Mosquito bites. What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of them? You are probably thinking about how itchy they are and how they swell up the area of your body that they bite. Mosquitos are most definitely the biggest pains around, even though they technically are not painful when they do bite. But they definitely itch.
Mosquitos also are out during the warm months like most insects and that is a downer part of when the weather begins to get warm. Because once spring arrives, people will be happy about the warmer weather coming after a long winter. However, there is also that dread about insects coming out of liberation which most definitely includes mosquitos. That is when it is the time to get insect and mosquito repellant. But you cannot help but wonder why your body reacts to the way it does when a mosquito bites.
Why Does Your Body React A Certain Way When Mosquitos Bite?
The first thing to realize that it is only the female mosquitos that ‘bite’. And do they really bite? This is what the female mosquito does when it lands on you. She will extend her proboscis which is the part of the mouth that is narrow in order to piece an area of the skin to find a blood vessel to suck in blood. That is the food she needs because it is full of protein so that she can produce eggs.
However, you don’t feel it when she pierces your skin to retrieve blood. She will inject a substance as she pierces your skin called a vasodilator which allows the blood to flow and prevents it from clotting so she can drink it. The reason that your skin swells up in hives after a bite from a mosquito is due to the fact that your immune system responds to this foreign invader which is it – by releasing histamine. That is what it does each time there is an allergic reaction. That is what causes the area around the bite to swell up and itch. You will also see it turn red as well in the area of the bite.
However, sometimes you do not notice this immediately after the bite. The histamine may not be released for another hour or so after the fact. That is why after you have been spending a night out with your friends during the summer enjoying a barbeque by the water you end up noticing the swelling and itching as soon as you are about to go to bed.
What ends up happening in addition to the histamine being produce is that the saliva from the mosquito is fought off by the white blood cells. That also contributes to the swelling and itching. However, as long as there are no epidemics happening that result from viruses being spread by mosquitos such as dengue or West Nile, you will not become ill from a mosquito bite.
It is also extremely rare to have a severe allergy to mosquito bites to the point that you could end up having an anaphylactic response to it. However, they are still quite unpleasant to deal with. And you will want to make yourself less appealing to the mosquito so you lower your odds when it comes to getting bitten.
How Do You Reduce The Odds Of Getting Bitten By The Mosquito?
The best thing you can do is keep yourself as clean as you can as mosquitos are attracted to bacteria on the skin. You will always have bacteria but if you shower daily, it will keep most of it at bay and make you less of a target. Also, you will want to avoid drinking beer if you are a beer drinker. Mosquitos are attracted to the smell of beer and they can smell it miles away.
When it comes to exercising and pregnancy, that also influences the mosquito’s desire to bite because both increase your temperate, and mosquitos are attracted to that. If you are pregnant, you will want to not hang out in swampy areas during the night. And if you just exercised, then you will want to stay indoors for a few hours and take a shower before heading out so you cool off. And most importantly, keep bug spray around so you can keep them repelled! Stay safe and don’t let the mosquitos bite!
