Natural Remedies: Bug Bites

Now that I live in Costa Rica, bugs are not just annoying, but downright disruptive. There are a few mosquitoes, but it's the no-see-ums that are really bad. At dawn and dusk, they attack, biting with a stinging pain and leaving spots very similar to mosquito bites that itch for days. Since I don't like chemicals, I've been trying out some natural remedies, and there are a few that work.
 

Preventing bug bites

I read somewhere that you can boil lemon slices and then use the resulting lemon "tea" to prevent bug bites. Since lemons are out of season, I had to use limes, and the "tea" didn't really work. However, rubbing the actual fruit on my skin is very effective. It leaves bits of pulp all over, but that's a small price to pay.

Readers advice:

• Eat lots of garlic to make your blood taste bad to bugs
• Sprinkle sulfur powder in your socks
   

Treating bug bites

I've found two things that work: baking soda and green papaya.

Mix baking soda with water to make a thick paste, and smear that on the bites. This works very well, but the powder eventually falls or gets rubbed off, and then itch starts right up again.

Rub the flesh of a green papaya on the bites. This stings quite a bit at first, but then takes the itch away for at least a couple of hours. (There is an enzyme in green papaya that dissolves the protein mosquitoes leave behind in their bites.)

Readers advice:

• Tea tree oil
• Bentonite clay mixed with water

 
If you know of any other natural remedies for preventing and/or treating bug bites, please let me know on the forum and I'll add them to this page.

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