Mosquito bite: first aid and treatment methods

For most people, a mosquito bite gives only minor discomfort in the form of itching and redness of the skin. To eliminate them, you do not have to use any pharmacological preparations for internal and external use. A small swelling and a small red spot will disappear in a few hours, of course, if you do not comb the bite. But for young children and allergy sufferers, a mosquito attack can result in the development of a sensitization reaction and even general intoxication of the body. In this case, the victim should be helped using pharmacy ointments, creams or folk remedies for treatment.

How and where does an insect attack a person

With the arrival of heat, mosquitoes begin to annoy a person, not only in walks, cottages and places of rest, but also in apartments. Especially a lot of insects near ponds, in bushes and grass. The adult and the child are attacked only by females, who need protein contained in lymph and blood for further reproduction. Males are completely harmless, because nectar and pollen of meadow and forest flowers are enough for them to eat.

Recommendation: When choosing a spray, gel or cream to protect against mosquitoes, you need to pay attention to its composition. Manufacturers often add essential oils to medicinal plants. These biological active compounds can trigger the development of an allergic reaction in children or adults with chronic diseases.

It is not difficult for a person to understand that he is being attacked now because of the characteristic squeak emitted by insects. But you won’t be able to feel the “landing” - there are a lot of soft shock-absorbing hairs on the legs of the mosquito. Only people with very sensitive skin can feel that a blood-sucking insect has landed on it. How a mosquito bites a person:

• Having found a site with delicate skin, the insect begins to lightly tap its proboscis in search of blood vessels;
• after detecting a capillary located close to the surface, a mosquito sticks its proboscis into the skin;
• during the bite, the female mosquito begins to strongly rest its paws to facilitate piercing.

Why a mosquito bite itches - with a saliva, a blood-sucking insect injects substances toxic to the human body. The immune system responds to this invasion with antibody production. A side reaction is often unbearable skin itching. Scientists claim that during the puncture, the insect secretes saliva, which has the properties of an anesthetic. Therefore, the attack goes unnoticed, which allows the female to bite a person several times. Specialists certainly know better, but young children and people with sensitive skin can experience quite severe pain.

This is interesting: Mosquito saliva also contains special substances that prevent the rapid formation of blood clots. Due to the fact that the blood does not clot for a long time, the female drinks it until it is completely saturated. After that, the mosquito gently takes out the proboscis and flies away to a secluded place.There is a splitting of blood into nutrients necessary for the reproduction of offspring.

What are the consequences of bites?

Mosquito bites can provoke individual symptoms for each person. They are not very pronounced or cause a dangerous anaphylactic shock. It all depends on the reaction of the immune system to the penetration of allergic agents into the bloodstream.

A person with a low immunity, a history of autoimmune pathologies, or predisposed to the development of sensitization reactions develop severe swelling on the skin, which is unbearably itchy. Also at risk are small children. The resistance of their organisms to the penetration of allergic is still at the formation stage. And the high permeability of blood vessels allows toxic compounds from mosquito saliva to quickly spread into the tissue.

Symptomatology

In a person with a normal state of health, swelling and redness of the skin lasts about 3-24 hours. Itchy skin may bother a little longer, but even it disappears without a trace a day after the attack of blood-sucking insects.
But in people with hypersensitivity to toxic saliva of mosquitoes, the following clinical manifestations develop:

• allergy at the site of the bite, proceeding as a urticaria - the formation of small blisters, red spots, severe swelling;
• itchy skin;
• weakness, fatigue, dizziness;
• dyspeptic disorders - abdominal pain, nausea, bouts of vomiting.

In the absence of qualified medical care, the patient begins to rapidly deteriorate:

• blood pressure drops to dangerous values;
• heart rate is reduced;
• skin acquires a bluish tint, becomes dry;
• there is a feeling of lack of air, suffocation.

A person begins to rave, falls into an unconscious state. Such symptoms are characteristic of anaphylactic shock and Quincke's edema, which in the absence of medical intervention often result in death.

Warning: In young children, numerous mosquito bites can cause fever and lack of appetite. Parents take this as a sign of a respiratory infection and begin to give their child medications with serious side effects. Such "treatment" can lead to the development of serious complications.

Complications

Parents of young children should always seek help from pediatricians, because sometimes an allergy looks like a mosquito bite. Considering that the child was simply attacked by blood-sucking insects, mothers and fathers unwittingly impede the timely diagnosis of sensitization reactions to food or household chemicals.

After the anaphylactic shock, it will take quite a long time to restore the functional activity of all vital systems. Most often, the work is broken:

• urinary organs - kidneys, bladder and urethra;
• heart and blood vessels.

Female mosquitoes are capable of transmitting pathogens of vector-borne diseases, such as tularemia. Infectious skin pathologies develop due to scratching of the skin and non-observance of personal hygiene rules. Staphylococci and streptococci easily penetrate into the resulting microcracks, forming inflammatory foci. Their treatment requires the use of serious pharmacological drugs, including antibiotics and glucocorticosteroids for external use.

Treatment

If a person is severely bitten by mosquitoes, but the symptoms are manifested only in slight swelling and redness of the skin, then you can conduct treatment at home. For this, a cream or ointment for mosquito bites from a home medicine cabinet, products from the refrigerator and medicinal plants from the garden are useful. The victim must be shown to the doctor in the following cases:

• a sharp deterioration in well-being;
• localization of a mosquito bite in the eye area;
• the size of the resulting spots exceeds 5 cm in diameter.

