insect bites, best healing product required

[phil wright]

I have been bitten by some pesky critters and my fingers have swollen up like sausages and the back of my hand like one of those giant foam hands that you buy at football grounds.
Does anyone have any commercial remedies or home made remedies that may alleviate these ailments?
.phil

[roger-uk]

I have been bitten by some pesky critters and my fingers have swollen up like sausages and the back of my hand like one of those giant foam hands that you buy at football grounds.
Does anyone have any commercial remedies or home made remedies that may alleviate these ailments?
.phil

If its that bad then get to A&E

[kiltedpict]

I agree, A & E as soon as possible just to be safe!

ATB

KP

[Paulm]

I have that kind of reaction to horsefly and similar bites unfortunately.

Best thing is to avoid getting bitten of course !!! Lots of repellent on if out for a hike or forage or whatever.

To take away the itching and help reduce the swelling I take antihistamines like piritize or similar, and carry those with me when out. If I get bitten then taking those asap helps avoid so much swelling, but still of some help in bringing the swelling down if used later. Can make me drowsy though even when I use some of the so called non-drowsy versions !

I also rub some antiseptic onto the bite area.

May be worth going to the doctors though and they may prescribe some antibiotics in case of infection, but don't think that will do anything for the swelling.

I have no medical experience by the way, just my personal experiences !

Cheers, Paul

[Toddy]

I too react to cleg (horsefly) bites like that Paul

Anti-histamines and ibuprofen. One stops the reaction and the other eases the inflammation.

If you can get hold of the take one every four hours antihistamines that'll kick start the process, and that's what they're most likely to give you at A&E (Chlorphenamine)
Long use, and non drowsy, one a day tablets are Loratadine. Worthwhile taking as a pre-emptive strike when I know I'm going somewhere where the midgies and clegs are out.

Again, no medical experience beyond first aid and personal experience.

Hope it settles down for you asap.

cheers,
Toddy

[ged]

Just a warning about Ibuprofen -- and medical advice generally on any Internet forum.

Once upon a time I had my first dose of Ibuprofen, because I had a headache, not unusual for me I'm afraid, just as I was about to get off a ferry at Harwich.

I wouldn't normally have taken it but I like as little distraction as possible when I'm riding the Hayabusa. Then I got on the bike to drive to Derbyshire.

I think I got as far as Peterborough before I had to stop because I felt so ill. At about 8am I pulled into a LIttle Chef and asked for a cup of tea.

The staff there said I'd gone green, that I should sit down and they'd look after me and call a doctor.

I told them not to bother with the doctor, but they still fussed over me and kept pouring tea down me until about noon by which time I felt well enough to leave. They were great.

No more Ibuprofen for me.

Some time later I asked my doctor about it. He said that anti-inflammatories in general are the things which give them the biggest problems because of side effects, and he wasn't a bit surprised by my reaction to it, especially given my history of stomach ulcers. He refuses to prescribe anything like that to me now.

[Toddy]

Sorry to hear of your issues Ged, but when my arm or leg (or neck ) gets bitten and swells up so fast that I can no longer bend the limb, and clear liquid is seeping out of my skin, I take the biggest damned anti inflammatory I can get hold of. I have 800mg ibuprofen for arthritis. I'm not recommending this dosage for insect bites normally, but the sooner something starts to reduce the inflammation of the reaction, the better.
When I got bitten on my throat and it started to swell inside, my heart started fluttering like a trapped bird....now I have an epi-pen, just in case

For most people ibuprofen in normal dosages is safe. Constant use isn't good for the gut, even when only taken with food, but for a reaction to insect bites like the ones some of us have, I find it's very effective.

cheers,
Toddy

[santaman2000]

To relieve the itch: Hydrocrtizone cream (1%) www.drugs.com/pro/hydrocortisone.html Relief from itching is almost immediate!
To relieve swelling and inflamation caused by allergic reation: Benadryl www.drugs.com/benadryl.htm
For serious allergic reations see your doctor and if you're prone to them frequently he'll likely prescribe that you carry an Epi-pen.

[Lightbulb]

I once spent an evening out in the woods and my hand got bitten a lot by midges - I counted about 40 bites on one hand. Whole hand went bright red and itched like hell for a good few days afterwards. My friends mum told me to hold out my hand and she poured some tea tree oil on it. 20 minutes later itching stopped and the redness was all gone.

Possibly not the thing for this particular case - A&E sounds like a plan - but good for bites.

[phil wright]

Well I didn't go to a+e, I just manned up and let nature and time do their stuff.
Still not right but itching has stopped now and swelling has reduced significantly.
Thanks everyone for your advice
Phil

[Colin.W]

Most insect bites dont bother me even stings from bees rarely come up in much more than a little bump but those pesky horse flies. I was working on a job building fairly close to a large fishing lake and they got me twice once on the back of my hand and once just above my funny bone. my hand and arm swelled up to half as big again, I couldnt close my fingers to grip anything with my left hand by the end of the day I had to get someone to give me a lift home. I lost 2 days work just because of a couple of damn flies

[bronskimac]

Due to other medications that I take ibuprofen would be a very bad idea for me. Just check the advice in the packaging for any drug before taking it.

