What bit you?

Cockroaches don’t bite.

Scrape away the stinger as soon as possible using the edge of a knife blade or your fingernail. As long as it remains in your skin, this little sac of poison keeps pumping its contents into your body. Don’t use tweezers or pinch the stinger with your fingertips, since you’ll squeeze more venom into your skin.

  As soon as you have the stinger out, soak the area in vinegar for a few minutes. Dip a cotton ball in vinegar and tape it to the sting site. It will help relieve redness and swelling. If you have a papaya in the house, put a piece on it. Using the back of a spoon, crush one or two aspirin on a small plate or cutting board, add just enough water to make a paste, then dab the paste on the sting site. Ingredients in aspirin help to neutralise the venom.

  Apply an ice pack to numb the area and help slow the swelling. If you have a towel or washcloth between the ice pack and your skin, you can leave the ice pack in place for up to 20 minutes.

  Baking soda can bring relief. One method of application is to mix baking soda with a skin lotion, then apply it to the sensitive area. The baking soda helps relieve inflammation, and the skin lotion keeps it in place. Alternatively, you can mix one teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water, let it dissolve, and then apply the mixture with a cotton pad or washcloth. Leave the compress in place for 20 minutes.

  Cut an onion, then rub it over the sting site. Doctors aren’t quite sure how this works, but the onion contains enzymes that seem to break down inflammatory compounds. Other people swear by smearing a crushed clove of garlic over the skin.

  Sugar works, too. Just dip your forefinger in water, dab it in sugar, then touch the sting site.

  

Usually no. But, if you’ve been stung by a bee or wasp and then have trouble breathing, feel faint, or have swelling in your mouth or throat, a rapid pulse, or hives, get to an emergency room. You could be having a potentially fatal allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.

Here are some easy aides:

  Use a banana peel to take away the sting and itch. Peel it, then place the inside of the peel directly on the bite; after about 90 minutes, wash the area and apply hand sanitizer to it to ease the itch.

  Make a paste with baking soda and water, then apply it to the bite; you can add it to a warm bath if more than one insect was feasting on you. One Note: skip this if the wound is open.

  A little toothpaste on the sting helps take away the pain. The fluoride acts as an antihistamine and helps in minutes.

  Soak a cotton ball with mouthwash and apply. Use one with antiseptic and it will also help keep the area from becoming infected.

  Make a paste with mud then put it on the sting and let it dry. Rinse the area and the itch should be gone afterward.

  Crush an aspirin, make a paste, then apply it to the bug bite. Cover it with a band-aid overnight and in the morning you are itch-free.

Rub aloe vera gel or broken leaf from an aloe vera plant on the bite area to relieve itching.

  Apply a poultice of witch hazel to the affected area. Witch hazel will soothe almost any inflamed area of skin.

  Fresh basil leaves that are crushed and directly applied to the area also naturally relieve itching symptoms.

  Lavender oil or tea tree oil also comes in handy if dabbed on the bite.

 

Dip a wash cloth into hot water, but not so hot that it burns your skin. Press the wet part of the cloth against the bite. Hold it there until you feel the bite tingle. Repeat once or twice. Your nerves will be confused and the itching will vanish for hours. The heat causes all the histamine (the protein used by the body to initiate immune responses, which include irritation and itching) in the skin surrounding the bite to be released at once. Or use ice cubes.

  Make a paste with salt and water and apply it or dip your bitten area into salt water.

Don’t scratch. It just makes a sore and prolongs the healing.

 

House lizards are harmless. There are only two types of poisonous lizards in the world - neither are in India. The urine and stools of a house lizard are also harmless.