Abrupt temperature jumps up to 39-40 ° C a few hours after an insect attack, even without severe skin symptoms, also serves as a signal for contacting the nearest hospital facility.

First aid for bites

To stop the spread of edema and prevent infection with a dangerous infection, the site of the bite should be cooled. To do this, you can use ice cubes, placed in a sealed bag and wrapped in a dense cloth. A worthy alternative would be a piece of frozen meat or fish, packing a vegetable mix. Apply ice to damaged skin for 5 minutes, and then you need to take a short break to prevent frostbite. You can also additionally treat the bite site with any antiseptic solution:

• hydrogen peroxide;
• chlorhexidine or its imported analogue Miramistin;
• 0.02% solution of furatsilin;
• vodka without additives or alcohol diluted with boiled water in equal proportions.

The usual 3% table or apple vinegar will help prevent the development of edema and inflammation of the epidermis. It should be used in an adult in the initial concentration. To treat babies, it is necessary to dilute the vinegar with an equal amount of boiled cool water.

If insects attacked in an open area, and there is no first-aid kit with you, then medicinal plants will help. Plantain and burdock grow everywhere, so finding them is not difficult. Rinse young leaves of medicinal plants with water and grind until a thick slurry forms. Then it should be applied to the swollen skin and secured with a bandage. The procedure must be repeated after the healing agent has dried.

Pharmacological preparations

Even in the absence of any sensitivity to mosquito bites, you need to give the victim an antihistamine. This is especially true for young children who find it difficult to resist scratching their skin. Antiallergic drugs stop the development of edema and quickly reduce the severity of skin itching. The following antihistamines, dragees and drops for internal use are most effective:

• Loratadine;
• Zodak
• Zirtek;
• Tavegil;
• Suprastin.

All of the above funds in one way or another cause drowsiness. Therefore, for several hours after taking the drug, you can not drive a car and do work that requires concentration and attention.

Tip: When it is not possible to consult a doctor, and the patient has a fever, you need to give him an antipyretic - Ibuprofen, Nurofen, Panadol, Efferalgan, Paracetamol.

If mosquito bites are not uncommon in the place of residence of an adult or a child, then it is advisable to buy at the pharmacy any ointment with antihistamine activity that is cost-effective. After opening the package, the shelf life of the external product is significantly reduced, so it must be stored in the side wall of the refrigerator. What balm, gel, cream from mosquito bite can be purchased at the pharmacy:

• Fenistil gel. After applying the product, itching and irritation caused by allergic reactions disappear. The drug also has a local anesthetic effect, has the ability to cool, soften and moisturize the skin;
• Lifeguard balm. The combined composition of the external product contains sea buckthorn and olive oil, calendula extract, naphthalan oil, vitamins A and E, essential oils of rose, tea tree and lavender. Balm Savior not only soothes the skin, but also accelerates its regeneration;
• Gistan. The active ingredient in the ointment is the synthetic glucocorticosteroid mometasone. The drug exhibits antipruritic, anti-inflammatory, antiexudative (decongestant) activity;
• Psilo-balm. The active substance of the drug is diphenhydramine, which has a strong antiallergic effect. After the first application, itching is actively suppressed.Also in the composition of Psilo-balm are chemical compounds that cool inflamed skin;
• Vitaon. The drug is available in the form of an oil solution consisting of extracts of medicinal herbs (bitter wormwood, calendula, yarrow, celandine), essential oils of mint and sweet dill, camphor. Due to its unique composition, Vitaon exhibits regenerative activity, contributing to the restoration of damaged tissues. Also, an external agent is characterized by painkillers, wound healing, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial properties.

If the victim of mosquito bites has severe skin swelling and major allergic rashes, the doctor may prescribe ointments or creams with hormonal components - Advantan, Triderm, Celestoderm. This group of drugs has a wide list of contraindications and side effects. Hormonal drugs should be used only on the recommendation of an allergist or dermatologist.

Healing plants and folk remedies

Traditional medicine recipes often contain medicinal plant juices. Their single-component use is allowed, but the combined effect of herbs has the greatest therapeutic effectiveness. What plant juice helps with mosquito bites:

• lemon or peppermint;
• sage;
• parsley;
• Chernobyl (wormwood);
• St. John's wort
• yarrow;
• succession;
• thyme;
• elecampane.

To prepare a medicinal product, you need to crush fresh vegetable raw materials in a porcelain or wooden mortar. Then with the help of gauze, squeeze out the juice that has been released, moisten a sterile napkin in it and lay it on the mosquito bite for 30-40 minutes. If the house has only dry herbs, leaves and roots, then you can prepare a healing infusion. In it, in the process of brewing, biologically active substances with anti-inflammatory, decongestant and antimicrobial effects pass. It is necessary to prepare the infusion according to this algorithm:

1. Pour 3 tbsp into the teapot. tablespoons of any shredded plant.
2. Pour a glass of boiling water and let it stand under the lid for 1-2 hours.
3. Filter the dry residue, soak a cotton pad or sterile cloth in the infusion and place it on the site of the mosquito bite.

To reduce the severity of puffiness and skin itching will help the juice of citrus fruits - grapefruit, lemon, lime. Simply cut the fruit into pieces, and regularly wipe the site of a mosquito bite. Such a tool is also an excellent prophylaxis against the attack of blood-sucking insects, which really do not like the essential oils contained in citrus juice.

Recommendation: Quickly and effectively eliminate edema, irritation and skin itching soda solutions. To prepare them, you just need to dilute a teaspoon of soda in a glass of warm water. In the resulting dilution, lower the cotton pad, squeeze slightly and place on the site of the bite.