Get yourself covered in Deet or another "repellent" before the buggers get a chance.

[udamiano]

Wilma's Nordic Summer, the best beasty repellent I've used so far, and not as scarey as deet. And it smells of camp fires :-)



sent from under a tarp, in front of the fire :-) using that tapatalk thingy..

[ScoobySnacks]

Due to other medications that I take ibuprofen would be a very bad idea for me. Just check the advice in the packaging for any drug before taking it.

Get yourself covered in Deet or another "repellent" before the buggers get a chance.

As Bronski says, Ibuprofen is contra-indicated with several other drugs. Certainly it should not be taken with any other nsaids [non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs] (for example diclofenac sodium). Also it can have an unpredictable effect on the effectiveness of anticoagulants such as warfarin (like a lot of things) which are used therapeutically for many reasons.

An anti-histamine will help to reduce redness and itching, although again watch for drug interactions (anyone on anti-coagulants needs to check with a pharmacist or doctor before taking any medication anyway)

A topical cream, such as a 1% w/v hydrocortisone will help to reduce the itching further, and aid in the reduction of swelling.

As for "manned up and let nature do its stuff", where do I start?

A swelling like that might be an allergic response to the bite. It might also be down to an infection. An infected bite can turn very dangerous, very fast. I know of two people who have died from the effects of an infected insect bite. In one case the infection moved to the bloodstream, and then the heart. The person died within days of acute infective endocarditus. If she'd gone to the doctor with the infected bite she'd still be here now.

An infection, or the possibility of one involving lots of swelling, requires treatment by a qualified medic. A quick dose of antibiotics could save you a whole world of pain and loss.

I lost my commercial pilots licence following a blood infection. It's not something that you can "man up and get through". Untreated, a blood infection is almost 100% fatal!

Sorry for the doom and gloom, and I'm glad you got away with it, but I'd always recommend seeking medical advice for such symptoms.

[phil wright]

Well Scooby, that's a very sad tail indeed for both of your friends and yourself.
Rest assured if it got even a little bit more painful medical help would of been sought.

[Toddy]

Scooby I have a reaction such as the one Phil had with *every* single cleg bite. In a bad year I might have twenty such bites. There's no way I'm heading to hospital, or pestering the Doctor, every time I get bitten.

I have to say though, that in all these years, I have never had a cleg bite go bad.
The bite rises like a thick saucer sized lump, with a tight hard white edge around it. The itch is unbelievable, and hydrocortizone cream just fries on the surface
Anti histamines, anti inflammatories and cool compresses, and if it's on a lower limb elevate it above heart level. As it starts to ease, the Eurax hydrocortizone cream soothes the itching and stops further aggravation.

I'm sorry others seem to find ibuprofen contra indicated, but for most people it is very safe, and very effective.

cheers,
Toddy

[mountainm]

I used to use solarcaine foam (designed for sunburn) to stop the itching but it is no longer available so now rely on eurax.

[ScoobySnacks]

They still make the solarcaine spray and gel.

[mountainm]

They still make the solarcaine spray and gel.

I've seen the spray, but not often. Do you know which chemist stocks it?

[Iona]

Both my son and I got celulitis last year, me from a mozzie bite, (one of thousands in my life) and he from a wasp sting... prepping a deer carcass at a Swift Valley meet, the wasps were attracted to the blood, apparently too much temptation for an 8 year old not to poke them with sticks! Because you expect a wasp sting to swell up etc, we didn't realise until 2 days later when he woke up at 5am, vomiting, with a temp of 42. Whipped him down to the docs, and was told an hour later it would've been hospitalisation with blood poisoning and on a drip... the advice seemed to be that if there's hotness, redness and swelling around any puncture would to draw a line around it in marker pen so you can see whether it's 'tracking', and if you start feeling feverish or sick or woozy it's docs straight away... Obv if like Mary you have reactions to lots of bites you can't go to docs for everything, but well worth knowing the signs so you can look out for them I reckon!

[udamiano]

Greater plantain (Plantago Major)

contains a natural anti-histamine, if you crush the leaves, and apply the mash to the bite, it should relieve both the itch and the swelling in short order. It also the active ingredient in many creams, and is the often given its french term on the ingredients which means 'cut hay' as its actually the smell you get when you cut the grass on your lawn

[Iona]

I'm a big fan of plantain too, and squished cleavers work well for us, but that reaction sounded quite hardcore! good advice generally though

[udamiano]

I'm a big fan of plantain too, and squished cleavers work well for us, but that reaction sounded quite hardcore! good advice generally though

I agree, with acute reactions, its best to get a medical opinion, covering the bite or sting with a clean dry plaster can sometimes help to draw some of the poison, but should not be left on, the problem with bites and stings in the outdoors is always going to be secondary infection, I always carry a small bottle of either lavender or Tee-tree oil, or failing that a good anti-septic cream with me. and when possible wash the effected area with an antiseptic wipe, again not full-proof, but sometimes its the best that can be done. Normally i don't get a reaction to stings and bites, but others are not so lucky.