Preventing mosquito bites?

BeckySharp

Just got back from FL where I usually get many mosquito bites.  I used Woods Off and Listerine.  It worked!  I did not get one bite!!  I was mostly indoors though but that usually makes no difference with me.  I did get one bite next to my eye unpacking the car Sunday night.  I am reluctant to put Off that near my eye.  I will have to try putting Listerine in that area.  They do get in my house like LindaLou so I have to put on repellent even when I am staying in.  I have a creek behind my house.  Becky

BJB1

I am a gardener in Massachusetts.  We worry not only about mosquitos, but ticks as well.  I have tried it all.  The only real solution was REI's mosquito top.  I wish I had discovered it 20 years ago.  The top looks like a see-thru sweat shirt.  It is actually kind of cool.  The color of milk chocolate.  The hood can cover the entire face.  I use it all the time.  When I get closer to the streeet (and neighbors), I stop covering my face.  Everyone has been asking about it and I think the newest fashion craze is about to take off. 

I was under the impression that lymphedema usually hit just the arms.  Is that not true?

firebird

BJB1, I only mentioned the ankle protection for the benefit of all those who are -- like myself -- a living breathing Mosquito Smorgasbord.



It is appalling how fast they zero in on me. Yesterday I literally walked just 10 FEET into my backyard (to pick a couple of strawberries from my hanging basket planter) and then 10 ft walk back again. This without any mesh-suit protection because I thought "this will probably take less than a minute, literally -- what are the odds?"



I should have known better: in the less than 2 minutes that I was out there, I got a bite on the arm. Sadly that is not the first time that sort of thing has happened although in the past I've gotten away with 4 or 5 minutes bite-free (say for example a quick walk in the backyard to see the flowers on my way into the house).

amontro

You're all not going to like this, but the only thing that keeps mosquitos and no-see-ums away is Ben's 100% deet.  I've used it for almost 15 years.  I started when I visited an island where I got bitten incessantly and the bites got infected.  Still worked last visit and at home.

Ben's 100% comes in a small orange pump bottle.  Spray it on and spread with your hand. Don't use it on your face, just the proximity of the stuff repels the little beasts.Be careful because it eats fingernail polish.

I use it before I leave the house and, when I do, I don't get bitten.  Island is still on my bucket list.

germangal

okay - not a question about preventing, but what to do AFTER they get you!!!  Last month I got bit and ended up with cellulitis and 10 day dose of antibiotics.  Today, I was outside for 15 minutes, to say goodbye to some guests, and got bit twice in my lymphatic arm. Now I'm freaking out about what to do - I washed the area with hydrogen peroxide, but .... welts are still there!  Suggestions?

 Karen in NH (where mosquitoes are our state bird!!)

voraciousreader

Benadryl

voraciousreader

You can also take a claritin or zyrtec during the days you expect to be outdoors when it is buggy.

firebird

If they still itch, try the hot-spoon trick I described a few posts back.



In my experience nothing makes the welts go away faster than they normally would. I have noticed that if I apply the heat treatment right away (meaning within the first few minutes), the welts go down faster. I believe this is because the heat breaks down the protein before the body has a chance to send a LOT of histamine to the area (which is what causes the welt as well as the itching). But if you already have a welt for a few hours, IMHO the heat will only help with the itching, not make what's already there shrink in size any faster than it normally would.



You could try a topical antihistamine (Benadryl, CortAid, etc) and rub it into the welt really well, and see if that helps. BUT be aware that a steroid inhibits healing somewhat, so that's something you may actually prefer NOT to use. :-/ Maybe a combination of a topical antihistamine (such as Benadryl) and a topical antibiotic?

ruthbru

I got a prescription from my doctor for something called Triamcinolone 0.025% cream. Takes care of rashes caused by bug bites and other skin irritations.

lago

BJB1 Massachucetts mosquitos are evil. They used eat me alive. They would even get my eyes. (Tea bags will take the swelling down btw). The love ankles too. For some reason the bites I get in MA are big swollen,red bumps that itch like hell… and the last time I live in MA it was on the Boston/Brookline line. I can only image what they are like in the burbs or Western MA!

hymil

Having tried the lemon it was quite ineffectual for us, i'm now committed to DEET. I wore it every day and most nights too and got two small bites both through clothing, DD didn't use it consistently because it was melting her nailvarnish and felt fresher without it after shower, and she got seven bites down one arm and two on the other leg and foot, one of which came up into a four inch raised weal that needed mag sulph paste dressing for five days to get it under control..

Those chiggers sound disgusting.  And Binney, I also read DesignerMom's post as "baseball bat", and my thought was, Wow, that's some serious gardening!

moogie

Just tried the spoon trick on some leg bites: it works! Would not try on an LE limb due to heat trauma, but a good answer for distant bites!

ailenroc

I tend to be a magnet for mosquitos. But since using 25% or 30% DEET spray, no more problems. I don't like to spray the stuff on the skin. Instead I wear very lightweight sunprotective clothing - spf 50+ (Coolibar; or Sun Preacautions) with long sleeves and spray on the clothes, hat, shoes - so my skin does not get any of the spray. I spent quite some time in the tropics each year deep in the jungle and close to water - the mosquito coast, so to speak - and I have not gotten a single bite. The trick is to have a few changes of that type of clothing; it's a good investment. The clothing is so lightweight and airy that it actually cools one down in the hottest and most humid places.

BeckySharp

Bump for Carol