Preventions And Remedies For Insect Bites And Stings

Insect bites can happen anytime and at any place which can cause either minor or major illnesses. Usual bites that we encounter came from ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches, ticks, bees and spiders. Although most of them don't possess serious health threats, you must still be cautious about this little bugs and know different home remedies for immediate self treatment.

Most of these insects are active at night because they are some what allergic to sunlight. Warm weather is another factor that causes this bugs to be more active and much likely to have physical contact with humans. They are usually found in messy areas of the house like kitchen, garage and the garden.

Mosquito bites for example seems so harmless. But there are kinds of mosquitoes who are carriers of deadly viruses like the dengue virus and the West Nile virus. Meanwhile, a bee sting and a cockroach bite can only cause skin allergic reactions but severe cases of allergic reactions are highly possible and could be deadly.

Below are some of the known bite symptoms of outdoor insects and bugs.

Itchiness

Swelling of the skin

Redness of the bite area

Fever

Chilling

Allergic reactions

Lyme disease

Rashes

Abdominal pain

Muscle cramps

Headache

Dizziness

Bacterial infections

To keep your household bug free and prevent frequent insect contact, you can restructure your house to ensure that it can effectively repel bugs. Use refined screens and netting in your windows and doors as defensive barriers for any types of bugs. Avoid walking in grass and stagnant areas of the house, spiders and other bug crawlers live in these areas.

Clean your backyard, garden, garage and your kitchen to avoid being colonized by different insects. All areas must stay dry at all times and keep the bad and stinky odors thoroughly. Bad odors can attract flies and other common house bugs.

To repel mosquitoes, use light colored shirts because mosquitoes hate objects that can make them visible. Wear long sleeves, hat and pants when outside the house, this can help avoid mosquito bites and bee sting. Don't use too much perfumes and scented soaps, it can help attract bees.

Another simple prevention is to use insect repellent lotion. Apply lotion to your exposed skin when going out. Insect repellent lotions are very effective in repelling bugs but take extra care when applying to children. Don't ever spread it to palms and places near the face because it might be inhaled which is bad for the health. Sprays are also ideal and best to apply it on clothes and not on the skin.

After returning home, it is highly recommended to wash your skin with soap and water to remove the harmful chemicals of insect repellent products.

Now there are different types of treatment for insect bites. Below are some tips on how to deal with insect bites.

1. For bee sting, scrape the stinger away in a side to side motion with any straight edged object such as a knife. Be careful upon pulling the stinger, it might push the venom more into the sin. This are also effective for a tick bite.

2. For other bug bites, a warm or hot bath can help ease the affected area. An insect bite is a spam like symptoms so hot water bath are more beneficial.

3. Wash the affected area with antibacterial liquid soap and rinse thoroughly. The apply antiseptic ointments to reduce the risk of complications.

4. Rub an aspirin tablet to the affected area to reduce the itching. Aspirin has anti-inflammatory properties which helps reduce inflammation and itchiness. Never apply this treatment to those who has allergic reactions to aspirin.

5. Oral antihistamines such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen can also provide itching and pain relief.

6. Regular household products like salt and baking soda are effective in reducing the swelling of an insect bite. Dissolve both with water and make a paste like lotion to spread into the affected area.

7. For spider and cockroach bites, wash the bite with soap and water and immediately apply antiseptic treatment. Ice pack can help slow the absorption of the venom. Most spider bites are not deadly except for black widow, brown recluse and tarantula spiders.

Take note that all this tips are general remedies for normal insect bites. Severe complications may occur with insect bites from black widow spider, brown recluse spider, scorpion and other poisonous insects. Immediate medical attention must be done once bitten. Time is important when dealing with bug stings and insect bites, so be cautious and take extra careful inside and out of your house. Serious diseases or even death can be prevented if you know the steps on how to prevent and treat this simple injuries.

About the author

Noah Mark Rodolfo is an alternative natural healthcare practitioner and is committed to bring the best health and wellness information online. Get the most updated news about health, diseases, weight loss and proper nutrition on his website at Health and Wellness.

Insect Bites Remedies

Parents, especially mothers would have their own ways of protecting their children against any possible danger; be it inside or outside the house. And with the frequently changing weather, there are so many threats to children's health. And among the factors that are posting danger to children insect bites prove to be one of the most prevalent. Insect bites may be done by several pests and insects that are feeding on humans' blood. These insects are very attracted to children, especially to infants due to their sweet scent and pure blood. Parents should watch out for the following insects and the dangerous illnesses they can incur among kids by just touching and biting their skins.

a. Mosquito

These insects normally inhabits in dark and cold places. That is why they are found to be lurking and flying under the table, in small crevices, empty and wet drums and bottles, and many other locations. They usually bite at night but there are types of mosquitoes who are attacking at day time and they are the Asian Tiger Mosquito. But among different types of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti served to be the dreaded one because it is the one that can transmit dengue or the yellow fever. They can easily multiply in stagnant water, especially if kept in a dark or dim place.

