Bites of midges on a person photo and treatment

A picnic trip in late spring or early summer can overshadow such a nuisance as a midge bite. Attacks of midges are often subjected not only to campers, but also to the owners of personal plots. What is the reason for such aggression of insects, what does a midge bite look like on a person and whether he needs treatment - let's understand.

Meet the insect

Pups are small insects, the size of which barely reaches 5 mm. Most species are inherent and completely miniature sizes - 2 mm. They live everywhere, with the exception of Antarctica. All phases of development, until the insect reaches the adult stage, midges conduct an introductory environment. The family has about 1800 species, mainly in Drosophila, whiteflies, sciaridae, live in a temperate European climate. Differences between them can only be determined by a competent entomologist. The poor fellow, bitten by the midge, is not up to the determination of species and the whole vile looks the same to him.

Interesting!

Most blood types have warm-blooded only female midges eat. Males only taste fruit or flower nectar.

People who live near water bodies or travelers in the taiga and tundra are most aware of how midges bite. Experienced say that the midge in the taiga will be a worse mosquito. Hordes of insects are referred to only as a vulture. Rivers, lakes with running water are indispensable conditions for the reproduction of insects. Females lay their eggs on the stems of plants, stones in ponds. Some individuals deliberately descend into the water to lay offspring. Other females do not burden themselves with the skills of divers and drop eggs on the fly. If you take a portion of water from the bottom of a river or any other reservoir, with the help of a magnifier you can see the smallest worm-shaped white larvae.

The peak of activity begins in mid-April, early May and ends only at the end of June. In northern areas, midges activity decreases after snowfall. Insects feed only in the daytime in sunny weather. On a rainy, cloudy day, at night, the activity of the midge is not fixed. Insects keep in packs, in which there are a myriad of individuals. From bites of a midge people and animals suffer. There are cases when tens of thousands of cattle died from attacks of Columbian midges in the Danube countries.

Feedback

“Somehow in late spring, we arrived with my family to visit relatives living on the banks of the small Khoper river. Suspecting nothing, they decided to get out into the nature and relax on the river bank. They approached the shore and inspired by the view of the spring landscape quickly got out of the car. And then it began! Flocks of small midges stuck around us, began to bite frantically, tiny insects clogged in our mouth and nose. The child immediately ran into the car, while we adults tried to still resist. But neither fast running nor waving branches helped. I had to leave the inhospitable shore, it’s good that no one had any allergies to the midge bite. Local residents then laughed at us and said that the midge will disappear only after the spill and the June haymaking. ”

Valentina Vladimirovna, Balashov

Features of bloodsucker bites

As noted above, only females can bite. They need blood to mature eggs. Midge bites are comparable to a surgical procedure. They do not pierce the skin, but literally gnaw at it, at the same moment the insects inject an anesthetic substance that allows the person to not experience pain until the parasites are full enough. At the same time, annoying bloodsucker introduces an enzyme that prevents blood clotting.

The insect saliva contains toxic substances for the human body, as a result of which a tumor and redness, burning and severe itching appear at the site of the lesion. Numerous bites can provoke an increase in temperature, swelling of the internal organs and, in rare cases, cause death.

The response to a midge bite differs in different people and depends on age, pain threshold, number of lesions, and a tendency to allergies. Severe itching causes the desire to scratch places from bites of midges. Even an adult is not able to resist this, and what can we say about children who tear apart the lesion sites before the appearance of blood. As a result, the situation is exacerbated by the penetration of bacteria. Photos of a midge bite are presented below.

The consequences of midge attacks

Insects bite all exposed parts of the body. Mostly in the zone of their attention fall hands, legs, parts of the face. In the first moments after midge bites, a person does not feel any pain due to the content of anesthetic substance in the insect saliva. Then the symptoms described in the table appear.

An allergy to midge bites occurs due to the content of a complex of hemolysing substances in saliva, which are of a protein nature. In children, the primary symptoms may be more pronounced than in adults. The first reaction to bites is the appearance of itching, which the child is trying to suppress by combing. As a result, puffiness on children's tender skin increases, pathogenic microbes enter the wounds, which leads to the fact that the skin integument does not heal for a long time.

In rare cases, the most dangerous consequences of a midge bite are anaphylactic shock. The harm from blood-sucking midges lies in the fact that they can be carriers of pathogens of dangerous diseases. Cats were the cause of plague epidemics no less than rat bites. The risk of infection is low, but nevertheless it exists if the female first tasted the blood of a sick animal, and then attacked a person.

Feedback

“I used to be midges in the kitchen did not meet other species of this insect. But recently I had to face a real horde of bloodsuckers on a picnic. I could not even imagine that they could bite like that. From their bites, the fingers and the back of the palm were swollen. It’s good that we came to nature in the late afternoon and the midges soon disappeared. ”

Olga, Bryansk

Bite treatment

How to treat a midge bite and whether it is worth doing depends on the degree of symptoms. First aid consists in treating the wound with an alcohol-based solution or a disinfectant. Subsequent measures are aimed at eliminating itching, reducing redness, relieving pain syndromes, and avoiding infection. How long the bite sites heal depends on the characteristics of the body and the measures taken aimed at recovery.In the absence of an allergic reaction, home treatment with traditional medicine is enough. Otherwise, you can not do without consulting a doctor. Self-prescribed treatment with antibiotics, hormonal ointments is contraindicated.

Treatment for a midge bite is carried out according to different schemes, which depend on the type of skin changes.

Folk recipes

At home, traditional medicine recipes are applicable, which allow you to remove the tumor after a midge bite, eliminate itching and prevent infection of the wounds:

• Soda and vinegar are well established as a means to relieve swelling. To do this, you need to prepare a solution of soda, moisten them with a gauze dressing and apply to the affected skin. Soda paste will help eliminate swelling in a few hours. For its preparation, soda must be mixed with water until the consistency of a thick slurry. The resulting substance periodically smear damaged skin.
• Laundry soap - a universal remedy for redness, swelling and itching. Soap foam is applied to the swollen area and rinsed off after drying.
• In the absence of drugs at home, edema can be eliminated using any means containing menthol. In critical situations, the use of toothpastes, mouth rinses is allowed.
• To eliminate itching and swelling after bites, cold compresses are suitable. Frozen meat, ice cubes, cold water, in a word, everything that gets in the refrigerator is applied to swollen places.

  

• In nature, emergency assistance to yourself or your child can be provided with a plantain leaf. Pre-washed sheet attached to the affected area and attach with a bandage. Dandelion leaf also has the effect of eliminating edema.
• Eliminate discomfort after a bite of a midge can be with the help of potatoes. To do this, apply a section of peeled tuber, juice or grated potatoes to damaged skin.
• Applications from boric alcohol or an aqueous solution of boric acid will relieve itching and have an antiseptic effect.
• Onions - a recognized folk remedy for relieving pain and reducing swelling after midge bite. Onions should be chopped, wrapped in gauze and attached to the bite site.

Bite Prevention

The easiest way to rid yourself of midge bites is to avoid visiting places where the vulture lives. But this is far from always possible, as in some regions the midge annoyingly recalls its presence directly on city streets, in parks, and public gardens. Therefore, in these cases, it is worth protecting yourself with the help of mosquito sprays, wearing closed clothes.During a walk with the baby, do not forget to cover the stroller with a mosquito net.