Itching:
Have you ever gotten a mosquito bite,
chigger bite, or poison ivy and scratched it till it bled? Well you are not alone. For
some of us, with sensitive skin and a strong itch response, most
over-the-counter remedies just don’t cut it for the itchiness of mosquito
bites or poison ivy. Good Home Remedies found that the most
effective treatment for itch is believe it or not …. hot water.
We have found that if bitten by a mosquito on a hand or arm, we could easily
get relief by sticking the itchy skin under a faucet and getting the water
as hot as we could stand (being careful not to burn our skin). The
mosquito bite will feel even more itchy, but it will also feel like the hot
water is “scratching” the itch at the same time. It is a very intense
feeling. We found that keeping it under the hot water for a few
seconds,
was enough time. After
removing the skin from the hot water, the itch subsides as the site of the
rash or bite cools. We found that the bite would not itch for several hours
after that. Sometimes the relief would last 8-12 hours, or even 24
hours. Sometimes we would have to reapply the hot water treatment a
few hours later, or the next day. We just waited for the desire to
scratch to return before reapplying.
For most insect bites, it
may take 2 to 3 days of hot water treatments, until the bite no longer
itches. Poison ivy lasts longer and can take 1-2 weeks of daily
treatments, until the itching subsides.
For poison ivy rashes that
are on places other than hands and arms, it may be easier to get a full
treatment in the shower. With a shower nozzle, the hot water can be applied
to various areas of the body. It is generally not a good idea to take
showers more than once a day, but for severe cases of poison ivy, we found
it was worth taking a shower when the itch got unbearable.
Another option is to use a
hot washcloth. If the bite or poison ivy rash was on a part of our
body, like on the legs that are hard to get under the faucet, we found we
could get relief by applying a heated washcloth. We found it easiest
to do this by moistening a corner of a washcloth, then putting it in the
microwave for 15-25 seconds. The wet part of the washcloth will be
superheated so it is important to carefully pick up the dry end of the
washcloth. It is important to use extreme caution as the washcloth
just out of the microwave can be hot enough to burn skin. We found if
we applied the washcloth lightly to the bite until we sensed the heat, we
could avoid being burned. Unfortunately the washcloth will not stay at
the desired hot temperature for long. However, this method is good in
a pinch, in place of a shower or for hard to reach areas. Another
approach is to put some hot water in a glass or mug and gently apply the hot
mug to the bite on the skin.
Some refer to this
treatment as hydrotherapy (the use of water for soothing pains and treating
ailments), though it can also just be done with heat (e.g., with a hot mug). One theory that
explains why this works is that the itch is caused by the mast cells in your
immune system releasing histamine, when they react to an allergen, such as the mosquito
poison. The heat from the hot water also triggers the release of
histamine. The application of heat causes the mast cells to flush out
all the available histamine, and it then takes several hours for those cells
to replenish their store of histamine, during which there is no itch.
This remedy can also be
applied to hives, rashes on the skin caused by allergies. However this is only a temporary
relief of itching symptoms and unless the allergen is discovered and
removed, your hives itch will return.
Since everyone is
different, this remedy won’t work for everyone. So if this does not
work for you, other natural treatments include:
- Jewelweed
- Plantain
- Clay and peppermint
toothpastes
- Evening primrose oil
- Gold Bond crème
- Calamine lotion
A note for
preventing the spread of poison ivy, oak and sumac.
Urushiol is the oily resin found on poison ivy, oak, or sumac
leaves, stems, and roots and is one of the most highly concentrated natural
skin irritants known. At least 50% of people are allergic to urushiol.
Once on the skin, it can take 1 to 14 days for the skin to react to the
allergen and exhibit the itchy, blistering rash. Because it can take
up to 2 weeks for the rash to appear, it may seem that the rash is spreading
by scratching the weeping blisters. However the liquid in the blisters
cannot spread the rash, only the urushiol oil causes the rash. So as
soon as possible after being exposed to poison ivy, it is critical to use a
good detergent to remove all the oil-based resin from skin (especially from
the
hands which can spread the resin to other parts of the body), clothes and
other places it may have touched, in order to completely remove the source
of the toxin, and minimize the extent of the rash. After summer camp
we used to take baths in laundry detergent to remove all traces of the plant
resin. Using plenty of soap like a bath wash or shampoo appears to
work as well as detergents to dissolve and remove the oil-based resin on the
skin, when taking a shower. After
hiking or working in an area of poison ivy, put all clothes in the washing
machine, including gloves and hats, and then bathe thoroughly to prevent
infection. Be careful to wash hands carefully after touching shoes and
pets that may have been touched by the poison ivy plant. If the resin gets on
your hands it is possible to spread the oil onto tools, containers, or a
car. These surfaces can be cleaned with plenty of soap and water or
solvents.
About 15 percent of people
allergic to poison ivy may experience swollen eyes or mouth within 12 hours
of exposure, which can be symptoms of anaphylactic shock, a potentially
life-threatening allergic reaction. This is a medical emergency which
should be treated at an emergency room.
Mango and Poison
Ivy? And it turns out that the mango tree is
in the same family as poison ivy and it also contains urushiol, mostly
concentrated in the sap of the tree and the peel of the fruit though in
smaller concentrations than in poison ivy. Those people allergic to
poison ivy may get a rash on the face if they consume the peel of a mango.
However, those people can still eat the fruit if they are very careful to
remove all of the mango peel, and wash their hands after touching the peel.
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