Why do mosquito bites itch?
When a mosquito bites us, some mosquito saliva remains in your blood, explains Luus van Eck. “That is a foreign substance, so your body will defend itself against it. This also happens, for example, if you are allergic to creams or cosmetics. All kinds of substances are released during that defense, including histamine.”
Histamine causes your blood vessels to dilate, causing the swelling and redness associated with a mosquito bite. “But the threshold for histamine differs per person. That is why one person gets bigger mosquito bites than the other, and more itchy.”
This itching is caused by histamine also stimulating a nerve in your skin that is responsible for itching. When this nerve is stimulated, the nerve sends a message to your brain that it is itching, Van Eck explains.
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What not to do
Anyone who has a mosquito bite wants to scratch. Seems like a good plan, but it’s not. “The itch actually gets worse once you start scratching,” says the skin therapist. Many people therefore advise making a cross with your nail in a mosquito bite if it itches. “The idea behind this is that the pain is temporarily stronger than the itching,” explains Van Eck. “But that is not a treatment method that works in the long term.”
2023-07-31 14:59:27
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