Question:
I attract mosquitos like flies to honey and itch like crazy when I get
bitten.
I was looking at some of the insect bite treatments that one can buy
and they seem to fall into two categories: benzocaine, and ammonia.
Has anyone tried them, and how effective they are?
Benzocaine is a topical anesthetic, right? So I can see how that
would stop the itching -- but only as long as the benzocaine stayed
active.
Ammonia I'm not sure about. Is it effective? And if so does it have
more permanent effects than benzocaine? It's not a substance that I
would've thought of putting on a mosquito bite. On the other hand,
I've read that one of the treatments for stingray stings is allegedly
to put urine on it -- maybe this is effective due to the ammonia in
urine? On the other hand I've never heard anybody recommend peeing on
a mosquito bite.
I think Sting-eze and Stop Itch were the brand names that I looked at,
but they each claimed only one active ingredient: benzocaine, or
ammonia.
Answer:
-They both work.
We camp lots in serious bug country and use 'afterbite' which is
ammonia. If you can get that on right away, it seems to kill the
stinger or poison and the bite won't swell too bad or itch like mad.
If we miss and the bite is in full swell and itch, then a 'caine' type
of product helps the itch. We carry 'solarcaine' that works on burns
and itches. It contains lidocaine which is a local anesthetic.
-In fact, the old wives remedy for dermatitis for the several centuries before
modern medicine arrived WAS to apply one's own urine.
For more effect, cow urine was commonly used.
Even now it can allegedly be more effective than many other topical treatments.
WARNING, all normal cautions apply.
