Anyway, there's really no use moaning about it as that certainly won't make the annoying problem go away. Rather, I have looked up a few natural mosquito repellents and bite remedies that I hope will be helpful for everyone.Let's start with a few ideas for natural repellents. First of all, I'd like to say that I really like the Rocky Mountain Soap Company's insect repellent cream. It's safe for kids and actually smells quite good. You can get their products at Planet Organic market or, alternatively, there's a Rocky Mountain Soap Company store in Southgate Mall. Here are some other suggestions:
- lemon, geranium, clove, fennel, tea tree, rosemary and/or eucalyptus oils
- citronella that can be obtained in oil or many different repellent lotions
- garlic: it is suggested that ingesting garlic will repel insects by coming out the pores of the skin. I imagine raw garlic would have to be ingested quite regularly for this to be effective. I'd say about 2-3 cloves per day, cut up into small enough pieces to be swallowed with water.
- SMOKE! You can get citronella candles or, if you have a fire pit, have a fire if you're going to be outside at night - that'll definitely keep them off you.
- during the day, avoid wearing dark clothing as that attracts the buggers
It's pretty much inevitable that you'll get some bites considering how massive the mosquito population seems to be at this rate. One of our excellent massage therapists, Ryan, has about 15 bites all in one area below the knee on the back of his calf. It's like a big ol' cluster of itchy. At work this past Saturday, he applied peppermint oil to the bites, which he said, and I can imagine, was helpful. I'm sure tea tree oil or any other oil with a similar bite to it would be effective, like rosemary or spearmint oils. Here are some other suggestions of what to apply to the bites to help kill the insatiable itchy-ness:
- vinegar - apparently white or apple cider vinegar are effective. You could also put about 1/2 a cup of vinegar in your bath water.
- rub a bar of soap on the bites
- a hot compress or ice cubes
- a mixture of baking soda and water
- toothpaste or underarm deodorant
I imagine and hope that at least one - and probably more - of these suggestions will be helpful to you. God knows the damn itchy bites can be a bit of a distraction - I HATE the ones just below the ankle bone!
Happy August everyone and here's to hoping we'll be successful in our pursuits to dodge the skeeters for the rest of mosquito season.
Roberta Shepherd for Prana Holistic
