What Mosquitoes like About You and Cool Ways to Stop the Itching After They Bite You

It is summer and you want to go to an evening cookout, but the moment you arrive you are followed by a steady stream of mosquitoes from poolside to the grill. They seem to by-pass others just to get to you. You swat madly at them while the other party-goers remain unfazed. If this scenario describes you, you just might be a mosquito magnet.

Mosquitoes are miserable biting insects found all over the world. They have been around for centuries. There are many varieties and some cause dangerous illnesses like malaria and West Nile Virus. Most mosquitoes do not cause serious trouble. They just cause miserable itching, swelling and discomfort. They can ruin any summer outdoor activity.

The female mosquito is the one who bites. She needs blood from vertebrates (humans and animals with backbones) to lay her eggs and produce baby mosquitoes. She has a special part in her mouth like a syringe that sucks out the blood when she bites you. Her saliva thins your blood so she can swallow it. It is her saliva that causes your itching.

Mosquitoes find some people more tasty than others. The greater the body size the more attractive you are, mainly because you produce a lot of carbon dioxide which attracts mosquitoes. Pregnant women give off a lot of carbon dioxide also. They also give off folic acid and lactic acid in their sweat which mosquitoes find enticing. Mosquitoes can smell their dinner from a long distance away.

If you play ball and move around, the extra carbon dioxide you exhale plus the lactic acid in your sweat signals "blood." Sweet smelling perfumes and hairspray confuse the mosquito so she bites the wearer. The odor of beer and wine breath is another attraction as well as are people in love. People who are sexually attracted to each other give off pheromones which attract mosquitoes to bite them.

There are many repellents available but once you get bitten the pain is there. You can buy over the counter medications but TipNut.com suggests these remedies to apply to the bite to relieve the itching.

*wash the bite with very hot water and Ivory Soap.

*paint the bite with clear nail polish or rub the bite with nail polish remover

*apply very hot compresses or a very cold ice pack

* the hot spoon treatment...heat a metal spoon in very hot water an press down hard on

the bite.

* put a copper penny on the bite and secure with tape.

*rub with Vicks Vapor Rub or Chapstick

*apply Crest toothpaste, Listerine or Ora Gel

*rub with white vinegar and tenderizer.

*rub with Aloe or Red Pepper

*apply strong hot tea

*crush an aspirin and mix with spit and apply to the bite

*apply roll-on deodorant to the bite

* apply urine or spit.

Finally, slap the bite real hard several times and press the center of the bite down with your fingernail and make an X.

Disclaimer: The author is not a medical doctor and in no way recommends any of these treatments.

Sources:

Kids' Health

St .Pete Times

Tipnut.com

Are You a Mosquito Magnet?