy and irritable bug bites, here are a few ideas to relieve that itch before you decide to scratch.
Mosquito bites
One of the most common bug bites comes from the mosquito. Although you can’t immediately reduce the bite, you can minimize the red, itchy swelling by rubbing calamine lotion on the site of the bite a few times. Calamine’s ingredients help signal your skin to quit itching. Sometimes a remedy doesn’t provide fast relief, but after two or three applications it should work. If you don’t have calamine lotion handy, are some unusual ways to help relieve the itch associated with mosquito bites using things found around your house:
- Rub a dry bar of soap directly on the skin over the itching area.
- Apply ice directly to the skin
- Apply toothpaste to the area
- Directly salt water over the area
- Crush a few aspirin and apply with a few drops of rubbing alcohol to the bite
Bee, wasp or hornet stings
Everyone is bound to get a few stings from these critters once in a while. The bump is typically a half-inch wide and a reddish color. To relieve the sting, first use tweezers to pull out the stinger. Next, wash the stung area with soap and water. Lastly, cover the site of the sting with hydrocortisone cream to relieve puffiness. Since the pain of the sting can last for a few hours, you can also try the following these home remedies to help relieve the pain:
- Sprinkle the area with baking soda then drizzle drops of vinegar until the baking soda begins to fizz
- Cover the area with a little mustard
- Apply honey to the area and reapply as needed
- Dab the area with a generous amount of toothpaste then leave on the wound
- Soak the area in Epsom salt and water, or make a paste and apply it to hard-to-reach areas
- Dab a bit of deodorant onto the area
Spider bites
Spider bites are the largest type of bite and typically very painful. Often times, they create a large, raised area that can grow larger and redder over the course of several days. To treat a spider bite, first clean the bite and immediately apply ice to the elevated bite area. Treat a mild bite with antihistamines and antibiotics. These home remedies will surely help ease the pain and swelling:
- Use hydrogen peroxide to help disinfect the bit area
- Take a pinch of crushed basil and rub on the bite until the basil turns into the consistency of sand
- Mix turmeric and olive oil to create a paste that will relieve the swelling and redness
- Soak an aspirin tablet in water until it creates a paste you can apply to the bite area. It should help alleviate itching within a half hour
Do you have any home remedies that help you or your family to relieve the redness and itchiness of bug bites?
Photo Credit: Eyeweed
