My friend Kelli’s youngest child is a little girl adopted from China. Kelli and her husband have 3 older children of their own, but since Sarah is their first child from another country, they have occasionally experienced challenges and adjustments based on the inherent cultural and genetic differences.Â
One such challenge is Sarah’s extreme reaction to mosquito bites which apparently is not uncommon for those of Chinese heritage. As such, using an effective natural mosquito repellent is important, but doesn’t always work in every situation.
Living in Florida and being very sensitive to mosquito bites can pose a challenge. Mosquitoes can be a year-round problem particularly if the winter is rather warm as it has been so far this season. Even with spraying by mosquito control, getting nasty bites is a common occurrence.
Telling a young child not to scratch is a losing battle most of the time! Unfortunately, Kelli did not find any of the Western style remedies for mosquito bites to work very well for Sarah.
As a result, just a few mosquito bites could send Sarah to the doctor for examination as they would sometimes get infected from her scratching. Â The picture above is of Sarah’s leg after a recent run-in with a hungry mozzie!
Besides being a busy Mom of four, Kelli is also an Adoption Specialist, so with her international connections, she was able to consult with her Chinese friends about Sarah’s problem with mosquito bites.
Their suggestion?
An old Chinese mosquito bite remedy that is rubbing the bites with the inside of a banana peel!
I asked Kelli to let me know if the banana peel remedy worked the next time Sarah was bitten, and within a few days, Kelli reported back that the banana peel worked! The picture to the right shows Kelli applying the inside of a banana peel to Sarah’s bite. Â The peel is folded over backward which is why the inside of the peel is also facing the camera.
The banana peel not only worked, but it also worked FAST!
Here is Kelli’s email to me about her experience with this mosquito bite remedy:
Well, sure enough Sarah got 2 bites this evening….ÂThey immediately began to swell and the area all around the bite was quite red, of course some of that was from her itching.ÂI applied the banana peel, as advised by my Chinese friends, and within 2 minutes the bite stopped itching. About 5 or 7 minutes later, the site was significantly less red. When I glanced at it again before bed, though I could still see the bite, her skin was no longer red. Best of all, she didn’t seem bothered by it.ÂSince she is so young it is hard for her not to scratch, and I will forward you a picture of a current bite which landed us at the doctor’s office out of fear of infection (we’re in the clear for now). She has been on antibiotics once before from a bug bite getting infected after her scratching it, and I try to avoid antibiotics so was not happy when this recent bite started looking so bad.ÂFrom now on, we will honor this Chinese remedy…I wish I had known this secret years ago!
The most interesting thing about this mosquito bite remedy to me is that it is fairly well known that eating bananas is a surefire way to be a prime mozzie target at sundown. Â While eating bananas seems to attract mosquitoes, rubbing the bites with the inside of the peel heals them!
Does your child have problems with mosquito bites too? Â The next time the mozzies leave their calling card on your child’s skin, skip the ammonia sticks and other chemical-based remedies that will end up in your child’s bloodstream and simply try the inside of a banana peel!
Do you know another mosquito bite remedy that works well too? We’ve often used this homemade herbal salve which is incredible for all types of skin irritations, rashes, and bites. Dabbing witch hazel on bug bites is a remedy that my Grandmother used.
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Bug magnets, PLEASE read!! I’ve had severe reactions going back to childhood in the tropics. Have now lived in a low-bug area for decades. When I started vacationing in the lake region of Italy about 20 years ago, I found that I had a potentially deadly reaction to no-see-ums. I have severe, strongly hereditary, early onset Type II diabetes. To cut a long story short: if you are diabetic, or predisposed to it, your body excretes thiamine (B1) at 17 times the normal rate. One result is that bugs love you! A few years ago I discovered benfotiamine (synthetic lipid-soluble thiamine, paradoxically safer than the water-soluble version). I proved the theory on myself, as I returned to the same area every year. With the benfotiamine, I didn’t just not react, I DIDN’T GET BITTEN. There are other benefits to taking this regularly, and you won’t find it in regular multi-Bs. I urge anyone, especially diabetics, to look into this. It alleviates neuropathy and mitigates eye & kidney damage, as well.
received about 20 bites/stings from ants in the yard yesterday. scrubbed baking soda into my hands, took potassium for the itch and krill oil for the inflammation. The soda left my hands very dry and in need of lotion but the itch and pain was minimal after the treatment.
Thanks Phylis for the Bananas link. I haven’t been able to eat any Dole products because they “allegedly” use Auxigro as fertilizer. I have an extreme sensitivity to MSG and that’s what Auxigro is all about.
Well this past summer I read about baking soda for mosquito bites and when my friends daughter was bit while we were at dinner I decided to try it. I mixed it w/a little water to make a thick paste and applied , it seemed to work well too because the only thing her daughter said to me while playing was that she needed more because it was coming off, but not itching. After that I used on my kids w/ good results.
Right after I shared your banana mosquito remedy on my Facebook page I received this link from a Facebook friend from Sweden. I didn’t know that workers on banana plantations were being poisoned by pesticides. Thought you’d want to know as well.
http://www.bananasthemovie.com/
not natural and not for sensitive skin–I’ve put bleach on bug bites.
Make a paste with meat tenderizer and a few drops of water. Apply to itchy bites (mosquitoes, fleas, etc.) or stings (bees, wasps, etc.) for instant relief. This works with scorpion stings too – first-hand knowledge. It doesn’t have to be Adolph’s meat tenderizer but it has to have the same active ingredient. I keep a jar in with the first-aid supplies because the last thing you want to do is search through everything in the spice cabinet when you want it NOW.
Love all the remedies. There must be a common (or several) denominator. One person mentioned that anything with potassium will help with itching. I’ve had a bad case of dry itchy shin for a few days due to having spent 4 days in an arid, cold climate and in front of a fireplace. I *just* rubbed some diluted ACV on the itchy spots and wow! No more itching! Thank you everyone for sharing.
A family we know takes the following:
In the morning take 100 mg of Vitamin B6 (or a multi-B vitamin)
The mom says, “Mosquitoes wouldn’t even land on us.”
I’ve heard raw onion also works. We tried it on a scorpion bite and it worked instantly.