BMI

What are different home remedies for insect bites – a summer problem? Part 2

Common bites and stings
- Most bites and stings will heal on their own without a visit to a doctor.
- The insect bites range from a normal mosquito to spider or a bee sting.
- The severity depends on the insect.
- Some insect bites might not be dangerous and mild.
- Some can lead to severe swelling and may need doctor’s help upon the prolonged swelling of the bite.
- Depending on which part the insect has bitten, the precautions can be taken.
- For example, if it eyes or inside the nose or ear, doctor’s help is required at the earliest.
- Redness, Itching, Irritation, Inflammation etc., are some symptoms of the bite.
- There are several things you can do to relieve pain and itching and prevent infection from a bite or sting.

Mosquito Bites
- For mosquito bites, apply lime juice diluted with water over the bite.
- Apply calamine lotion for mosquito bites.
- Apply a salt water solution or paste over the bite, this helps in relieving the itching problem.
- Mix one teaspoon baking soda in one glass of water and rub the solution with a cloth over the bite for 15 to 20 minutes.
- You can apply an antihistamine cream which relieves the itchiness from the bite.
- Applying rubbing alcohol over the bite helps to soothe the itch.
- Apply fresh damp mud on the bite. This can be used for bites similar to this like bug bites, chigger bites and others.
- Take an oat meal bath this will help to reduce the swelling and itchy feeling.
- Rub dry soap over the mosquito bite. It reduces the itchy feeling and the swelling.
- You can also use a banana peel which is to be used inside out. This provides relief from the bites.
- A mixture of pure olive oil and vinegar also helps in relieving the mosquito bite problem.

Chigger Bites
- Apply clear nail polish on the bites, it provides you quick relief.
- You can rub bacon grease on the affected area as this provides quick relief.
- Vicks Vapor Rub is another way to cure this problem.
- Petroleum chokes the chigger and methanol helps in relieving the itch.
- The mixture of camphor and phenol in mineral spirits also helps in shedding this problem.
- A hot water bath is an excellent way of dealing with this problem.
- Rubbing the affected area with Listerine also helps in alleviating this problem.

Wasp Bite
- First thing first, the bitten area should be cleaned with soap and water solution.
- You can apply a poultice of meat tenderizer or salt over the sting as soon as possible.
- You can use half a teaspoon of any of the products with water and leave it over the bite for 30 minutes.
- You can use this remedy for wasp itch or fire ant bite. Household ammonia can be use as it helps to minimize the sting produced due to the bite.

Other Bites
- You can use make a paste by mixing water with cornstarch. Apply this paste if you have been bitten by any poisonous insect like a spider. The paste helps in drawing out the poison from your body.

- You can wash the area with mild soap and water to remove the germs and other allergy provoking substances. This can be done for most of the bites like bug bites.

- A paste of baking soda and water works great for most bites.

| More

If you found this post informative, why not sign up to receive new posts ?
It's simple, and free, and you can even opt to receive by email:
Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Good Health Tips by Email

What is Body Mass Index (BMI)?

- Body Mass Index is a simple tool that is generally used to estimate the total amount of body fat.
- To calculate BMI, you need to know your weight and height in kilo-grams and centimeters or meters. The weight of a person is then divided by the height.
- A change in BMI over a short period of time is often used to measure the change in one’s lifestyle habits.
- It does not measure the percentage of body fat.
- The BMI measurement can sometimes be misleading – a muscleman may have a high BMI but have much less fat than an unfit person whose BMI is lower.
- BMI is a gross estimate for the amount of fat in your body. It tells you whether you need to lose weight or not.
- It is a useful tool for diagnosing obesity or malnutrition; however, such diagnosis should take into account a person’s age, gender, fitness, and ethnicity.
- In children, annual increase in BMI are usually due to increases in lean mass rather than fat tissue. Not until late adolescence does fat mass begin to affect the BMI.
- Women typically carry more subcutaneous fat than men do, particularly in the breast and hips, so their percent body fat may be higher without it necessarily being reflected in their BMI or having any adverse health effects.

BMI indicates you are :
- Underweight for BMI less than 18.5.
- Normal for BMI 18.5 – 22.9*.
- Overweight for BMI 23.0 – 24.9*.
- Obese for BMI 25.0 and above.
A BMI of over 25 in a person, with sedantary lifestyle, makes them more prone to problems like heart diseases, gall stones, high blood pressure or hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis, breast and Colon Cancer.

Limitations of Body Mass Index (BMI)

- BMI calculation is solely dependant on the net weight and height of the individual and does not consider the distribution of muscle and bone mass.
- Risk of overestimating fatness in individuals with high muscle mass is there.
- BMI does not differentiate between body fat and muscle mass.
- BMI overestimates the fat and the risks to health in body builders and athletes.
- BMI can underestimate the amount of body fat in elderly people.