Insect Bite Remedies

Tea tree oil worked perfectly for a leech bite.

I had been bitten on the hand whilst gardening and the bite was still intensely itchy and inflamed after a week. The heat cure didn't work as I tried this first. Next day or so I tried tea tree oil and that provided permanent relief to the itch to the area it was applied. Later the periphery where I hadn't applied tea tree oil still itched, so I applied the oil more broadly this time and then no more itch at all. The next day the badly inflamed bite area had calmed down very noticeably.

Chiggers:

Eucalyptus oil worked for me.

When working or playing outdoors for extended time in summer months I try to remember to keep a couple alcohol prep pads in my pocket in case I get a mosquito bite. Apply the alcohol pad to the bite as soon after being bitten that you can. The alcohol will dry up the venom before it settles deeper into the skin. Next morning there is usually no appearance of the bite.

Try consuming a little borax in water, insects die if they eat anything with even a tiny amount of it in anything they eat, in your case blood. It is also fatal to all insects, the reason it also acts as a repellent. I have a problem with Fungus Flies, but mixing it with water and spraying it around gets rid of them fast, but it only lasts 2-3 days.

Another thing to try is Vitamin-A. Insects hate people with higher than normal amounts in their bodies. Vodka is another thing mosquitoes hate, just mix with some water and use it in a diffuser, mix it with some coconut oil and use it on your skin.

I also noticed that no bugs will go near coconut oil & they don't like honey either. FYI... I live in the USA in the northeast.

For tick bites-look into Ghanian quinine. I heard it cures 100%.

Aspirin did the trick for me! One area had two bites that were about a week old and had been scratched raw several times (usually in the night) and the other area was a really large red area where I was bitten two days ago. In the past I've tried silver ointment, hot spoons, essential oils, Calamine lotion, PawPaw ointment, Bag Balm, isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, clay poultices, baking soda. None of these remedies worked, either at all or for any duration. The hot spoon trick worked for about an hour to stop the maddening itch.

TODAY THE ASPIRIN WORKED! I dissolved one aspirin tablet with a tiny bit of warm water from the tea kettle and rubbed the paste into the bites. RELIEF!! I'm looking at the worst (freshest) bite and the horrible redness is almost completely gone. As a test, I scratched just it and it did start up with that deep itching that comes with deep-set insect bites, but I reapplied the aspirin paste and it is no longer bothering me.

As a preventative, I plan on consuming Brewer's Yeast and giving it to my family, as it is known to be a powerful deterrent to biting insects. Since we have a camping trip in two weeks, this will be a great test! The dosage is a mystery, but I plan on researching on here and other sites to glean as much knowledge as possible to make an informed choice. If I can remember, I will post results. But I will definitely be taking aspirin along on the trip just to have on hand if the Brewer's Yeast doesn't work :)

Good day there, how are you?

I am only letting you know about this NZ Secret because it works for me and our family - I have no financial interest in the Company.

Maybe EC will not print it but there you go! Deirdre was experiencing insect-biting problems recently, so it behoves us to do something to assist her!

This is the crowd I mentioned in a previous post but I know that you probably only read the recent ones??!!

Here is an abbreviated version of an email got from them:-

"We sell Goodbye Sandfly to people in the USA for use with the little black no-seeums as well as mosquitos. If you order more than $75USD shipping is free. If it's under $75USD it's about $20usd for shipping. Check out our website".

Cheers from Down Under

What doctor - aspirin is prescribed every day without checking for allergies but when you apply it topically you should check for allergies and you can get anemic 😂 Sorry but your doctor is a clown and needs to go back to medical school.

Applying Heat for Insect Bites

Thank you for all the thumbs up for this..it has worked for me brilliantly. Bitten to pieces and I was scratching endlessly, nothing else worked. It lasts a long time too before I have to repeat, and things seem to be clearing up too now. Thank you again. My daughter says she does the same for her eczema on her hands and that works for her.

Please get this checked out. A red ring around an insect bite is associated with a tick bite. The earlier you catch and treat Lyme disease infection the better.

I just used aspirin on an insect bite the had been itching badly and had a rather large red ring around it. It immediately stopped itching and it also looks like the swelling is going down a bit!

Recently had this bug bite on the top of my foot ankle. Not sure what kind of bug, but it itched for 4 to 5 days. My mistake was to scratch it which made it worse and turned it into a bright red dime size mark.

After reading some remarks on this site I did the following. Washed the area with warm soap and water, applied apple cider vinegar with paper towel let dry for 30 min. more ACV then applied Tea Tree Oil with Qtip and sprinkled some foot powder on top of the TT Oil. I started this 1 hour before bedtime. In the morning the itch was gone and the red mark turned dark reddish brown. I think this helped the healing process.

DMSO at 99% works like a charm 100% of the time. I'm the queen of bug bites - especially mosquitoes and fleas. Nothing ever really worked within 5 min. 1 drop on bite, rub in (make sure your hands and bug bite area are really clean with soap and water) - within mins, the itching stops.

Amazing stuff!!!!

Spent 2 weeks at the beach house in Clearwater Fl and we got bit all over our legs by Chiggers. Yes, sand chiggers.

People are bringing firewood from deep inland and the chiggers catch a ride on the wood so now for the past 3 years, we are getting eaten up with bites. My girlfriend's skin is super sensitive and when she gets a chigger bite, the red inflamed area stays on her for months.

