this post was submitted on 25 May 2024
97 points (95.3% liked)
Asklemmy
44152 readers
1170 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy π
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- [email protected]: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Not specifically mine but definitely that of my wife: a company called Beurer in Germany makes this little tool with a small ceramic plate that you can heat. Press the hot thing against a mosquito bite and not only does the itch go away, the actual inflammation is diminished. For 20 euros one of the best impulse buys I ever did.
We've also put in an order for an electric bicycle which I think will lead to us leaving the car now often.
I looked up the bug bite thing. Im glad that someone paid attention to the way most proteins in bites/stings break down if heated. I bet it works pretty good
I doubt that you can get your skin hot enough to denature those proteins without damaging yourself. I've given myself a blister before trying.
it says it gets to 170F. thats hot enough to get shallow stuff like mosquito bites and most stings.
That temperature is dangerous, will burn you, and the mechanism of action for these things isn't denaturation.
How hot does it need to be?
im not sure and it would vary from protein to protein but the thing says it gets up to 170F which is probably enough for a fair few
This is probably going to be life changing for my wife and daughter. Theyβre both super reactive to mosquito bites to the point of not wanting to be outside. Luckily, we live where there are only flies and moths so most of the time at home this is literally not a problem. However, when camping in the mountains it can be. Thanks for the tip!
My partner is also allergic to mosquito bites and he got a HeatIt and it was life-changing. He previously had to stay home and permanently ice his bites to not get blood poisoning and was in huge pain, but now since it's always with him on his keychain, he can treat the stings right away before they get too bad and can go out and do pretty much everything now. He still needs to treat the stings regularly, but it's so much more portable and accessible than the ice packs he used before.
Compared to the larger devices like BiteAway, it performs a bit worse and it's a bit pricey and the durability is kinda shit, but the fact that it's always on him and ready to use (as long as you bring your keys and phone), he can treat the bites right away on the go, which makes a huge difference in effectiveness.
I get what you mean, but nearly everyone is allergic to mosquito bites. That's why they itch.
You can achieve the same thing with a metal spoon dipped in hot water, like after stirring a fresh cup of tea. It should be hot enough to hurt but not to burn/damage your skin. I've been doing this trick for ages and it works every time :)
oh no
oh phew
You can also run a spoon under hot water for a more improv tool. Works great.
It's the same principle, true enough. But this tool I think reaches higher temps which makes it more effective.
Using a hairdryer really helps do this en masse
Over many years, I've settled on hydrocortisone cream followed by an ice cube. Those little buggers love me.
I suffer from eczema pretty badly so I always have some sort of cortisol cream nearby. They clear up any bug bites quickly. Luckily, mosquitos prefer my wife's blood over mine.
I just bought one of those as well. It works!