A pleasant summer evening in nature can be disturbed by such a small thing as bites of midges. Swelling, itching, redness - this is what leads to a meeting with such unpleasant neighbors. If the result of a raid of midges was only a spoiled vacation, then this would not be worth paying attention to. But midge bites affect health.
A bit about midge
Small cat, or midge, is called small insects, mainly humpback mosquitoes, whose size is less than 5 mm. Midges are active during daylight hours, biting not only people, but also livestock and other warm-blooded animals.
If we consider that the midge is "hunting", then we can say that it is
doing straying in flocks. When
bitten, an insect injects a swelling substance into the skin. After a bite of a midge, a pronounced reaction occurs rarely, usually before the onset of itching and redness, some time passes: from several seconds to half an hour. It all depends on the individual susceptibility of the bitten. Multiple bites can cause fever.
The most dangerous representatives of the species live in the tundra region. This is the tundra and midge Kholodkovsky. If you get numerous bites of midges, swelling is not the worst thing. The worst part is that they carry dangerous diseases: plague, anthrax, tularemia and others.
How does an allergy to bites of blood-sucking parasites develop?
An allergy to a bite can occur immediately, but sometimes dangerous symptoms appear after a few hours. Five to six hours later, numerous bites of midges cause swelling and fever, sometimes up to a forty-degree mark. Painful manifestations are very strong, the skin turns red, becomes hot. Edema can creep and seize surrounding tissue.
It is possible to suspect that this is a bite of a midge, and not a mosquito, by external signs. After a bite, the first one remains microscopic, but a wound. In addition, a mosquito bite is felt, and a person often manages to drive off the parasite. The louse also injects an anesthetic into the wound and calmly saturates.
The most unpleasant thing is that a single insect is very difficult to notice. It can be brought indoors on clothes, in hair. And then you will not immediately understand why redness and blisters appeared on the body.
What to do if a midge has bitten?
After finding the bite, you don’t need to think about who bit the mosquitoes or midges. The first step is to treat the wound with an alcohol solution and drink an antihistamine. If there is confidence that these are bites of midges, swelling can be prevented by using ammonia.
To reduce itching, it is good to use Fenistil gel or something similar from medications. Home remedies, such as soda solution, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, help to remove burning sensations.
You can also remove swelling from a midge bite with the help of a cold. A compress of ice is applied to the affected area, observing the following rules:
- a cold compress is never applied to a naked body;
- after twenty minutes, the cold is removed and the procedure is repeated only after half an hour.
The consequences of a bite - swelling and redness - can persist for 3-4 weeks. It all depends on the individual reaction of the body and on how quickly the first aid was provided.
Antihistamines must be taken within 2 days after bites.