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When Beauty Sucks. Five Tips To Stop The Itch.

7 November, 2016 - 10:19pm by - First Lady | 19 Comments

By BR Kellie

Kellie Confession:  One day soon after moving to Auckland I woke up to find myself covered in red welts. At least 50 of them. They were all over my stomach, legs, arms.  Everywhere. Freaked out I took myself to the local pharmacy, lifted my top to reveal the extent of the spottiness on my stomach and the women in the pharmacy took a step backwards. At that point I was terrified, clearly I was dying. Turns out I had a severe case of mosquitoitis. Also known as ‘when mosquitos attack’. Yep, I have the kind of blood that anything that bites loves – and I’ve the scars to prove it, because when they bite I itch, then I scratch. Then I scab. Then I scar. How much do I hate mosquitos? Let me count the ways…

Of course, when you’re prone to being bitten and getting all itchy you soon learn that you can either itch and scab/scar - which is SO not pretty – or you can figure out ways to stop the itch in its tracks. What are my top five tips? Read on…

The Cross. I always thought this was an old wives tale, but it does provide short term relief if you’ve not got access to anything else. The idea is to dig your nail deep into the middle of your itchy bite, then do it again, so you make a cross pattern. The science behind it is that the pain from causing the cross overrides the itch irritation, hence why it’s only a short-term solution. You don’t want to do it over and over again either, because that could break the skin and increase the chances of infection. Still, if you’re out and about and the bite’s driving you crazy, needs must and all that. Once you’re home though….

Tea Tree Oil is a great go-to. Not only can it help relieve a case of the itchies, but also its antibacterial properties can prevent infection from scratching. 

Ice is another short-term fix for itchy bites. The coolness relieves the inflammation and gives you a moment’s freedom from the urge to scratch. And often by the time your skin warms up again the desire to have a niggle has gone. (Funny how that works, you can have a bite for hours and not notice it, then the moment you do it starts to itch like crazy, then you get relief and forget about it again, until you notice it and get itchy… and so goes the cycle…)

Baking Soda Paste. This is one my mother used to use on us kids after a day of being bitten by sandflies at the beach. It’s simple too; just mix water and baking soda so it becomes a paste, dab on, and leave it to do its work.

Medicinal treatments are also an excellent option, especially when you’re so covered you don’t know where to ignore the itch first. Search out Ego SOOV Insect Bite Pain & Itch Relief Gel. This stuff is gold for immediate relief. Another option is MEBO Anti Itch Ointment, a natural product that works quickly and soothes the skin for a good long while, whilst also reducing the urge to scratch.

All of these methods have been trialled extensively by moi, not only for mosquitos, but for sandfly bites and even flea bites (honestly, for the amount I pay for fancy flea treatment and the hours spent combing the cat with a fancy flea brush the meow still manages to get the odd one – and that odd one seems to like jumping ship for Kellie-blood waters. Grrrr.). They work on me. Fingers crossed they’ll work on you!

So do tell, does you blood have a moth to a flame effect on anything that bites or sucks? What are your go to itch-stopping remedies? Or are you one of those lucky types who never get bitten by anything? Chat away!

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Comments

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16th June, 2017

Good to know. I will be trying the tee tree oil on my kiddies mozzie bites

13th March, 2017

I use a baking soda paste for stings and neat lavender oil on bites.

1st February, 2017

You can check out the article on what dermatologist have to say: http://bit.ly/2kJYLoe

12th November, 2016

Dabbing some regular white vinegar on mosquito, flea and sandfly bites really relieves the itchies for me.

12th November, 2016

Never tried these before. I do recall using baby oil and derik mixed together as an insect repellent growing up.

12th November, 2016

Calimine lotion, Lavender oil and Tea tree oil are my go to for the itchy's if I don't have any of them with me a bit of saliva on the bite can help ease the itch.i made a silly mistake the other night sleep with the window open it was way to hot. I have a salt lamp beside the bed the light must of attracted all the mozzies in the area and I got bit to pieces hubby didn't get one bite lol

11th November, 2016

some ezemea creams can help with itch and there are lots of natural remedies online I have been told if you put essenial oils on your feet they can prevent tinea or athletes foot and vicks vapour rub too because of the eucalyptus oil it has in it. Wearing jandles is also good. Savlon cream or bepathen perhaps are worth trying too for itches

10th November, 2016

Ouch that Mozi attack sounds so awful :( This is a great article especially with summer coming soon, Ill have to purchase some tea tree oil, I normally buy Anthisan from the chemist which relieves the itchies instantly but it can add up with $15 for a small tube.

9th November, 2016

Oh forgot to say...a family fav insect repellent is Avon, Skin So Soft oil. Not for hard core bites but tyey don't like the smell. For hard core situations an old time fav is 50/50 baby oil and dettol.

9th November, 2016

I had two daughters that used to be allergic to sandflies and would bruise and swell up. One was so bad that I used to have to change her sheets every day because they were covered with blood from her scratching in her sleep. Thank God for antihistamines. She is still extremely attractive to every biting bug out there. I found that lavender oil worked better than tea tree oil for us. Applied neat as often as needed.

9th November, 2016

Oh i no the pain, I've found coconut oil helps a bit and definitely helps heal it and the scarring for those that scratched too far, also if you can get the pure fiji Dilo cream it helps and doesnt have the strong smell of tea tree oil.

8th November, 2016

Wow, completely sounds like me last year, well ok every year. I am a walking mossie attractant. We have Soov and keep it in the fridge so it applies nice and cool. I have heard that the back of a hot teaspoon on the bite can relieve the itch, and it did for a while, but then the itch comes back. Tea tree is great, but it can be a wee bit strong for the kids, but even an Aloe Vera gel kept in the fridge can be soothing. And antihistamines lots of antihistamines.

8th November, 2016

tea tree oil is one I use constantly and really good

8th November, 2016

Mozzies love biting me but will leave my hubby alone. When we moved into this house a year ago, we spent a day cleaning up the garden and that night it looked like I had chicken pox ... we counted 42 mozzie bites on my arms and legs, hubby only had 2 bites! The worse thing was I never felt them biting but I suffered for a week afterwards. I now cover myself with insect repellant when I know I'm going out into the garden. Soov definitely works and if it's really itchy, patting it on instead of rubbing helps ease the itch quicker (rubbing aggravates the bites). A dab of perfume on a bite also helps relieve the itch temporarily, it's got something to do with the alcohol in the perfume.

8th November, 2016

Biting and sucking critters love my skin, especially compared to my partners, so sometimes he doesn't even believe me that there are mozies around! Until I show him the 10-20 bites I probably got in an afternoon. My sister swears by SOOV and always has some in her bag, but mostly I keep Solarcaine for bites and minor burns at home.

golddiamond
8th November, 2016

You have my sympathy, and you are right, the week after you have been bitten is AWFUL.

spooky40
12th November, 2016

Yes so do I it's good stuff!

spooky40
12th November, 2016

Oh yes I had forgotten that one the baby oil and detail trick

MareeB
12th November, 2016

Mmmmm I love Skin So Soft oil! I didn't know it was good for repelling bugs tho!

Macs
12th November, 2016

Detol **

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