7 Ways to treat and prevent mosquito bites

Summer comes with nice, warm weather and allows us to spend a lot of time outdoors, but it also brings pesky little things called mosquitoes. In order to be able to enjoy your activities during the long summer days without any concerns, we have a list of 7 ways to treat and prevent mosquito bites.

1. Dress light and loose – mosquitoes are drawn to tight-fitting and dark-colored clothes. Reduce the possibility of any of them even approaching you by wearing a flowy, white dress instead of black skinny jeans to the next barbecue.

2. Avoid standing water – as mosquitoes breed in water, you should avoid any kind of standing water as much as possible. This does not include only ponds or lakes, but also empty flower pots, trash cans or any other outdoor bins that might be filled with water.

3. Make your own natural repellent – try mixing about 15 drops of citronella and lemongrass essential oils with 10 drops of lavender oil in one spray bottle with witch hazel.

4. Ice – if you do get bitten, do not scratch as it will cause more damage than good. Put some ice on the itchy bite in order to soothe your skin.

5. Topical creams – other than ice, you can also use topical creams, such as Cortisone cream or Calamine lotion to take away the itch.

6. Medicine – if the itching and swelling become a bit too much, you can reach for a little medicine. Try using Ibuprofen for the swelling and an antihistamine should help with itching, but make sure to read the labels or consult with your pharmacist.

7. Hot spoon – warm up a spoon under hot tap water and then put it against the skin for a few minutes. Even though you might still have a little bump, the itching should go away.

Photo Credits: Bubblews