How to Protect Yourself from Mosquitoes and Ticks?

It is pleasant to rest in the fresh air in the summer, on the country lawn, or near a reservoir. But wherever there is a lot of greenery, you can find many insects, among which are not only butterflies but also ticks and mosquitoes. To protect against unpleasant neighbors, you can use repellents, bracelets, and folk methods. Consider the most effective options and tell you how you can use them.

Understanding Mosquitoes and Ticks

In addition to the fact that the very fact of a bite is already a little pleasant, ticks can carry infections such as borreliosis, Lyme disease, and tick-borne encephalitis. These are dangerous conditions that, if diagnosed late, can cause irreversible consequences.

The peak of tick activity occurs in the spring when they wake up from hibernation with the first warmth and continues all summer. Ticks mainly live in deciduous forests, but they are also found in the grass in household plots, in parks, and along the banks of reservoirs. Therefore, the safety of children in the summer should be taken care of not only at an outdoor picnic or on a hike but also in your own yard.

But although mosquitoes interfere with rest, the species living in our latitudes do not tolerate dangerous diseases and therefore pose much less danger than ticks. Most people don’t have any reaction or develop itchy inflammations – this is a reaction to a protein from mosquito saliva. Usually, these inflammations go away on their own after 1-2 days, in some cases, you can use a cream after insect bites to soothe itching.

How to protect yourself from mosquitoes at home?

The very first thing is to prevent mosquitoes from entering the house: install nets on windows and doors. You can also put a vase or pot with lavender, lemongrass, marigolds, lemon balm, peppermint, and basil on the windowsill. It is believed that these plants emit an unpleasant odor for mosquitoes and so repel them. Some essential oils have the same properties:

• Basil;
• Lemongrass;
• Geranium;
• Tea tree;
• Carnation;
• Thyme;
• Eucalyptus;
• Rosemary.

Natural Remedies for Mosquitoes and Ticks

During outdoor recreation, near a pond, in the forest, and in the country, a buzzing swarm especially interferes with enjoying the moment. If the repellent was not at hand, you can protect yourself from mosquitoes in the following ways:

• Cover your body with long sleeves.
• Apply an essential oil to your skin that repels mosquitoes. Just be sure to mix it with the base, otherwise, you can get irritation. Proportion: 7 drops of essential oil per tablespoon base.
• Make a bonfire. First, the smell of smoke overrides body odor, which itself attracts mosquitoes. And secondly, if you put a couple of drops of juniper oil into the fire, it will help scare them away from their resting place.

If you are relaxing in the country, it will not be superfluous to make sure that there is no standing water on the site – this is a favorite breeding ground for mosquitoes. If there are too many of them, it may be worth cleaning the fountain or pond, and checking if there are buckets, watering cans, or other containers with water in the yard.

Protecting Your Home and Yard

There is a lot of advice that is passed from mouth to mouth about tick protection with essential oils and other methods, but no one knows for sure how effective they are. And if you can try and experiment with protection against mosquitoes without harm to health, then in the case of ticks, you should not risk it. If you plan to visit places with a high probability of encountering a tick, it is better to immediately take with you a repellent with proven effectiveness.

You can also get Recognizing the Symptoms: How to Identify Body Swelling

Also important:

• Wear light-colored clothes – it is better to see insects;
• Choose clothes with a hood, cuffs, and long sleeves;
• Tuck trousers into socks, and outerwear into trousers.

A tick bite, unlike a mosquito, is usually not felt due to the anesthetic it releases. Therefore, immediately after a walk in any “green” place with tall grass, it is necessary to examine yourself and your children for bites. Particular attention should be paid to the areas:

• Under the arms;
• Behind the ears;
• In the groin;
• Under the knees;
• Between the toes.

If you find a tick, try to contact a medical facility as soon as possible to remove it. If this is not possible, use special tweezers or a tick removal pen. More about what should be the first aid for insect bites.

FAQs