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Bug Bites

1945crewood1945crewood Posts: 170
in The potting shed
My wife spends a lot of time in the garden and gets 'bit' on an almost daily basis by the countless bugs that are out and about.

Can I ask what people use as a possible preventive measure and also what do you use on the bites once you've been bitten? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mother Nature don't straight lines, Broken moulds in a grand design, We look a mess but we're doing fine, We're card carrying lifelong members of the Union Of Different Kinds.
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Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Avon Skin So Soft to prevent. If you get bitten,don't scratch! Apply aloe vera or witchazel gel.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    If I get an itchy bite I rub some vinegar into it then a tiny dab of sea salt seems to stop the itch.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • CatDouchCatDouch Posts: 488
    edited September 2023
    I always get bitten and get a horrible reaction to them, huge itchy red lumps that last for days. So because I hate the smell of Mozzie spray I bought some Avon Skin so Soft. I wore it today for the first time and was bitten 5 times whilst walking the dogs by our local river so it obviously doesn’t work for me which is a shame as it smells lovely.

    The only remedy I have found that helps a bit is to take a Piriton tablet, the pharmacist told me that if you get a bad reaction that’s the only thing that will help! 
    South Devon 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    ASS only works for mozis, I have found  - certainly not horseflies etc, as I learnt to my cost. For myself, when I get bitten these days, I immediately put on tea tree oil or antihis cream and then cover right away with a plaster. This stops the itching and removes any temptation to scratch. The redness and swelling goes away quickly if I don't rub the area.

    I find that a teaspoon dipped in boiling water and then applied to the spot works wonders.

    As a kid I used to pour nearly-boiling water on bites because it felt good and seemed to stop the itching. I think that this and the very hot spoon method might have the same process as the Beurer bite healer. I find the gadget intrguing. But prevention is better than bites, of course.

    The thing would be to find out what exactly is biting your wife, so to speak.






  • CatDouchCatDouch Posts: 488
    Lovely to see you back on the forum @Fire 😃
    South Devon 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    🌱 thank you CD
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The Avon product has been used for donkeys' years by hillwalkers as it works very well for midges. I wouldn't think it would work for other insects unless people did a proper survey on it with volunteers who are happy to get bitten. Avon aren't going to do it - that's for sure! Midges have to be very serious to bother me too much, and it's only at lower levels on hills, so once you're at reasonable height [about 1500 feet or more]  with some wind, they're usually pretty absent. Worse in woodland and near water.
    You'd have to know what insects are biting your OH @1945crewood, so that she could take preventative measures that would work well enough. It might just be a case of applying afterwards. I'm lucky that I don't really get bitten by anything, and if I do, it usually just goes away, so I don't use anything. 
    I'd probably just a proprietary product like Savlon or similar, if anything was sore and/or open. I'm used to getting scratched and scraped though, so I would rarely notice.  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    The only time I used a bug deterrent was when I used to have a winter holiday in Koh Samui, Thailand.
    Jungle Formula ws recommended and in the many weeks I spent there over several years I never got a single bite.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • 1945crewood1945crewood Posts: 170
    Fairygirl said:
    The Avon product has been used for donkeys' years by hillwalkers as it works very well for midges. 
    I'd probably just a proprietary product like Savlon or similar, if anything was sore and/or open. I'm used to getting scratched and scraped though, so I would rarely notice.  
    As a wildlife photographer I used to use Avon but changed a few years ago to a product called 'Smidge'. It doesn't small anywhere near as good but seems to work for me.
    Mother Nature don't straight lines, Broken moulds in a grand design, We look a mess but we're doing fine, We're card carrying lifelong members of the Union Of Different Kinds.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Jungle Formula is hard core and certainly works
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