The only thing I find more annoying than mosquitoes buzzing
around my ears is their biting me. It is very hard to fight that urge to itch
when a mosquito, bee, wasp or an ant bites you. The reason I suddenly decided
to write this is that I was bitten by an ant on my arm just a little while ago.
I am surrounded by greenery, which is good; except it brings loads of different
types of insects with it as well. I could maybe start charging people some
entry fee and let them see the insects, if I could only find some takers!
Anyway, I decided sharing some of the things that I do if I am bitten by an
insect. The effectiveness of these remedies depends upon how much you have
scratched and if the insect was of a poisonous variety. If the skin around the
insect’s bite is changing colour and/or is spreading like wild-fire, Go To A
Doc ASAP!
Following are the things the things you should do in case
you’re bitten by an ant, bee, wasp, mosquito, flying ant, spiders or some other
poisonous/venomous insect:-
- Wash the surface with cold water.
- Sometimes a part of the insect’s sting is left behind, use tweezers to take it out and wash again with cold water.
- Apply raw Aloe Vera or packed aloe vera gel over the affected area. It will soothe your skin and itchiness will subside. Another thing that you can do is, apply calamine; the best bet would be Lacto Calamine if you have it, apply it on the affected areas as well as the surrounding area. This will soothe the irritated skin, lessen the pain and reduce the swelling as well. I used it on a bee sting 3-4 times a day and I didn’t have to go visit a doc for it. Another easily available product is Caladryl, a pale pink lotion which will stop the itching and make the pain subside. If you don’t have any of the above products, take some cotton and dip it into rose water and keep it over the affected area, it will reduce the stinging sensation.
Figure 1This is how Caladryl looks.
- If the bite is getting really bad and you cannot visit a doctor at the moment, you can try taking an anti-allergen or anti-histamine pill. Avil and Cetirizine are some of the common brand names. However, there is one big problem with taking such medicines; they make you feel very sleepy.
Personally, I prefer to keep a bottle of Lacto Calamine in
order to survive with the variety of insects.
Severe reaction symptoms:
If following symptoms appear, you need serious help:
- Difficulty breathing
- Swelling of the lips or throat
- Faintness
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Rapid heartbeat
- Hives
- Nausea
- Cramps
- Vomiting
( Written for IMBB)
