Mosquito Bite Treatment

Sometimes, people who have been bitten by mosquitoes suffer from extreme mosquito bite swelling, which can be assumed to be a severe allergic reaction. Under these circumstances, you should go to your doctor. There are, however, numerous kinds of mosquito bite treatment in the shop too. Many of these are anti-histamine treatments. Hydrocortisone is a useful mosquito bite treatment for some too. Others swear by calamine lotion.

Mosquito Bite Swelling

The insect bites of mosquitoes irritate because when a female mosquitoes attack you, they inject some liquid into the wound containing proteins and enzymes into the wound. The saliva of the mosquito has several purposes that we know of: it anaesthetises the bite area and makes your blood flow more freely, which means that it contains an anti-coagulant. It may also include a mild antiseptic and a pain killer too.

However, these proteins and enzymes are sooner or later picked up on by your body’s immune system (usually within 24 hours) and your body releases antibodies and histamines in an attempt to defend itself from the antigens that the mosquito has injected into the lesion. These histamines are the real source of the irritation from the bites.

This is where the problems start. Most people suffer from a little itching and a small, hard, red bump. This mosquito bite swelling is not what is meant by an allergic reaction, although it is actually an allergic reaction that is causing the itching and swelling. True allergic reactions are much worse and frequently require professional treatment. You will know it if you are allergic.

Some individuals go on to become tolerant to mosquitoes' saliva and hardly show any mosquito bite swelling at all. In my experience, this takes 18-24 months of being bitten daily. It is not worth seeking or permitting mosquito bites in order for you to reach this state of immunity.

Mosquito Bite Treatment

There are many types of mosquito bite treatment. There are the natural, home remedy types of mosquito bite treatment and there are the over-the-counter types, although bite prevention is better than bite relief any time.

Since the peoples of every country in the world suffer from these insects' bites, it is quite natural that there are many favourite mosquito bite treatments too. There is one golden universal rule though - no scratching - because the relief that it gives is only temporary and yet you could spread severe infection and diseases with the germs under your finger nails, which may then require costly medical attention.

I now live in Thailand where mosquitoes are prolific to say the least and Thais have their favourite mosquito bite treatment too. Most Thais that I know, do not actually treat themselves for bites, but that is because mosquitoes' bites in your own locality rarely hurt much. Despite that everyone sleeps under mosquito netting in our village.

However, they recommend as their favourite mosquito bite treatment to others the inside of a banana skin or the sap of an Aloe Vera leaf, both of which are easily obtained. I have used these mosquito bite treatments, but I prefer a green cream you can buy in almost any shop here. It comes in a small round tin like an old snuff tin.

It is similar to Tiger Balm, but much better at pain relief and is called Sam Bak, but most foreigners call in simply 'Green Cream'. It can be applied directly on the skin. These mosquito bite creams provide effective relief from the itching.

It is without doubt my favourite mosquito bite treatment in the world. It can go in the medicine cabinet because it lasts for ever and it is handy to carry about and inexpensive, but I have never seen Sam Bak outside Thailand. Tiger Balsam is a decent second best remedy. It is important to remember that you can still get an allergic reaction or catch mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever or malaria even if you do treat the mosquito bite symptoms well.

by Owen Jones