The return of sunny days often goes hand in hand with biting insects such as mosquitoes, wasps, bees, red ants, or even black flies. How about using nature’s resources to treat their bites, reduce swelling, help with healing, or relieve itching?
A Compress Of Mother Tincture Of Yarrow
Bet on this beautiful herbaceous plant’s anti-inflammatory and healing properties to relieve insect bites. More precisely, the white flowering tops of this “St. John’s herb” contain these properties. Macerate 15 g of fresh yarrow flowers in 100g of 45° alcohol to obtain a mother tincture to apply as a compress to insect bites. Leave the compress in place for about fifteen minutes, and the redness, swelling, and itching will be a bad memory!
Garlic Tincture
Who would’ve believed that? In addition to being a delicious condiment in the kitchen, garlic is also an excellent natural antiseptic. Prepare a mother tincture by plunging the equivalent of two peeled heads of garlic into a jar filled with alcohol at 45°C. This preparation can then be used as a compress to relieve a bee or mosquito bite.
A Fresh Burdock Leaf
Burdock is a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family whose leaves exert antibacterial and antiallergic activity when used externally. It is thus enough to rub a fresh leaf of the plant directly on the skin, just after an insect bite, to soothe the pain. Burdock root, prepared as a mother tincture, can also be helpful to soothe the pain of a bite.
Lemon Juice
Nothing is more effective than a few drops of lemon juice on an insect bite to soothe the itching and exert a natural antiseptic action. In addition, it is a natural remedy that we always have at hand.
Onion Pulp
It is well known as a vegetable or condiment in the kitchen, but did you know that our grandmothers also knew it as a solution to soothe insect bites? Nothing is surprising in this because we know today that the onion is an excellent natural antiseptic. To use it the old-fashioned way, apply grilled or pan-fried onion flesh to the sore spot for relief. This trick also works with raw onion juice.
Parsley
Pick from your square of aromatic herbs to calm the fire of an insect bite. In this regard, parsley works miracles. Cook the stems of this plant in water in a saucepan until boiling, then remove the saucepan from the heat. Leave everything to cool, then apply the liquid obtained as a compress to the bite site. This “parsley water” should help you calm the itching quickly and effectively. As an emergency gesture, it is also possible to crush a sprig of parsley directly on the stung area.
Plantain Leaves
Major plantain contains active ingredients responsible for antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties and a soothing, softening, and healing action. This herbaceous plant is ideal for treating insect bites of all kinds. In the event of an insect bite, vigorously rub a crushed plantain leaf on the affected area. The juice from the leaf will instantly soothe the pain while purifying the skin. You can also prepare a solarized oil with fresh plantain leaves to effectively relieve bee stings.
Wise
Prepare a soothing sage oil to soothe the pain and itching following an insect bite quickly. To do this, macerate sage leaves and flowers in full sun in a mixture of sunflower, sweet almond, and hazelnut vegetable oils. As an emergency gesture after a bite, you can also quickly and energetically rub a sage leaf on your skin.
Wild Thyme Lotion
Prepare a wild thyme healing lotion by boiling either 30g of the fresh plant or 20g of the dried plant in a bit of water. Allow this decoction to cool, then apply it to an insect bite that you want to see heal faster using a compress. This lotion will also relieve them effectively.
An Infusion Of Linden
The infusion of linden flowers is not only helpful in finding sleep more easily. It can also be helpful to calm the itching of an insect bite. It is then sufficient to apply a compress soaked in a pre-cooled linden infusion directly on the skin. You can also use linden hydrosol, or linden water, on sale in pharmacies.
Tomato And Leek Leaves
Ouch! A mosquito bit you? Rub the bite site with fresh tomato leaves, and the itching sensation will disappear immediately. In the absence of a tomato leaf, pouring a little leek juice extracted by squeezing a large leaf also works! This gesture will instantly relieve the pain and irritation of an insect bite.
Essential Oils Against Insect Bites
What would a review of natural remedies for insect bites be without essential oils? Several of them can indeed calm the bites when applied to the skin (generally in diluted form in vegetable oil), such as:
- the essential oils of delicate lavender and aspic lavender which act as natural local anesthetics and which also have specific healing and anti-infectious properties,
- The essential oil of patchouli helps to limit the redness and the sensations of heat which generally follow an insect bite,
- lemon eucalyptus essential oil helps to reduce the pain, swelling, and redness of an insect bite,
- peppermint essential oil, which will stop the pain linked to an insect bite by a feeling of cold on the skin,
- Lemongrass essential oil not only keeps insects away it also relieves their bites.
Also Read: WHAT IS VITAMIN E, AND WHAT IS IT USED FOR?
