For many people, the worst thing about a mosquito bite is that it itches. We explain a simple trick you can use to get rid of the itching – without having to buy anything.
If you are out and about in the evenings or near water in the summer, you will often come across mosquitoes. There are many useful tricks and home remedies to get rid of mosquitoes: for example, you can put plants on your terrace to repel mosquitoes, and when you are out and about, you can protect yourself against the unpleasant bites with a homemade mosquito spray.
But sometimes all the preparation is in vain and you find yourself annoyed by a mosquito bite that itches badly. Fortunately, you don’t have to put up with that.
Mosquito bite itches? Simple trick that helps
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / cocoparisienne)
To get rid of the itching, all you need is a knife that is not too sharp – for example a table knife or butter knife.
Hold the tip of the knife under hot water until the blade itself is hot. Of course, you don’t want to burn yourself with it, so make sure the temperature is at a temperature that doesn’t cause pain on your skin.
Place the tip of the knife on the mosquito bite for a few seconds. The heat breaks down the proteins in the mosquito’s saliva that got under your skin as a result of the bite. Your body then stops producing histamine, which it previously released to heal the wound. When histamine production stops, the mosquito bite also stops itching.
Why do mosquito bites itch?
When you have a wound and bleed, the blood usually clots quickly. This is your body’s way of making sure you don’t lose too much blood and the wound closes faster.
Mosquitoes circumvent this function: so that they can suck blood for as long as possible, the saliva secreted during the bite contains an anticoagulant substance. At the same time, the saliva numbs the area, so that you usually don’t notice the bite while the mosquito is sucking.
Only then does the anesthesia wear off and the body registers the wound. It then releases the neurotransmitter histamine, which causes redness and swelling and also makes the mosquito bite itch.
Heating the tip of a knife with a lighter? That could be dangerous
It is often recommended to heat the tip of a knife or a spoon with a lighter. However, this can lead to burns because it is harder to control the temperature of the metal and it gets very hot quickly. So it is better to play it safe and use water where you can easily feel and adjust the temperature.
If you often have problems with itchy mosquito bites while you are out and about, you can also buy a mobile bite healer like the BiteAway.
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