Home Remedies for Insect Bites and Jet Lag

Mark Twain once said that God loved the fly, which is why He made so many of them. The same might be said of mosquitoes, spider, bees, and the zillions of other biting, stinging creatures that seem to have nothing better to do than make your life miserable.

Insects were on earth long before we were and they’ll be here long after we’re gone. If you spend any time outdoors, there’s simply no way to avoid them – or the painful, itchy consequences. But there are ways to get quick relief from close encounters with the buggy kind.

Here’s what doctors recommend you try.

Scrape off the stinger. When you’ve been stung by a bee, the stinger usually stays in the skin, where it keep releasing venom. To reduce pain and prevent swelling, it’s important to remove the stinger as soon as possible. Don’t pull it out, because squeezing the stinger can cause it to release more venom into the skin. An even better strategy is to scrape it out, using a credit card or a stiff cardboard.

Paste on relief. Applying paste made from baking soda and water directly to bites and stings can help draw out the venom, which will provide quick relief and prevent the pain from getting worse.

Get help from the kitchen. Another way to stop the pain of bites and stings is to apply a paste made from a meat tenderizer that contains pepain. This substance helps break down the proteins in insect venom, reducing the pain causing punch.

Cool the area. Covering insects bites and stings with a cool, damp cloth will help reduce swelling and provide instant pain relief. You can also put ice in a plastic bag and apply that instead.

Dress in muted colors. In sects are attracted to bright colors (which is why many flowers are adorned with brilliant reds and yellows). To stop insects from seeing you as their meal ticket, it’s a good idea to wear subdued, dark-colored clothing when you’re going to be spending time outdoors.

No scent makes good sense. Just as insects are attracted to bright colors, they’re also attracted to sweet smelling, flowery perfumes and soaps. When you’re going camping, experts say, leave the scents behind, including scented deodorants.

Load up on garlic. It’s not only vampires that are scared off by garlic. Some experts believe that eating garlic before going outside will make you less attractive to biting bugs.

Get plenty of thiamine. This vitamin also called vitamin in B 1, may give your perspiration an odor that many insects find unappealing, although it’s undetectable by humans.

Out bodies have internal clocks that are far more powerful than we realize. The time you wake up. When you eat, and when you bed down for the night are all determined by this internal clock.

Most of the time, your body’s clock corresponds to your daily schedule – which is why you wake up at the start of the day and go to sleep at the end. When you travel across time zones, however, all of a sudden your body’s clock and the "external" clocks are out of sync. When you fly from New Delhi to Los Angeles, for example, the clock in your hotel may say its 7 p.m., but your body thinks that it’s midnight and time to be sleeping.

Jet lag can make you tired and forgetful. It throws off your sleep schedule, so you may have trouble falling asleep or wake up too early. In some cases, people who have jet lag feel irritable, l

Stock up on sleep. Although you can’t store sleep like pennies in a jar, getting extra sleep before you travel can go a ling way toward helping you feel refreshed when you arrive.

Plan time to unwind. Sleep experts recommend timing your travel so that you arrive your destination fairly early in the evening. This will give you time to have a good dinner and to unwind before going to bed. Try to make yourself go to bed at the new time.

Of course, the rules are slightly different depending on the direction you’re traveling. If you’re flying east, it’s going to be later when you arrive, so you may want to leave a little bit earlier in the day. Flying west, on the other hand, can cause you to lose a few hours, so you may want to book your flight a little bit later.

Stock up on fluids. Airline cabins are incredibly dry. Many people get dehydrated before they reach their destinations – and dehydration makes jet lag worse. Doctors recommend drinking a lot of water or juice before you leave home, as well as on the plate. Don’t drink alcohol, however, because it can make dehydration worse.

Keep moving. It’s not exactly easy to move around on the plane, but keeping active will help you stay energized and refreshed. At the very least you should walk the aisles periodically and do simple stretching exercises in your seat. When you arrive at your exercises in your seat. When you arrive at your destination, take a little time to walk around or, if your hotel has a pool or gym, get in some exercise

Spend some time outdoors. Your body’s internal clock is partially regulated by sunlight. Spending time outdoors when you arrive at your new destination will help your body clock adjust more quickly to the transition.