This article will tell you everything you need to know about how to treat mosquito bites. First, though, a little story if you’ll indulge me…
In the summer of 2009 I found myself taking part in a charity motor rally across central Asia, home to some of the most vicious, violent and downright nasty mosquitoes the world has to offer. For 50 days and 50 nights we fought with the evil beasts, and we lost every round. Badly. A combination of mosquito bites, blistered skin and ground in desert sand left our legs so damaged that border guards would offer medical treatment whenever we’d cross a border. We were a wreck.
Nasty Buggers
Even so, they say that you can learn valuable lessons in defeat, and while our long battle with the mosquitoes left us in a bad condition it also gave us a crash course in how to treat mosquito bites. Today I share a city in the north of Thailand with an innumerable swarm of mosquitoes, and the lessons I learned out on the central Asian steppe come in handy every day. These lessons I will impart to you today.
Don’t Get Bitten
It goes without saying that prevention is better than cure. If you’re living or travelling in a mosquito zone you should do everything within your power to prevent bites in the first place – especially in areas affected by such nasty diseases as malaria, dengue fever and west nile virus. I’ve suffered through dengue myself, and malaria almost took my brother’s life, and I can promise you that a pesky itch will be the least of your concerns if you’re unfortunate enough to be bitten by a disease-carrying mosquito.
For many years I favoured a DEET-based mosquito spray (DEET is a chemical solvent that takes care of mosquitoes with ease), but lately I’ve made the switch to natural mosquito repellent. Follow the link to take a look at my reviews of the best natural repellents available.
A supply of mosquito repellent shouldn’t be your only line of defence, though. You should also wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts to cover up as much exposed skin as possible, especially during dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are at their most annoyingly active.
No matter how careful you may be you’ll have to accept the fact that you will be bitten. There’s just no way around it, I’m afraid. You can slather yourself in mosquito repellent, cover yourself in layers of clothing and lock yourself in a bank vault 24/7, but if you’re in a mosquito zone you can be sure that some of the little buggers are going to find a way through your defences. So, when this inevitably happens you’ll need to know how to treat mosquito bites to keep the misery down to a tolerable level.
Antihistamines
The swelling and itchiness from a mosquito bite is essentially an allergic reaction caused by the contents of mosquito saliva (well, it’s not actually saliva, but let’s just call it that anyway). The allergic reaction is localised to a small area around the bite, which is why you come up in angry red lumps. The stronger the allergic reaction, the greater the swelling – you’ll sometime get bites that produce tiny pimple-sized swelling, but you’ll also often see enormous bulges that seem to cover an entire limb. Don’t panic, this is perfectly normal.
You can reduce the allergic reaction by using the exact same antihistamines that you can buy to treat hayfever. Since I’m allergic to pretty much all pollen I always carry a supply of Claritin (loratadine) and Benadryl (dyphenhydramine) on my travels. Both are available over the counter without prescription. These non-drowsy tablets offer several hours of relief against mosquito bites, and they’re mild enough for continual use throughout a holiday or mosquito season.
Naturally you should consult your doctor before using any new medication. I don’t have any medical training, so you shouldn’t take my word for anything.
Calamine Lotion and Hydrocortisone
While antihistamines work like a charm for me they’re verboten for my girlfriend (thanks to some odd Mongolian Buddhist belief about taking needless medication, or so I gather). Instead, she uses a topical cream such as calamine lotion to soothe her itches. I’ve tried it and I’m not sure I like it. Calamine lotion takes quite a while to take effect compared to antihistamines, so you need epic self control to avoid scratching yourself raw while you wait for it to work.
Ouch!
However, just recently we ran out of calamine and our local chemist was all out. Instead we picked up a cream that’s marketed here in Thailand as Antergan. Antergan is a corticosteroid cream used to treat skin conditions, and it seems to do the trick for treating mosquito bites. In the words of our chemist (in a highly accented mixture of English and Thai), hydrocortisone doesn’t just reduce itching but also has anti-inflammatory effects, so it’s the perfect thing for reducing the ugly redness and swelling that comes with a mosquito bite.
Good Old Fashioned Home Spun Amish Crap
For whatever reason, and without any (major) judgement from me, there are many people who view medicine as witchcraft. If they don’t know what hydrocortisone is they’ll assume it’s a dangerous and terribly powerful drug that will no doubt lead to instant death.
That’s OK, I suppose, but these people still need to know how to treat mosquito bites, so…
Baking Soda and Water
Mix and little baking soda and water together into a paste and apply it to your mosquito bites. It ain’t perfect, but it should help to relieve the itch at least a little (though you’ll look ridiculous).
Cold Compress
Wrap a couple of ice cubes in a towel and hold them against the affected area. This won’t do much for the itching, but the cold compress will help to reduce the localised swelling around the bite.
Aloe Vera
Either in gel form or direct from the plant, application of aloe vera will help treat mosquito bites nicely. It’s not my ideal solution, but I’ve used it in the past to relieve itching and it does a pretty decent job. The same goes, I’m told, for tea tree oil and raw garlic.
In Conclusion
Honestly, if you really want to know how to treat mosquito bites you should disregard the home remedies and just take an antihistamine or use hydrocortisone gel. There’s really no need to mess around with baking soda and leaves to relieve the itching of a mosquito bite. Still, different strokes for different folks, I suppose.
Now, if you’ll excuse me I just got bitten on the ear. I must go and hunt down my Claritin. Cheery bye.