There are a number of ways to stop scratching, from medicines to mental tricks.
I’m one of the unfortunate souls who, for reasons still only loosely explained by science, seems to taste delicious to mosquitoes. So was my father, who taught me as a child that the best way to stop the itch was to press an “x” into the middle of the bite with my fingernail. It hurt a little bit, but that was the point: The pain made me forget about the itch, at least temporarily.
Search online, and you’ll find a laundry list of tips to stop the itch, like pressing a hot spoon onto a bite, or using The Bug Bite Thing, a suction tool meant to draw mosquito saliva out of your skin. People swear by ice, aloe, bandages and simple willpower to resist the urge to scratch.
But what actually works? Experts say there are a number of hacks that can provide relief. Some involve medicine, others a little mental trickery.
Why are bites so itchy?
Female mosquitoes need blood to lay eggs. When they land on your skin in search of yours, they inject saliva that contains proteins using “little serrated blades in the proboscis”— their needlelike mouths — “that drill down into your skin,” said Dr. Allison Gardner, an associate professor at the University of Maine who studies the management of infectious diseases from ticks and mosquitoes. Those proteins not only numb the skin but dilate blood vessels to make feeding more efficient.
In response, your body releases histamine as an immune response to the saliva. That histamine is the reason for itching and swelling, a signal to your brain to investigate.
Can’t I just scratch it?
You can. It’s almost impossible not to. “When we scratch, we distract the brain from the itch with another sensation, a mild pain,” said Dr. Lyda Cuervo Pardo, an immunologist and associate professor at the University of Florida. “Our brains release serotonin, and we feel better.”