Blackfly mosquito and stinging insect treatment/device

[chainbrake]

Yesterday, I got 8 blackfly bites even with my bug suit! They found a couple of small holes, and in the came. They are thick this year. I am extra sensitive to them. They swell up, fester and itch for 2 weeks. Once, I got bitten so badly that I got hives over 3/4 of my body. Anyhow, even if they are a minor annoyance, my neighbourhood farmer found a device to use after being bitten.

It is called a therapik. Battery-operated, it uses heat. If will fit in your pocket. The sooner you apply as much heat/light as you can stand to the bite site, the better. It changes the molecules that the bugs inject into you, and keeps the swelling/stinging reactions from getting out of control.

Yesterday, I used it after discovering my bites, it helped a great deal. I wasn't quite quick enough with using it after being bitten; so, when I woke up to pee, some of the bites were enough to keep me getting back to sleep. I reapplied the therapik. After about an hour, i could go back to sleep. Today, I can hardly notice the bites, but I am giving them one more shot with the light to keep the swelling and reacting at bay, while i go back out with a new bug suit - no holes.

Mosquitos and blackflies are attracted to type-O blood, especially O-positive. That's my blood-type and in a place with ten people standing around, I'll be the one getting bitten. Even, if you are not fortunate enough to have someone with O-positive blood to attract the flies away from you, then this is a good treatment option - the best i have found.

The one we have:
https://www.amazon.ca/Therapik-Sting-Reliever-THPKBL-1000/dp/B07F9D73WQ

and a cheaper thing that probably works as good:
https://www.amazon.ca/BiteRelief-Tr...080-9685-ed86556c3195&pd_rd_i=B09WH5SP25&th=1

 

[pdqdl]

Ok. I gotta admit that I thought of this as total BS. It turns out, however, that there is actually some research that supports this kind of pseudo-medical device.



https://www.researchgate.net/public..._Treatment_of_Insect_Bites_A_Real-world_Study

There are also a fair number of similar devices that make similar claims.

Myself, I am unaffected by any kind of insect bite, although fly bites do hurt while they are biting. I just never have any reaction to them, be they chigger, mosquitoes, deer-fly, horsefly, no-see-ums, or any other bloodsucker. I don't think I've ever tried any blackfly bites, but they don't sound like any fun to deal with. Even stings by by bees or wasps barely raise a welt, and spider bites seem to have little effect on me either.

I've seen a lot of folks suffer greatly from these skin irritations, and I feel sorry for the lot of you.

 

[chainbrake]

Ok. I gotta admit that I thought of this as total BS. It turns out, however, that there is actually some research that supports this kind of pseudo-medical device.

I've seen a lot of folks suffer greatly from these skin irritations, and I feel sorry for the lot of you.

I was leery of it too, but my wife bought it because she trusted our kind neighbor. It works!

Bug bites/stings didn't bother me much until after I got an auto-immune disease - then everything changed. And I am not complaining, mind you.

I just put the links in to help others in the bush who may not have heard of these things. The blackflies are so bad where i am that they are cutting into my production. If I am running a saw, the smoke keeps them away, but as soon as that saw stops, they are on me like stink on $#!+.

There are lots of species of blackflies, but the ones Up North (in Canada) seem to be the worst. They swarm and they can even kill large animals like deer and cattle. In the US, the various types seem to be much easier to deal with. They are often known as gnats and no-see-ums. I grew up in farm country in the US, and gnats barely bothered me. The blackflies in Canada will always draw blood if you let them. No-see-ums on the West Coast were not a big deal either.

https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/dc4...b9e-b83b-16cc7932953a/download/1993-651-6.pdf

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Idk what my blood type is, but skeeters love me. The bites swell up pretty bad an itch like crazy.
When I was little, my mother used to make an X with her fingernail over the bite and that helps with the itch.
I've found that witch hazel works great and about 30 minutes after application, there's no itch, or swelling.
I found those heat pens on ebay. Might try one and see if it works.

For working up in a tree, can't you use one of those smoke devices beekeepers use to back off the flies?

Btw, I have a skeeter bite on my arm and just tried the X and it still works. Maybe that draws extra blood flow to the area like the heat pen does?

 

[chainbrake]

Idk what my blood type is, but skeeters love me. The bites swell up pretty bad an itch like crazy.
When I was little, my mother used to make an X with her fingernail over the bite and that helps with the itch.
I've found that witch hazel works great and about 30 minutes after application, there's no itch, or swelling.
I found those heat pens on ebay. Might try one and see if it works.

For working up in a tree, can't you use one of those smoke devices beekeepers use to back off the flies?

Btw, I have a skeeter bite on my arm and just tried the X and it still works. Maybe that draws extra blood flow to the area like the heat pen does?

Actually O-Negative is the most liked and O-positive is second most liked. But O, in general, is far ahead of the other types as far as flies/mosquitos prefer. I miswrote earlier.

I don't work up in trees - don't climb. I have a ground game only. I use the odd ladder to place a strap up high for my winch. Black flies don't fly high. They generally stay below the 10' mark. When I am building houses, blackfly season is a good time to be on the second story or the roof of a bungalow. It is also a good time of year to be the tree climber and not part of the ground crew. Smudge fires help keep them away. It is fire season where we live - no fires allowed.

 

[pdqdl]

I was leery of it too, but my wife bought it because she trusted our kind neighbor. It works!

Bug bites/stings didn't bother me much until after I got an auto-immune disease - then everything changed. And I am not complaining, mind you.

I just put the links in to help others in the bush who may not have heard of these things. The blackflies are so bad where i am that they are cutting into my production. If I am running a saw, the smoke keeps them away, but as soon as that saw stops, they are on me like stink on $#!+.

There are lots of species of blackflies, but the ones Up North (in Canada) seem to be the worst. They swarm and they can even kill large animals like deer and cattle. In the US, the various types seem to be much easier to deal with. They are often known as gnats and no-see-ums. I grew up in farm country in the US, and gnats barely bothered me. The blackflies in Canada will always draw blood if you let them. No-see-ums on the West Coast were not a big deal either.

https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/dc4...b9e-b83b-16cc7932953a/download/1993-651-6.pdf

If the bugs are eating you that bad, you might wish to try a 1/2% solution of permethrin, a common insecticide. This isn't exactly following the product label, since it isn't approved for human use. It is commonly used on cattle and other domestic animals, and I can assure you that ticks will steer clear of you if you are sporting some ode-de-permethrin.