The best preventive solution against any type of mosquitoes is cleanliness. Always put cover to all containers with water. Dispose old tires because it is also another nesting place for them. Schedule a regular fumigation paired with anti-mosquito aerosol sprays for more intensive action. As for your children, let them put on insect repellents every once in a while. There are available insect repellents in the market that are made of the Neem plant which is a natural insect repellent. It may be used for younger babies and infants.

b. Cockroach

Going through ancient history, cockroaches have already started sprawling and crawling around even before anyone of us has been born. It is said to be the last one standing after the nuclear bombings that killed millions of people. So, you can only imagine how many cockroaches there are now all over the world. You can see them in dirty places most of the time such as canals, sewers, and garbage bins. Just like any other insects, cockroaches can bite human skins. And once you have been bitten, the bite will leave a reddish mark that will gradually become swollen in a few minutes. The bite mark is usually a bit hard and warm. Cockroach bites are slower to heal than mosquito bites. It could even leave a dark mark once it finally heals. If kids are bitten, bites located near the face and neck area can be very fatal. Each cockroach bite is filled with poisonous substances that cause redness and swelling. The poison may spread easily in the sensitive areas of the face and neck. It can lead to suffocation, blood infection, and ultimately, death.

Insect repellents cannot protect your children from cockroaches. There are available home remedies in the market such as aerosol sprays, chalk markers, sticky traps, and many more. But the most effective prevention would be cleaning all places inside the house. And never leave any food crumbs or leftover foods in any part of the house.

c. Bed Bugs

These little critters resemble cockroaches but they are very small, you can only touch them through the tip of your finger. Bed bugs usually take comfort in the small crevices and holes through your furniture including your beds, especially if they are already old and worn out. They love to stay in dark and skimpy places. They attack in the night when the temperature is already cold. You can hardly feel them because of their small size. They only feed once or twice a month, but once they do, they really see to it that they are satisfied. It means they can bite you several times in one night. So, when you see small reddish marks on your skin that are close from each other, they have feasted on you as their food for the night which served as their breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. These insects can reproduce so fast. If you see one at a certain time, surely, you have a bunch of them in your mattress. Their bites are very itchy and can get swollen but not as big as that of with cockroaches.

Bed bugs are hard to eliminate if you are going to do it by yourself. There are pest busters that offer pest control services which include bed bugs. Bed bugs control and elimination will take a day or two if the infestation is already worst. Some may require you to buy new furniture and renovate certain parts of the house.

If you have troubling cases of these insects in your house, do your best to eliminate them before they get to your family. Remember, a simple bite contains thousands and millions of toxins and poisonous chemicals that can be harmful to your child. And in all of these pest cases, the main solution and prevention would be CLEANLINESS.

Alexa Rae Ciriaco is a single mother, a teacher, and a writer. She is currently taking up her Graduate Studies on Educational Technology. She also specializes on parenting topics, specifically regarding infants and toddlers. She is also inclined into writing articles of various niche.

Garden Sprayers Home Remedies - Produce Your Very Own Natural Insect Repellent

Summer season tends to make me happy. I love taking a swim, enjoying baseball, and not wearing socks for four months. But if there's one point about summer which bugs me, it's... well, bugs. Not only are mosquito bites itchy and painful, they're also dangerous. Going outside, specifically into a wooded area, with no insect repellent is not an option.

But insect repellents, as you could see, are not eco-friendly nor particularly healthy for you. Most are created using DEET, which is noteworthy in keeping off pesky pests but not something you want swimming around inside your blood vessels, which is precisely where it ends up once you spray it on your skin. Fortunately, for those who want to safeguard their health by avoiding both insect bites and chemical-based bug repellents, there are all kinds of do-it-yourself formulas for natural bug sprays.

Google "create your very own bug repellent" and you will get more formulas than you can shake a stick at. (I've never understood that expression, but obviously that doesn't stop me from making use of it.) In many recipes, the main components are alcohol (either rubbing or perhaps the type you could drink) plus essential oils. Here is one that I think is just great!

Ingredients:

1 cup of grain alcohol (organic and natural if available), vodka, or witch hazel

30 drops essential oils (lavender, citronella, rosemary, rose geranium, lemon, or tea tree oil (pick one or a mix of only 2)

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients inside a spray bottle. Shake very well. Spray liberally all over your skin just before going outside. Reapply as necessary. This recipe must also ward off ticks, fleas, wasps, and other unwanted pests. Keep your homemade repellent inside a dark container far from heat as well as sunlight.

You can also dab essential oils directly on your skin - normally in the elbows, behind the knees, and at the rear of your ears will do. However, give this a test run prior to going outside to make sure your own skin doesn't react badly to the oils. Different kinds of essential oils react differently with individual body chemistry, thus you might have to experiment a little before getting the one that's right for you.

If you don't wish to produce your own, there are a myriad of natural insect repellents on the market. A varuety of manufacturers all produce organic insect sprays that are DEET-free and safe for kids. Just how do you keep the bugs away? Just follow these directions and you are good to go!

The addition of Garlic to every one of our dog's meals will help to keep them free of fleas, as will the addition of Sulphur to their diet on a once per week basis. Remember that none of these remedies work overnight and may take approximately 4 to 6 weeks before they are effective. If you think that your pet does have a flea infestation check out the animal closely by separating the hair on the animal's back or flank area.

Wondercide has dedicated themselves to discovering the secret to top quality garden sprayers and natural pest control. Today, this company proudly offer professional techniques and advice on how to eliminate biting, flying, and burrowing insects by using only the best garden sprayer available in the market today.