Insect bites

[Frederick3]

My wife is very susceptible to insect bites in the spring, summer and fall. Are there any natural products to help prevent this problem? We live in Le Marche.

[deborahandricky]

Watch out late afternoons, there are a lot of small, house fly ******s about in the garden, once they land on you , they hook on and start drinking, leave a really nasty lump, that itchies like ******y........antidote,,,,,the only one that I have found is not going into the garden.

[juliancoll]

If you are bitten and the itch is driving you mental - light a cigarette and put the lit end as close as possible to the "crown" of the bite without actually touching your skin and keep it there for as long as possible (about 3 or 4 seconds).

The high temperature will remove the itch - guaranteed.

[Noble]

If you can get friends in England to track down and buy some Mosiguard (cream or spray) it truly works and is a "gentle" and natural product. Boots no longer seem to stock it but certainly worth a websearch for it if all else fails. Rubbing in Citronella oil sometimes helps too and you can get that here in Italy.

[elliven]

Do understand your preference for natural products as repellents but sadly they do not work very well, deet is far more efficient and I find works very well against midges and mozzies, it's the main ingredient of Autan.
If you do get bitten then hydrocortisone cream 1% massaged in twice daily is the best. There is an Italian version with some local anaesthetic added altho' there are some reasons why this might not be a good idea. Sadly some people react very badly to insect bites and they have my sympathy.

[herealready]

you want a "clicker" dont know where in Italy you might get one but boots sell them in uk, its a small plastic thing bit like a cig lighter, hold it on the sting (whether it be insect or nettle) and click 4 or 5 times (bit like an electric shock) but it does'nt hurt..

[HelenMW]

I've been told that Vitamin B is good to stop you getting bitten. My husband takes it as it's also good for yur skin (allegedly) & he never gets bitten- however that could be because the suckers are too busy feasting on me! Watch out for the Tigre mosquitos- they're the worst. The bites swell up like mad, if it's near the joint the joint also swells up & nothing seems to touch it- you have to wait 4 days, then it goes down. Therefore I can generally be seen watering my veggies at the height of summer wearing trousers tucked into wellies, an old mens skirt tucked into the trouser, gloves & a hat- definitely more Margot than Barbara!!

[Torchiarolan]

Originally Posted by Frederick3

My wife is very susceptible to insect bites in the spring, summer and fall. Are there any natural products to help prevent this problem? We live in Le Marche.

Cannot suggest any natural product to prevent it, but once bitten by a mosquito, the most natural, cheapest and at hand remedy you can use is water.
No, I am not yanking your chain, just dab a drop or two on the centre of the bite, and leave it to dry, it will stop itching usually in less than a minute.
Works about 95% of the time.

[Mount Side]

For those of us that visit the great outdoors on a regular basis and encounter the evil midge, the latest weapon to combat this fiercesome beast is a product from Avon, called Avon Skin so Soft, no one really knows how it works but, it used by a lot of the people who work outdoors in Scotland and has actually be tested by various establishments.

I don't know if it will work against other insects but it should be worth a try;

AVONSHOP- Products

The reason "clickers" and lighters (I really wouldn't recommend that!) is due to the fact that an insect bites it anaethetizes the area so that the antibodies do not know it's time to get to work. "clickers" and flames create a small amount of "pain" in the area and set the antibodies to work which then reduces the itch

Chris

[Angie and Robert]

Tested J&Cs lighted fag antidote (OK more fool me). If anything 2 days later I still have a itchy red bite ,which is much more trouble than the others I received that night and which I treated with Allergan. They have all gone.
So road tested and it has failed dismally, was it a "joke " I now wonder, and I was silly enough to fall for it?
A