Insect Bites

[Sparrow]

I hauled myself outside to sit and watch my son play for a bit and we got swarmed by mosquitios. Since I fell I am moving pretty slow and by the time we got back in the house we had a few dozen bites between us. For some reason I have never understood they are drawn to me and my son, while my husband escapes unbitten, we swell up with huge welts from the bites.

 

Anyway I didn't have anything on hand that I could find for the bites. Then I noticed a jar of Metholatum Cherry Chest Rub I had for kids. The main ingredients were Camphor, Eucalyptus Oil, and Menthol. I remember my gran using Campho something or other on us when we were kids so I thought I would try to rub that on the bites. I figured it couldn't make it any worse. It worked, 10 minutes later the itching stopped, the welts went down, and everything was great.

 

Now I was really excited. I love finding more than one use for anything- it saves on space for storing things if something has multipurposes.

 

Has anyone else ever used this as a treatment for bug bites? Is there a way to mix up a homemade version? I know you can grow Eucalyptus but I would not know how to extract the oil. I have no idea where the other ingredients come from. If anyone has any thoughts on how to make something like this I would love to hear them.

[PoGo]

That's interesting Sparrow. Thank you, for sharing your experience.

 

As far as making your own, I think you would start with a base such as bees wax, then add the oils you wish to incorporate, such as camphor. I don't make my own rubs though, so someone more knowledgeable will need to chime in.

[Mother]

I believe you can get some ideas in the Herbal Formula forum above. There's a couple good recipes forlotions and salves that might work. Or you can just extract the essential oil WITH oil. I like to do a solor extraction by first gently heating your carrier oil, such as olive oil and then adding the herbs. I then set it in the sunshine for a week or so, gently shaking a couple times a day. If I want it stronger I strain it, add more herbs and do it again until the oil has the smell of the herbs. Not all herbs extract well in oil though. You might have to experiment.

 

More info above.