BUT I HAD TO SHARE THIS!
I am allergic to bug bites. I know - isn't the itching and welts for all of us our Immune systems fighting the insect venom? Technically, yes, but I am REALLY affected by them. I don't just get a welt, I get a huge welt. The itching wakes me up in the middle of the night. I carry around Afterbite in my purse in the summer because the itching would literally affect my day if I didn't. It's really bad. And when I have no remedies, it like being hooked on crack. I can't help myself. I HAVE to itch, which takes some skin off, then it looks nasty, then I have to have bacitracin on it, and sometimes it scars (I have white circles on my ankles from a particularly bad summer.)
And bugs love the taste of me. If there is one mosquito in a room of 100 people, I guarantee he bites me. (Yes I assume all the jerky biting Mosquitos are male). Frankly I have no idea how my mom had me outside all the time as a kid.
But I found something! This week I had a bad bite on the side of my foot (terrible spot) and one on the BOTTOM of my third pinkie toe (even worse spot) - I'm pretty sure they were spider bites, but it's irrelevant - they itched like hell. So I was googling "spider bite itch relief" and EUREKA! This is what I found:
"Some of the proponents of heat therapy for itches recommend using very hot water, not so hot as to burn the skin, but just a little cooler than this. Others swear by hair dryers. They recommending pointing a hair dryer at an itchy spot for several seconds or minutes. The skin should become uncomfortably hot, but not anywhere near being burned. After this heating of the skin happens, the itch is supposed to go away. Many people testified that applying significant heat to an itch for a short amount of time made the itch disappear for several hours, maybe even longer."
(http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/2011/05/28/a-miraculous-cure-for-bug-bite-itching/)
So I got out my hair dryer (to be honest, I never saw the hot water idea until I just copied the text), and turned it on. No, it didn't feel great, but I tried to get it as hot (close) as possible without actually burning my skin, as suggested. It actually felt itchy for a second, and I kept at it for about 15 seconds at each spot, but when I turned off the blow dryer and let my skin cool down, IT WORKED! I stayed itch-free for 6-8 hours!
Just wanted to share with all you other bug-bite haters out there.
Peace. Love. Serene.
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