Treating a bite

Once you know what bit you, the question becomes what to put on it. These pages cover the things most people reach for — cold, hydrocortisone, antihistamines and calamine — including the situations where each of them is the wrong answer. None of them treats infection, and none of them treats a severe allergic reaction.

• Hydrocortisone cream for insect bitesHydrocortisone 1% calms the itch and swelling of a bite, not the bite itself. How to apply it, how long is too long, and when it is the wrong choice.
• Antihistamines for bug bitesOral antihistamines calm bite itch from the inside. Which type to take by day and by night, why the creams are a bad idea, and where they do not help at all.
• How to stop a mosquito bite from itchingCold first, then hydrocortisone or an antihistamine, and stop scratching — in that order. What works on mosquito bite itch, and what only feels like it does.
• Calamine lotion for bug bitesCalamine soothes and dries a bite rather than treating it. How to apply it, why pink and clear are different drugs, and when it is the wrong choice.
• Bed bug bite treatmentBed bug bites heal on their own in a week or two. Treating the itch is the easy half; the half that decides whether new bites appear is the room.