What are your tried and true remedies for itchy bug bites?
Help.
Help.
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.
I’ve got a little ‘bug-pen’ which heats up a small metal disk for about 6 seconds which you hold onto the bite. Works really well.
The "at home" version of this would be heating a spoon under hot water and then holding it onto the bite.
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
That's my go-to relief too. Take the spoon out of someone's coffee for extra laziness (ask first though. Avoids weird discussions. Or so I've heard.)
This is the answer. /thread
Doesn’t have to be coffee of course - just get a spoon from hot (not boiling) water. It should be at the temperature where you can juuust stand to have it on your skin. Press and repeat as needed.
It will feel intense - even intensely itchy - for a couple of seconds, then….relief!
Is the relief related to nociception, to inflammation, or to inactivation of the bug saliva?
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
Vinegar seems to work pretty well, albeit temporarily. Downside(?) is that you smell like vinegar.
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.
A spoon heated up with hot tap water is a pretty good approximation of the proper temperature to denature the bug proteins...
There is a temperature range where the bite is de-itched, but you aren't burned. Good luck finding it. This technique either works really well or it works really well and you end up with a blister.
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.
Alcohol, taken orally. It's not a good solution, but it does reduce itching for a while.
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.
antiperspirant/deodorant. The kind that contains aluminum. May just be placebo, but helps with mosquito bites.
How bad is it? And what kind of bugs?
I’d suggest Benadryl spray (topical, not the antihistamine stuff which might also help if it’s everywhere…but not sure.)
Also some moisturizing lotion should help, as well as simply not scratching it
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.
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.
Your own spit works wonders when you have nothing else around. No, I’m not kidding.
When I am in civilization, I prefer the aveeno 1% hydrocortisone stuff. It works well for me.
Don't do this, but...
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.
It does. I spray isopropyl on mine. Works for a few hours. Seems to work better if you do it right after you get bitten.
Rub your spit on it.
edit: sorry, lol. Actually, it does help, for mozzie bites. But you could try lathering on some Calamine Lotion.