It’s insect time! In particular, mosquito season has come with a vengeance! There are a number of natural remedies that you can use to prevent mosquito bites, as well as remedies you can take if you are bitten by mosquitoes or other insects.
BITE PREVENTION:
I am not a big fan of DEET sprays (although they do work!), so I prefer using more natural deterrents whenever possible:
• Vitamin B1 – mosquitoes appear to be repelled by this vitamin (Thiamine) when it is excreted through the skin. A daily dose of 50-100 mg daily of B1 will offer you a high degree of natural repellent (and you won’t repel anything besides bugs!). I used this method for my family when traveling in India with amazing success. I highly recommend increasing your vitamin B intake throughout the mosquito season.
• Foods rich in Vitamin B1 include brewer’s yeast, blackstrap molasses, wheat germ, fish, brown rice
• A diet rich in garlic also helps deter mosquitoes
• Herbally, calendula ointment, tea tree oil, goldenseal, cedar, eucalyptus and pennyroyal extract can be used as a repellants
*do not use pennyroyal during pregnancy
• Citronella candles repel mosquitoes
• Chlorine bleach (as found in chlorinated pools) deters mosquitoes, although you are likely to want to get the chlorine off your skin soon after swimming.
• Don’t walk barefoot, and of course, covering yourself at dusk is helpful.
• Cosmetics that smell such as perfume attract mosquitoes.
MEASURES TO TAKE IF BITTEN:
• Be sure to seek help if bite becomes unbearably swollen, painful, or itchy; if red streaks begin to travel from the site of the infection; if there is a continuous fever after the bite; if the skin around the bite fails to heal and becomes necrotic; if tongue swells; if swelling spreads rapidly; if there is any difficulty in breathing, or any faintness or confusion.
• Bromelain and Quercitin are excellent supplements for decreasing the inflammation that often results in allergic responses of any kind. (Dosages for Bromelain and Quercitin are 400 mg 3 times daily; half as much for children age 6-12, one quarter as much for children under 6).
• Vitamin C helps to relieve the toxicity and inflammation of bites (up to 5000 mg daily for adults, ½ for children 6-12, one quarter as much for children under 6).
• If victim is allergic to the kind of sting they have received, give the homeopathic remedy Apis in the highest potency you have on your way to the hospital.
• Make a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water and apply topically to a sting for immediate relief. Mud works as well.
• Topical use of homeopathic tinctures or creams are very useful in stings, bites. Try ledum first, followed by calendula, hypericum, cedron, urtica urens, or arnica. Dab a couple of drops of tincture directly onto the wound, or apply cream. Repeat as often as needed.
• I suggest all parents carry a tube of Apis cream in their daily bag of tricks – this works wonders topically for almost any bite.
HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BITES:
*probably most useful for bites other than mosquito bites, unless reaction is severe
APIS MELLIFICA 30
• Burning, stinging pains –skin sore, sensitive
• Rapid swelling, shiny
• Intolerable itching
• Rosy red, puffy swellings
• bite feels worse for heat or in a warm room
• worse for touch
• bite feels better with cold pack or other application
• after bite patient has fatigue, apathetic, drowsy sensibility
• marked thirstlessness after bite
• redness and swelling of mucous membranes
LEDUM 30
• first remedy to use for simple stings and insect bites
• sensation of coldness of affected part, but no interest in warm compresses or coverings
• in spite of bite area feeling cold, patient wants cold applications on the bite
• patient feels chilly
• twitching of muscles near site of wound
• Ledum prevents a septic state from developing after any puncture wound (along with hypericum). Should be used routinely for any animal bite on the way to the hospital.
• Excellent used topically in tincture on any stings
HYPERICUM 30
• bites or stings on nerve rich areas with pains that extend along nerve pathways
• shooting pains
• bites inflamed and exceptionally painful
• tearing, shooting sensations
DOSING:
As with all acute homeopathic situations I suggest you use the 30th potency, repeating the remedy every 15 minutes for 4 doses. You should see a marked improvement in that time if you have chosen the right remedy. If no improvement, discontinue remedy and call your homeopath. If there is an initial improvement, you can repeat the remedy in single doses as symptoms return. As always, do not repeat a homeopathic remedy once the indicating symptoms have disappeared.
