Why do mosquito bites itch

Mosquitoes and Biting

Actually, mosquitoes do not bite. Rather, they insert their pointy, syringe-like mouths in one’s body and suck out the blood from it. Also, not all mosquitoes do this. Basically, mostly females are prone to biting people and other mammals due to the fact that they need proteins from our blood in order to lay eggs. So, as vampire-like as they might seem, female mosquitoes bite you in order to give life to their own kind. However, it is not the biting and blood stealing that causes our skin to get irritated. We experience bumps, redness and itching on the spots because of different chemicals mosquitoes insert beneath our skin to speed up the blood transfusion process. All in all, mosquitoes function in mysterious ways, and one can get more acquainted with their existence through the following lines.

More about Mosquitoes and Their Bites

Once you get bitten by a mosquito, you are not advised to touch, let alone scratch the area in question. As soon as your system notices the bite, it produces histamine, in order to stop any possible infections. However, histamine triggers an allergic reaction to the mosquito chemicals, leading to all the symptoms which take place after the bite. Thus, once bitten, you are best off with washing the area with soap and warm water, applying Calamine lotion or other products which are known to relieve one of the itchy feelings.

Back to the biting phenomenon, once a female mosquito pierces your skin with its needle-like organ, it immediately starts searching for blood vessels. This process triggers the itching. Once an adequate blood vessel has been found, the female inserts it with chemicals which prevent blood clotting and creating of scabs, making the process of blood sucking free and unobstructed. In return, of course, you are troubled by the itching and irritation afterwards.

Later on, once our body’s reaction makes the bite spot swell, it presses upon our skin nerves and increases the irritation, giving rise to the familiar pain related to this uncomfortable experience.

Finally, if we leave the bite spot alone, unless we are allergic to mosquito bites, the irritation will disappear on its own eventually. However, in order to speed the process up, we might use antihistamine pills and creams in order to get rid of the irritation and make it last for a shorter period of time.

These were the basics about mosquitoes and their bites. All in all, they are not that dangerous and, even though they cause skin irritations and the annoying itching, this can easily be treated once you know how to deal with it.