The 5 Most Common Insect Bites

You can be bitten by many types of insects. It usually happens in the spring and summer and can make your skin itchy or swollen. Learn more about the five most common insect bites and how to treat them here.

Unfortunately, insect bites are not always easy to avoid, because insects occur in almost all climates, seasons and places.

Insects often bite when you sleep,  during hot and humid nights. The itchiness you feel as a result of these insect bites is usually unavoidable, but not life-threatening.

It is common sense that an insect bite caused by a mosquito is not the same as the insect bite caused by more harmful insects, such as a tick. This is widely publicized and there are several products that claim to be the solution to this problem, but this is usually not true.

While good household hygiene, sealed water containers, and periodic sanitization help minimize these annoyances, insect bites cannot be eradicated completely. This is also impossible without immediately eradicating all insects.

Insect bites often look the same, but they are not! In this article, we’ll talk about the five most common insect bites and how to treat them. This guide will help you if you get bitten, so you can see for yourself what action to take.

The five most common insect bites and how to treat them

1. Bees

Many people are afraid of this fascinating and very important insect. Beekeepers protect themselves with a suit before collecting honey.

Bee stings are sharp and quite painful, and are generally accompanied by swelling. In case of allergy, you may need specialized medical attention immediately.

2. Wasps

These insects are less common in urban environments. However, this does not mean that they do not occur at all. At home, in the office, in shopping malls and many businesses (especially restaurants), these insects are attracted to sweet and seductive scents that often resemble those found in nature.

However, if you get stung because you accidentally invaded the wasp’s territory, your skin can swell considerably. Remember that wasps are different from bees and they can sting multiple times.

4. Mosquitoes

Despite what you may think, the truth is that these bites are very common, but they usually don’t pose any health risks.

Mosquitoes have tubular mouthparts that they use to drink your blood. They inject a liquid into the skin, causing a small red bump to form. These usually disappear within a few hours or days, depending on, among other things:

• the intensity
• the repetition
• the kind of mosquito
• your body’s reaction

You should keep in mind that there are certain mosquitoes that do more than just take a sip of blood. Dengue, chikungunya, malaria and yellow fever are some of the diseases they can be infected with and which they can also leave in your body.

4. Fleas and Bedbugs

These bites are also quite common. Fleas and bed bugs are very special insects that can bite you even if you are wearing clothes.

They can bite through your clothes repeatedly until they reach your skin. The saliva and bacteria that their saliva contains, coupled with the urge to scratch, exacerbate the itching even more. This also causes the small red bumps on the skin.

5. Ants

Tell me: how many times have you been bitten by these little insects? This is not very common in the Netherlands and we have few aggressive ant species here. However, there are about 12,000 ant species on earths and abroad there are very aggressive species.

If the answer is, ” So much that I’ve lost count, ” don’t worry. This is completely normal. Ants can bite you anywhere, whether you’re walking barefoot in the yard on a spring morning or in your house.

The wounds they leave are not dangerous and most are caused by red ants. Their bites leave little red bumps that cause swelling and nothing else happens except under certain circumstances, such as an allergy.

Treatments for the most common insect bites

Insect bites affect your skin. Most of these insect bites only cause swelling, pain, redness and itching in the skin. Before you apply a pain-relieving cream, it is best to clean and disinfect the skin.

Very few people are actually allergic to insect bites. Most allergies are to wasp and bee stings. These people have severe reactions after the bite and suffer from various complaints such as:

• trouble speaking or breathing
• swelling of the lips and face
• weakness
• dizziness
• hives

Hives are characterized by the appearance of very itchy red spots or pits on the skin. In addition, a rapid systemic allergic reaction may occur. This is called anaphylaxis and it is so serious that in very severe cases without medical intervention it can lead to death.

The treatment of insect bites is usually external and fairly general. You should apply ointments or creams with bactericidal agents to neutralize and eliminate the substances that can harm you.