Mosquito Bites
I have a home remedy for mosquito bites.
First of all, I'm very tasty. To mosquitoes, I look like a buffet.
Second, once that mosquito has bitten me, if I so much as look at the spot on my body where I've been bitten, an itchy red hive will start to swell up on that spot. Usually, they stay around the size of a quarter, but they've been known to spread into the size of a coaster, especially where the skin is tighter. And then my nose starts running. No joke.
When I was a kid, I used to just scratch them and suffer. In high school, I tried to ignore them, which totally worked... until the bites were inadvertently grazed by, say, my clothing... or when my friend B reached over and scratched them for me. That made them itch, and pretty soon, I was scratching and blowing my nose...
I have been eaten by mosquitoes in the Philippines, Mexico, and the US. However, in my trips to Central America and Europe, I've been smart enough to remember a home remedy that I think I heard on the radio somewhere.
The remedy is very specific: it is antiperspirant roll-on. Yes, the kind you used to roll under you armpits in high school.
And it has to be antiperspirant; it can't just be deodorant. And it has to be roll-on, it can't be a stick or gel. Here's why:
I LOVE this remedy, it has made my life better. And yes, as a kid I tried all the stupid non-remedies (ice cubes, meat tenderizer, pressing an X into your hive with your thumbnail....) but antiperspirant really, really works. The only thing is that people who see me do it think I'm a total idiot for putting roll-on on a bug bite.
And what's worse: both antiperspirants and roll-ons are way out of style, so they're not easy to find in the drug store anymore. Compound that with the TSA restrictions on liquids in your carry-on, as well as a total lack of these products in China, and well... I've got myself an interesting situation.
I think I'll make it my mission today to find some roll-on. It will have to go in my checked luggage, along with the Skin-So-Soft, which I also have to find.
Just in case you didn't know, Skin-So-Soft is an Avon moisturizing lotion that apparently repels bugs. People prefer it to the scary-smelling repellents like Off! I'm down with that, but now I have to find me an Avon lady...
First of all, I'm very tasty. To mosquitoes, I look like a buffet.
Second, once that mosquito has bitten me, if I so much as look at the spot on my body where I've been bitten, an itchy red hive will start to swell up on that spot. Usually, they stay around the size of a quarter, but they've been known to spread into the size of a coaster, especially where the skin is tighter. And then my nose starts running. No joke.
When I was a kid, I used to just scratch them and suffer. In high school, I tried to ignore them, which totally worked... until the bites were inadvertently grazed by, say, my clothing... or when my friend B reached over and scratched them for me. That made them itch, and pretty soon, I was scratching and blowing my nose...
I have been eaten by mosquitoes in the Philippines, Mexico, and the US. However, in my trips to Central America and Europe, I've been smart enough to remember a home remedy that I think I heard on the radio somewhere.
The remedy is very specific: it is antiperspirant roll-on. Yes, the kind you used to roll under you armpits in high school.
And it has to be antiperspirant; it can't just be deodorant. And it has to be roll-on, it can't be a stick or gel. Here's why:
- When you apply it to your mosquito bite, the alcohol dries the skin immediately.
- The antiperspirant then keeps your skin from sweating.
- If the skin is dry and not sweating, it doesn't itch.
- If it doesn't itch, you don't scratch it.
- If you don't scratch it, you don't spread the mosquito's saliva to the surrounding tissue.
- If you don't irritate the surrounding tissue, you don't get the itchy red hive.
- If you don't get the itchy hive, your body doesn't release histamines.
I LOVE this remedy, it has made my life better. And yes, as a kid I tried all the stupid non-remedies (ice cubes, meat tenderizer, pressing an X into your hive with your thumbnail....) but antiperspirant really, really works. The only thing is that people who see me do it think I'm a total idiot for putting roll-on on a bug bite.
And what's worse: both antiperspirants and roll-ons are way out of style, so they're not easy to find in the drug store anymore. Compound that with the TSA restrictions on liquids in your carry-on, as well as a total lack of these products in China, and well... I've got myself an interesting situation.
I think I'll make it my mission today to find some roll-on. It will have to go in my checked luggage, along with the Skin-So-Soft, which I also have to find.
Just in case you didn't know, Skin-So-Soft is an Avon moisturizing lotion that apparently repels bugs. People prefer it to the scary-smelling repellents like Off! I'm down with that, but now I have to find me an Avon lady...
