BUG BITE REMEDIES!
What do you do with them pesky bug bites or stings that are itchy, red, and annoying you?
Plantain is my absolute favorite remedy for these. It is drawing and pulls out the sting, it also has properties that help calm down the itch. Many people have this weed in their yard!
Fresh Plantain is the best. You can chew it up and just put some right on the bug bite/sting to find immediate relief. Don’t want to chew it up? No problem…. Just take a leaf and rub it back and forth between your fingers until you start to feel the moisture from the plant on your fingers. Rub this moisture on your bug bite and then put the crushed-up plantain over your bug bit. You can hold it in place with a bandaid or gauze.
Don’t have any Plantain in your yard? Keep dried plantain on hand to use.
- To use Dried Plantain you will just put a spoonful in a bowl or mortar and pestle and then add a tiny amount of boiling water to the herb. Crush it with a spoon or pestle and then apply the herb to your bite/sting.
If you have multiple bites you can make a strong tea of this and use a tea-soaked cloth to apply over a larger area.
- To make a strong tea.
- Gather a whole plant of plantain and crush/chop the leaves with water and blender.
- Add to a small pot bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 min. Or you can just add a handful of dried Plantain to a pot of water and do the same. You can then soak a cloth in the liquid and apply it to the area with all the bug bites.
One friend of mine got eaten up by chiggers working on the farm and I suggested she take a bath in plantain. The evening before she was unable to sleep she itched so much. The next evening after the plantain bath she was able to sleep! You can just use the above tea added to your bath water.
Oak leaf is another favorite if you are in the forest or near one. If you are camping then making a tea of some oak bark and soaking a cloth/gauze in the tea and then applying it to your bug bite/sting can be very helpful.
Don’t have any of my favorites? Try these options.
- Oatmeal paste, Clay paste, Baking soda paste, Witch hazel topically.
- A friend of mine recently shared that Asprin crushed up in Coconut oil also helped!
- Tobacco also works really well if you happen to have someone smoking or they have chewing tobacco!
