I am an insect magnet, especially those winged ones that bite and suck my blood. If I am standing within a group of people, more often than not, I would be the only one smacking and itching furiously while the others are enjoying their pint of beer or wine.
I have passed this lovely gene to my daughter. When I get bitten, the bite site comes up in small welts. However, her welts are massive.
Mopiko
We swear by this Japanese product. Its active ingredients are l-menthol, dl-camphor, and methyl salicylate. It helps relief itchiness and swelling. It is recommended on the packaging not to be applied on children under 2. Also, it is to be applied externally. We also use this for muscle aches (like deep heat) and on pimples.
Mozzigear mosquito click / Marking the bite site with an 'X'
When I was young child and was bitten by the mosquitoes, my paternal grandmother used her nail on her pinky finger to pressed an 'X' on the bite site. The skin wasn't broken. It didn't hurt but it did make the itchiness disappear. I do use this method on myself when I do not have Mopiko at hand.
As an adult, the Mozzigear mosquito click is released. This works on the same theory I suppose. I haven't used this before and have not used my grandmother's method on my children either. Has anyone else used this method? Or did your grandparents mark you with an 'X'?
Prevention better than cure
Before having children, I used to not worry too much about applying insect repellent on myself. Post children and living in Malaysia, we applied insect repellent in order to prevent dengue fever and malaria. We used Guardian tomato extract spray (not aerosol) with tomato extract (no DEET). This seemed to do the trick.
However, only recently, we decided to use a combination of tea tree oil and lavender extract. A few dabs on arms, legs and neck. So far, we found that that combination to be working quite well. We walk around oozing the the scent. We are very thankful that the children like the scent.
Long trousers and long sleeve shirts are good preventative measures too.
Reflection
I think my worst encounter with an insect was a rove beetle (Paederus littoralis). We were living in Penang, Malaysia when we first encountered these. They are the size of earwigs (7-8mm) with black and red stripes.
Our condominium windows faced the sea breeze. Every evening we would welcome the beautiful gentle cool sea breeze that ventilated through the whole flat. Unfortunately, with the breeze, the rove beetles came with it like surfers riding towards the beach with the waves. These little beetles have wings. They would fly in attracted by the fluorescent lights. Then, they would crawl all over the flat - mainly toward the wet room.
One of these flew onto the top of my chest and involuntarily brushed it off. As I did that, the insect felt like a solid armour unlike a mosquito or moth. It stung. My skin felt and appeared as if it was burnt. The skin was angry red with blisters. There was a clear straight burn across where I had smeared the toxin onto myself. The toxin is apparently more toxic than a cobra venom. Luckily, the toxin was only on my chest not my hand as well.
There was nothing I could do. Mopiko in this case was not the answer. I washed it with soap and cool water. Also, I wore a scarf over it during the day to prevent it from burning further by the sun as I didn't apply sunscreen on it. The scar is gone now, but it took over two years for it to completely disappear.
These toxic insects are found in the eastern states of Australia too. I think it is worth to be aware about these insects and how to minimise their effect to our well-being. Oh! And even though the insect is dead, it still releases toxin!
I have passed this lovely gene to my daughter. When I get bitten, the bite site comes up in small welts. However, her welts are massive.
Mopiko
We swear by this Japanese product. Its active ingredients are l-menthol, dl-camphor, and methyl salicylate. It helps relief itchiness and swelling. It is recommended on the packaging not to be applied on children under 2. Also, it is to be applied externally. We also use this for muscle aches (like deep heat) and on pimples.
Mozzigear mosquito click / Marking the bite site with an 'X'
When I was young child and was bitten by the mosquitoes, my paternal grandmother used her nail on her pinky finger to pressed an 'X' on the bite site. The skin wasn't broken. It didn't hurt but it did make the itchiness disappear. I do use this method on myself when I do not have Mopiko at hand.
As an adult, the Mozzigear mosquito click is released. This works on the same theory I suppose. I haven't used this before and have not used my grandmother's method on my children either. Has anyone else used this method? Or did your grandparents mark you with an 'X'?
Prevention better than cure
Before having children, I used to not worry too much about applying insect repellent on myself. Post children and living in Malaysia, we applied insect repellent in order to prevent dengue fever and malaria. We used Guardian tomato extract spray (not aerosol) with tomato extract (no DEET). This seemed to do the trick.
However, only recently, we decided to use a combination of tea tree oil and lavender extract. A few dabs on arms, legs and neck. So far, we found that that combination to be working quite well. We walk around oozing the the scent. We are very thankful that the children like the scent.
Long trousers and long sleeve shirts are good preventative measures too.
Reflection
I think my worst encounter with an insect was a rove beetle (Paederus littoralis). We were living in Penang, Malaysia when we first encountered these. They are the size of earwigs (7-8mm) with black and red stripes.
Our condominium windows faced the sea breeze. Every evening we would welcome the beautiful gentle cool sea breeze that ventilated through the whole flat. Unfortunately, with the breeze, the rove beetles came with it like surfers riding towards the beach with the waves. These little beetles have wings. They would fly in attracted by the fluorescent lights. Then, they would crawl all over the flat - mainly toward the wet room.
One of these flew onto the top of my chest and involuntarily brushed it off. As I did that, the insect felt like a solid armour unlike a mosquito or moth. It stung. My skin felt and appeared as if it was burnt. The skin was angry red with blisters. There was a clear straight burn across where I had smeared the toxin onto myself. The toxin is apparently more toxic than a cobra venom. Luckily, the toxin was only on my chest not my hand as well.
There was nothing I could do. Mopiko in this case was not the answer. I washed it with soap and cool water. Also, I wore a scarf over it during the day to prevent it from burning further by the sun as I didn't apply sunscreen on it. The scar is gone now, but it took over two years for it to completely disappear.
These toxic insects are found in the eastern states of Australia too. I think it is worth to be aware about these insects and how to minimise their effect to our well-being. Oh! And even though the insect is dead, it still releases toxin!
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