The itch-scratch cycle makes mosquito bites worse – break it with cooling sprays, menthol ointments or antihistamine tablets. Photo / 123RF
The itch-scratch cycle makes mosquito bites worse – break it with cooling sprays, menthol ointments or antihistamine tablets. Photo / 123RF
There are a number of ways to stop scratching, from medicines to mental tricks.
I’m one of the unfortunate souls who, for reasons still only loosely explained by science, seems to taste delicious to mosquitoes. So was my father, who taught me as a child the best wayto stop the itch was to press an “X” into the middle of the bite with my fingernail. It hurt a little bit, but that was the point: the pain made me forget about the itch, at least temporarily.
Search online, and you’ll find a laundry list of tips to stop the itch, including pressing a hot spoon on to a bite or using The Bug Bite Thing, a suction tool meant to draw mosquito saliva out of your skin. People swear by ice, aloe, bandages and simple willpower to resist the urge to scratch.
But what actually works? Experts say there are a number of hacks that can provide relief. Some involve medicine, others a little mental trickery.
Female mosquitoes need blood to lay eggs. When they land on your skin in search of yours, they inject saliva that contains proteins using “little serrated blades in the proboscis” – their needle-like mouths – “that drill down into your skin,” said Dr Allison Gardner, an associate professor at the University of Maine who studies the management of infectious diseases from ticks and mosquitoes. Those proteins not only numb the skin but dilate blood vessels to make feeding more efficient.
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In response, your body releases histamine as an immune response to the saliva. That histamine is the reason for itching and swelling, a signal to your brain to investigate.
Mosquito saliva contains proteins that numb the skin and dilate blood vessels to ease feeding. Photo / 123RF
Can’t I just scratch it?
You can. It’s almost impossible not to. “When we scratch, we distract the brain from the itch with another sensation, a mild pain,” said Dr Lyda Cuervo Pardo, an immunologist and associate professor at the University of Florida. “Our brains release serotonin, and we feel better.”
This is the same reason the fingernail tactic, a hot spoon or the shock of a cooling spray provides relief. “Itch, pain, tickling sensations and temperature all travel on the same neural highway, so to speak,” said Dr Heather Goff, an associate professor of dermatology at UT Southwestern in Dallas. “When you flood that highway with other traffic, you override the itch.”
Cuervo Pardo said you can get stuck in an “itch-scratch cycle”. The mild pain from scratching overrides the itch and tells your brain to release serotonin, a natural pain reliever. But serotonin can also amplify the itch signals, making you scratch more. When your skin is damaged from overzealous scratching, your body again responds with more histamine, leaving you in a miserable loop, said Dr Cosby Stone, an allergist and assistant professor at Vanderbilt University.
What’s a better option?
Try an ice pack, cooling spray or even a menthol ointment such as Vicks VapoRub for a lingering tingly effect. A cooling agent layered with hydrocortisone will best soothe the itch in the short and long term. As for what cooling product to use, “anything that feels good” will work, Stone said. “You trick your brain into not noticing the itch, and cooling agents also cause the blood vessels to constrict, which helps with swelling.”
A cold washcloth could also provide some welcome, gentle friction, Stone said, and a Band-Aid can help ingredients penetrate the skin and keep your fingernails away, an especially helpful trick for children.
Antihistamine pills such are more effective than topical creams, as they calm the body’s overall immune response. You can even take an oral antihistamine in preparation for a camping trip or every day of the summer, if you want. “Having histamine blockers already in your system will mean less of a reaction, period,” said Stone.
Ice packs and cooling agents help by constricting blood vessels and distracting the brain from the itch. Photo / 123RF
What about other gimmicks?
If you prefer hot to cold, Goff said a heat pack or warm washcloth can override the itch sensation in the same way a cooling product can. But she does not recommend a hot spoon, which could cause a minor burn.
She’s more sceptical about suction tools. “The amount of saliva a mosquito injects and the hole it makes are both microscopic. I can’t imagine there’s even a physical hole to suck something out of,” she said. That said, the sucking sensation serves as a mildly uncomfortable distraction in the same way a fingernail does – at least to me and my 6-year-old, who tried it on our own bites.
A better use of your time and money might be avoiding mosquito bites in the first place. Use an insect repellent and consider wearing long sleeves and pants while outside. Gardner, who uses aloe and hydrocortisone to treat her own bites, wears a thin net over her hat to cover her face when she’s hiking or entering a mosquito habitat.
“It might not be a good fashion statement,” she said, “but it definitely helps.”
