How to deal with itchy bug bites?

[ZoZo]

Hey, all! My friends went to WDW last October and got some really itch bug bites.

Besides using bug repellent to prevent the bites, how do you deal with the itchiness? Cortisone cream, calamine lotion, other stuff -- what's the best way to stop them from itching?

Thanks for the input.

 

[Evil Princess]

I always used that Benadryl spray, it's nice and cool when it hits the skin and kind of creates a covering over the bite.

 

[iluveeyore]

Believe it or not, if you forget to pack something bought for that purpose, plain old toothpaste works great (not gel)

 

[pepe of ohio]

Few trips back we got bit on the hay ride at FW, either in the woods or from the hay but itched like crazy to the point of tearing open the bite. Hit the First Aid center at MK and they gave us some ampoiles of stuff that took the itch out. Checked when I got home to purchase same but talked to the pharmasist and he said the active ingredient in most itch gels is plain old ammonia. He said you'll pay 5 bucks for a brand name itch remedy and only .29 cents for a bottle of ammonia. We now pack ammonia in our aid kit for Disney.

 

[Fairydust.Indy]

Believe it or not, deodo rant works well too.

 

[Melynny]

I use that aloe gel stuff with like Solarcaine... it has a numbing agent in it and it works great! It just takes a little "dab" and the itch is gone. I am allergic to mosquitoes and other bug bites and I get huge itchy bumps, this works for me.

 

[bevtoy]

Believe it or not, if you forget to pack something bought for that purpose, plain old toothpaste works great (not gel)

How is that applied? Do you rub it in?
(Envision brushing my leg with a tooth brush)

 

[stczt]

We always use clear nailpolish.

 

[snowman]

We use After-Bite stick...it smells like it is an ammonia based product but to honest I've never cared badly enough to look at the label. DNephew always takes one with him to Boy Scout camp and I keep one at home as I'm allergic to mosquito bites and welt up pretty badly. This definately takes the itch out.

 

[Dashzap]

Johnson & Johnson makes an anti-itch gel that works well.

 

[ZoZo]

Thanks for the replies - keep 'em coming!

 

[Ms.Grumpy]

I CANT BELIEVE THAT I AM ADMITING THIS BUT...

I DIP A Q-TIP IN BLEACH AND RUB IT ON THE BITE

IT WORKS LIKE A CHARM, I GUESS IT KILLS ALL THAT MESS THAT MAKES A BITE ITCH

 

[Mickey527]

I get those bites every trip, on my ankles. Usually I get them when I am sitting on the ground watching Illuminations. the never really bite anywhere else than my lower legs and ankles.
I also get that terrible Florida rash on my lower legs in the summer so maybe that has something to do with the bug bites. Maybe something in my blood or skin that causes the rashes attracts the bugs.
I have tried ammonia, afterbite, the gel from first aid, solarcaine spray, aloe...and I could go on. Nothing helps.
the past few times I have slathered on bug cream and spray and neither helped.
I have always been a mosquito magnet but those bugs that attack my ankles are worse than any mosquito. The itch lasts for days and I always come home with huge marks from where I scratched in my sleep.

 

[mlggator]

Being a Florida native for 29 years before moving to California, I will chime in here a bit. It depends on what bug has got you. And, as we all know, Florida if full of bugs. For mosquitoes and no-see-ems (very small bugs that you can barely see that are often flying around your face at dusk) the ammonia and other anti-itch creams work okay. Basically the little bugger injects an anti-coagulant when it bites and that is what is irritating your skin.
Another nasty bug is the red bug. This is a little bug that I think belongs in the spider/tick family (not sure about that). This little bugs actually burrow under your skin, so that the red itchy bump you have actually contains a bug. To relieve the itch, you must kill the bug. Most everyone recommends clear nail polish applied on the bump. This prevents air/oxygen to the bug and it dies. Gross, I know.
I suspect the person who rode in the hay ride and the person who had bites around their ankles may have had the red bugs. Also, for the person who complained of a rash, sometimes you can get a rash from sweating and having skin rubbing together when you are doing a lot of walking and running, such as between your legs or under your arms. Long distance runners get this a lot. One way to combat that is to put a lubricant on those spots before you go out, such as petroleum jelly. Running stores will also sell a product specially design for this purpose that may be lighter and less greasy than petroleum jelly.
Hope that helps.
Michele

 

[ZoZo]

Being a Florida native for 29 years before moving to California, I will chime in here a bit. It depends on what bug has got you. And, as we all know, Florida if full of bugs. For mosquitoes and no-see-ems (very small bugs that you can barely see that are often flying around your face at dusk) the ammonia and other anti-itch creams work okay. Basically the little bugger injects an anti-coagulant when it bites and that is what is irritating your skin.
Another nasty bug is the red bug. This is a little bug that I think belongs in the spider/tick family (not sure about that). This little bugs actually burrow under your skin, so that the red itchy bump you have actually contains a bug. To relieve the itch, you must kill the bug. Most everyone recommends clear nail polish applied on the bump. This prevents air/oxygen to the bug and it dies. Gross, I know.
I suspect the person who rode in the hay ride and the person who had bites around their ankles may have had the red bugs. Also, for the person who complained of a rash, sometimes you can get a rash from sweating and having skin rubbing together when you are doing a lot of walking and running, such as between your legs or under your arms. Long distance runners get this a lot. One way to combat that is to put a lubricant on those spots before you go out, such as petroleum jelly. Running stores will also sell a product specially design for this purpose that may be lighter and less greasy than petroleum jelly.
Hope that helps.
Michele

Thanks for the info, Michele! I have a question, though. How do you know what kind of bite it is? The "red bug" sounds really nasty.

 

[mlggator]

The red bug isn't nasty, just very very itchy. Red bugs don't fly, they crawl and are most often found in stuff like the moss that hangs on the trees or in other organic debris (pile of leaves, hay or bark on a playground). Thats why you find them on ankles and the lower arm area. The bite is smaller than the mosquito bite and in my opinion feels kind of hard. They are usually the size of a dot made by a felt tip marker, where a mosquito bite would be the size of the top of an eraser on a pencil. Does that make sense? Another way to put it, is that they are about 1/2 the size of a mosquito bite.
Michele

 

[rmom50]

It took me years to figure out that what I was getting on my ankles (especially) was sun poisoning and not bites. Make sure you liberally apply sunscreen, because the pavement reflects.

 

[GoingtoSeeRella]

I got bit last April by something and my ankles were so swollen. I don't remember being bitten; it was really weird. All of a sudden, on our way to breakfast at 7 a.m. my ankle felt itchy and there was a little red bump. Not a half hour later, the bump was enormous! I eventually had "bites" on both ankles and sorry to be so gross, but had to "pop" them to let all the clear fluid out.

Nothing like that had ever happened to me before, and I get regular mosquito bites all the time. Very strange. I eventually went to the First Aid station in MK and they gave me a small cup of some clear gel. I kept dabbing it on with a cotton ball and it took the itch out, but it was still difficult to keep up with all the walking.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

I have a tube of extra strength benedryl itch stopping cream. When my girls get bug bites they swell up really big around the bite mark so i carry this in my purse. I have a small sterilite container that I keep an extra pack of stuff like this in especially for disney so it is already packed we drive so this is what works for me you may want to consider putting a small bag like this together and store it just for trips.

 

[ZoZo]

I eventually went to the First Aid station in MK and they gave me a small cup of some clear gel. I kept dabbing it on with a cotton ball and it took the itch out, but it was still difficult to keep up with all the walking.

Anyone know what kind of gel they give out at the first aid station? My friends were given some on their last trip and they said it worked great - but does anyone know what it is?