This year I dabbed a drop of straight eucalyptus oil on all her bites (and mine) and the itchy, inflammed bites started to disappear in record time. My stopped itching instantly and were gone in 2 days and hers about 4 days. So now you know. Put Eucalyptus oil in the travel first-aid kit!

Dear Madelyn,

I did not know that! Very interesting. Also fascinating that the properties appear to be preserved!

Thanks for sharing!

~Mama to Many~

Hey Mama!

Did you know that the original Vick's formula contained turpentine? Yep! Good ‘ol turpentine. I was lucky enough to find a couple of old jars (cleaning out a home after an elderly gentleman died). The jars still contained the VapoRub. One of them was still new in the box! Age didn't seem to have any affect on freshness and potency. Good stuff!

M to M,

Thank you for the recipe! I have also had success with the Vicks like products that are sold at many 99 cent type stores for way less than the Vicks product. The ingredients look similar to the Vicks product and seen to work similarly, at least for insect bites.

Art

Hi Art!

We have been using a home made version of Vicks this week for chigger bites! The relief lasts for hours.

For those who like to DIY, here is how I make my own.

• 1 cup olive oil infused with lobelia and mullein*
• 1/2 Tablespoon menthol crystals
• 1 Tablespoon peppermint essential oil
• 1 Tablespoon eucalyptus essential oil
• 4 Tablespoons Beeswax pastilles

Warm infused oil. Melt in beeswax. Stir in essential oils and menthol crystals. (Don't get your face over this. The oil fumes will burn your eyes! ) Mix together.

Pour into small jars. I like the 4 ounce ball canning jars for this. Store in a cool dark place.

We use this on the chest or back for a cough. I use it on bites or swollen lymph nodes. I also use it for sore muscles and joints. I use it on the face (carefully as it can irritate the eyes) for sinus infections.

*You can make this with just olive oil instead of oil infused with mullein and lobelia. If you want to make the infused oil, put 1/2 cup dried mullein leaf and 1/2 cup dried lobelia into a canning jar. Pour 2 cups of olive oil over the oils. Put the lid on the jar. Let this sit for 2 weeks. Stir or shake every couple of days. Use an old t shirt to strain out the plant matter. The resulting oil is your infused oil. (You may end up with more than 1 cup. Use just one cup worth in the above recipe.) Mullein is good for cough and pain. Lobelia has a relaxing effect.

Enjoy!

~Mama to Many~

My mother in law was telling me a story about when she was a little girl. She was at a family reunion on a farm in Stuart's Draft, Virginia. She wandered off and found the pigpen. There were cute little piglets and she was playing with one. Well, the piglets had fleas. She ended up covered in flea bites. She remembers the itch and how miserable she was even after 75 years. She said her mother put rubbing alcohol on it, and it helped. I asked her if it stung. She didn't remember it stinging...but maybe whatever the result was better than the itch!

~Mama to Many~

Since we are only just past the middle of summer, it seems worth mentioning that Vicks Vaporub can be used to take the heat, inflammation, itching, and burning out of gnat and mosquito bites as well as other insects and speeds the healing process. It can also act as an insect repellent, but I never use it as such because I don't want that much Vicks on large areas of my body, but that's just my choice.

For a repellent, I use different essential oils mixed with vodka and simply shake the spray bottle and spray it on. I don't mind the smell of clove oil, so that is what I use as a more human friendly insect repellent, but some other essential oils can work also.

I have written about this before on EC.Other uses for Vicks gathered from the web are toenail fungus (multiple studies), topical pain reliever, antiseptic due to its essential oil content, pimples, mild psoriasis and eczema, but I would never consider it for large areas, only for a few small spots as too much can enter through broken skin and cause health problems, sore muscles, relieve bruises and speed the healing process, to repair cracked heels, warts, apply to feet before bed and put white cotton socks on to help relieve a cough due to a cold, for squeaky hinges if you don't have oil handy, to help deal with strong odors that might otherwise make you sick, apply a little around the nose openings, but not inside the nose as some police do when having to work around a dead body, helps relieve athlete's foot, ringworm and minor burns.

In any case, Vicks Vaporub can be useful for short term use, but I refrain from mid and long term use and would never recommend that anyone use it other than for short term use as I believe the essential oils in it could allow the other ingredients or the oils themselves to be over absorbed and this would not be good. Vicks Vaporub has been around for many decades so it appears to have a decent safety profile, but a little caution with its use won't hurt!

Art

I got bit by something extra tiny that hurt like the dickens the other day!

I put EVERYthing on it - cayenne, DMSO, coconut oil and something else, I don't remember what, but it stopped hurting with the first bit of cayenne. With the pain and the size - which was too small to even see what kind of critter it was, it scared the dickens outta me so I threw everything at it! LOL! It was right over a vein, just up from the wrist. I'd never had that kind of pain from a bite or a sting! I remember what the other thing was - it was ascorbic acid paste. I'm guessing it was a spider of some sort as I've been stirring up unattended corners around the house but it was so tiny that there was nothing left of it after I slapped it. I had a little red spot for a few days but, initially, the bite was so small there was nothing to see. The red spot got to about the size of a pepper corn, but it's gone without a trace now. I think that was Monday or Tuesday and it's Sunday but was still a little red yesterday so that's quite a while for it to stick around with no feeling to it. No bump or itch or anything, once the pain was gone. Just that red spot.

Oh! And borax solution which I'd just made. I forgot I slapped some of that on it.

Went to a new acupuncture office yesterday. By the time I got into the car my legs were madly itching. A little research discovered they were flea bites - ugh. Coconut oil and tea tree oil stops the itch.