If you haven't you haven't found yourself covered in mosquito bites yet this season, you’re lucky. For most of us spending time outdoors be it the beach, camping out, at a bbq or sometimes even just walking to work, exposed skin seems to become a feast for all the bugs this season.
While it is hard to gauge whether biting season is any worse, doctors remind us there are obvious things we can do to keep bugs from going on attack. If you plan on being outdoors for a long time, health experts say you're going to either want to cover-up with long sleeves or pants or go for the big guns.
“The most commonly prescribed insect repellent contains DEET. And there's a variety of concentrations. The concentration will dictate the duration of the spray, how long you can stay out safely and have protection. We know in children, the concentration, according to the American Council of Pediatrics should be 10 percent or less” said Dr. Clifford Bassett.
While Bassett said sprays containing DEET appear to be the best repellents in terms of strength and how they last, products with natural ingredients are also an option for shorter amounts of time spent outdoors.
If you haven't you haven't found yourself covered in mosquito bites yet this season, you’re lucky. More from Kafi Drexel.
“Typically the natural products that contain oils such as geranium oil, soybean oil, even eucalyptus, the scent of the oils throw off the navigation system of mosquitoes. So it is actually a little different than a typical insect repellant,” Bassett said.” It actually interferes with the mosquitoes finding and biting you.”
Let's not forget that repellants do more than just keep you from getting nibbled on, for mosquitoes they can help prevent the far more serious West Nile virus. They can also prevent tick bites which can lead to Lyme disease.
Other things you may want to do to prevent bites? Avoid the outdoors during higher insect biting times like early morning, early evening, dusk and dawn. And also women tend to get more bites then men because bugs are attracted to sweet, "perfumey" smells so you may want to go heavier on the "OFF!" than the Christian Dior. Bassett said the less you smell like a flower, the less desirable you are to insects.