How to Stop Mosquito Bites from Itching
08/05/2024 – pest expert Matthew S. Hess
We may be approaching the end of summer, but there are still a few months left for pesky mosquitoes to ruin the fun! Mosquito control is only a call away! Female mosquitoes are actually the offending culprit. The males are considered beneficial pollinators because they feed on flower nectar and juices from the fruits. The female requires a blood meal to produce eggs and will, therefore, bite humans and other mammals.
Once fed, the female will find a quiet place near water to rest and digest the food while the eggs develop. She will then lay her eggs, and the cycle will repeat once those eggs become adults. In short, your blood helps produce more mosquitoes that will want your blood. Each bite contains mosquito saliva that enters the skin and causes the immune system to react. That reaction presents itself in the form of little red bumps that itch!
When mosquitoes bite the skin, they inject saliva (venom) that can irritate and cause histamine reactions.
Preventing Mosquito Bites
The best way to stop itchy mosquito bites is to prevent them from happening in the first place. Although most bites pose no risks besides itching and minor swelling, they can potentially transmit infections and diseases such as Malaria (mostly in other countries), Dengue, eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), and West Nile Virus (WNV). This makes prevention an even more important task.
To prevent mosquito bites while outdoors, here are two of the top tips you can practice: Wear long clothes that cover exposed skin and use mosquito repellants such as 20% DEET. For more information on how you can prevent mosquito bites, click here.
How to Treat A Mosquito Bite to Stop the Itching
Mosquito bites may itch, but the more we scratch them, the worse they itch. That’s why it’s best not to scratch them at all. When we scratch a mosquito bite, the action actually excites the saliva and causes our body to react to the bite even more. Once the scratching starts and the itching intensifies, so does our scratching. This can lead to broken skin, sores, and even infection. Don’t scratch those mosquito bites!
Once you realize you have been bitten by a mosquito (usually once the itching begins), you should thoroughly clean the bite area with soap and water to avoid infection. Additionally, ice or a cold pack (frozen peas or corn will do in a pinch) can be applied to the site of the bite to reduce itching and swelling until you can get some anti-inflammatories and antihistamines.
Taking or applying anti-inflammatories, such as steroids, NSAIDs, Calamine lotion, or hydrocortisone creams, helps to ease and soothe itching by reducing inflammation. Antihistamines like Benadryl (diphenhydramine), Claritin (loratadine), or Allegra (fexofenadine), help reduce symptoms by blocking the immune system’s response to the bite area. Used together (as recommended by a health care professional), these tools can effectively reduce and even eliminate the itching and swelling associated with a mosquito bite. This can be of great importance to those who are infirm, in the elderly, or in children.
Mosquito repellants reduce potential bites by repelling mosquitoes away from the skin.
Use soothing rubs or ointments labeled for mosquito bites to reduce itching.
How to Prevent Mosquitoes
Professional mosquito treatments are a great way to effectively reduce mosquito populations. If you find yourself battling mosquitoes, call the professionals here at Four Seasons Pest Solutions to reduce your mosquito population. With our extremely popular 4X4 Silver and Platinum packages, mosquitoes won’t know what hit them, and you won’t know what to do without them… except enjoy life mosquito-bite-free!
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