Mosquito And Other Insect Bites

We all get bitten by insects from time to time - we are simply too plentiful a source of food for insects to overlook. However, some individuals react fairly badly to an insect bite, while others do not seem be all that much troubled by them. The most common insect bites are from mosquitoes, ants, fleas and gnats or midges and now bed bugs are coming back too..



If you are not overly allergic to these bites there is no need to do anything about the bite itself although you may like to eradicate an infection of ants, fleas and bed bugs. Mosquito and other insect bites usually produce an itchy, red swelling, which ought to go down within one to three days, although some individuals do have them for much longer.



We say that insects bite, but it is not always the case. It is sloppy speech. Some insects bite (like ants), some insects sting (like bees) and other insects suck blood (like mosquitoes, fleas and bed bugs). Most individuals are more likely to show a reaction to blood sucking although the stings are the most painful.



Blood-sucking insects shoot some saliva into you through a pore before sucking blood. This saliva contains an anticoagulant to make the blood flow more freely and it may contain an antiseptic and an analgesic as well to ease the pain of a possible infection or reaction to the bite. It is this saliva that causes the swelling and itching in most instances.



This is like an allergic reaction, but doctors do not consider it to be an allergy. Some people really are allergic to the bites of blood-sucking or stinging insects and they may have to be hospitalized. They suffer much more than an itchy swelling for a day or two. You will soon know if you are allergic. You might even pass out or go into a coma.



Anyway, the priority for most of us after being 'bitten' is to relieve the itching and reduce the swelling. It appears that some items work better on some individuals than on others, so it is a case of trying different items until you find one that suits you and the sort of bite that is afflicting you.



Tiger Balm works on many insect bites for most people, but some people merely have to rub a slice of lemon or an ice cube on the bite to make the bite more tolerable. If you are going to treat mosquito and other insect bites, you should do it as soon as you can after having been bitten. Try to get that saliva out so that it does not have time to activate your bodies natural defences.



Some creams seem to neutralize the saliva while others appear to pucker the skin enough to squirt it back out. If the saliva is back outside it cannot cause an infection although most infections like this are the result of scratching with dirty finger nails



Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with getting rid of mosquito bites problems. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Mosquito Bite Swelling.