large reaction to insect bite -

[NotAQueef]

hello
wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to reduce swelling red area around a bite?
have been bitten on back of my thigh probably by a mosquito (given the reaction I've had) and have red hot itchy swelling covering the width of the back of my thigh and approx 4 inches in length.

have taken antihistamine earlier and sprayed with savlon but it isn't improving - bloody uncomfortable actually.
have put a pic on my profile
any suggestions to reduce discomfort most welcome
thanks

I have no idea what bit me to be honest as I didn't feel it at the time (happened overnight)
still very uncomfortable and a few more little blisters - some of which burst over night
The red area has got a little bigger and now covers almost all the back of my thigh but the more yellow-y area directly around the bite area hasn't got any bigger.

not sure what to do - I am dillydallying as I am at work with no way of getting to walk in centre (which is closer than doctors), have only been back 6 weeks after having a month off with something else.
Don't want to be a problem employee.
just wish I knew for sure if it was cellulitis or needs further treatment other than anti-histamines

Last year I was bitten at dusk on my inner ankle. The next day the ankle was like a balloon and during the day it spread up to my knee!
Nurse at GP called it cellulitis - 5 day ABs and antihistamines. The itching didn't stop until the ABs course was finished.
I developed a scab at the bite area which took a while to drop off and then I saw 2 fang-like holes . Do not know what it was, so this year worn socks even in the heat when out, and been indoors before dusk. No bites.

eek that sounds nasty digerd glad you've avoided a repeat this year.
I was fully clothed in bed when mine happened - thick trackie bottoms masquerading as pjs. Must have had big teeth.

that's horrific!

I had an allergic reaction to a horse bite a few weeks ago. Had recd swelling the size of my hand. My GP gave me a course of steroids.

Since 2006, I have been a favourite of , what I call, exotic beasties.

I too have been bitten from the back through slinky fabric capris. That time it didn't want the naked ankle, but aimed straight for the meatier back of the thigh in the middle of the day. But up until last year, I had only hard lumps form up to the size of a 50p piece which stayed in that one place and itched like mad for several days.

Have had one on my midriff too and no idea how it got there as don't wear bikinis or crop tops.

It could have been trapped in your tracky bottoms and bitten you after you put them on? Especially if you had recently washed them and hung them outside to dry?

flick

Hc45 was what my doctor recommended, you buy it over the counter in the pharmacy, plus I have a stash of prescription anti histamine tablets to take as well as I react badly to bites.

Digerd, apparently two holes indicates a spider bite.....

digerd yours sounds like a spider bite.
Has anyone heard of the Blandford fly? That can cause really nasty swollen bites on the legs, it is tiny but the bites are terrible. Maybe that is to blame for some of your nasty reactions?

The fang holes were a mm in diameter with a mm inbetween them. The whole area scabbed over and took 2 weeks to fall off.
Once bitten, eternally shy as far as I am concerned.
Yes, I did read up about spider bites, but in all my too many years, never had one before and didn't see anything. But was at dusk. Immediately after I felt it, the whole ankle to the foot < I was wearing clog type sandals> felt like a stinging but also very itchy nettle rash.
Not had that either with my usual gnat bites.

Yes, that really sounds like a spider bite. My MIL had a nasty one last year, whole arm swelled up and scabbed. The classic two pronged bite was there easy to see. Saw one on a friend's leg last week too, he thinks his was a large house spider or a cellar spider. The bite was pretty big, it must have had huge fangs .

EEEK!! But I was outside at the end of driveway by footpath next to a small flower bed. I was chatting to somebody, but they were not bitten.

The skin is still discoloured

Why do spiders sometimes bite?

I got a rash similar to yours and went to the doctor expecting them to give me some sort of antihistamine cream, but they put me on anti-biotics for poss lymes disease - I later found a tick in my bed that had obviously been living on me for a while... I live in a ticky area though so wasn't a surprise. But the rash (big, red, wide, with white/yellow bit around bite) sounds like what I had. I hadn't noticed it biting me because of it being on the back of my leg.

Either way, get seen if you've not already, sounds like you've had a v bad reaction.

The only difference last year was that it rained for months and we had the heatwave for a short time in July when it happened. Perhaps it had been waiting for a long time and was ravenous

Only a few UK spiders have the strength to break our skin. They will bite when threatened in some way, so digerd you may have accidentally brushed against one? I remember my Dad picking up a massive house spider and it trying really hard to bite him. It left two red marks but didn't go through the tough skin on Dad's palm. My Dad was laughing, but I was rather .

ratqueen, good you mentioned ticks. If anyone gets a bite type mark which developes a red ring round it, like a bullseye, then see a doc right away for antibiotics. A neighbours dd has Lymes disease, misdiagnosed for nearly a decade as ME, MS, all sorts of things. She did have the classic bullseye mark (under her hair) but as they didn't know about Lymes she wasn't treated and now has long term problems. She often has to use a wheelchair.

Our small dogs got ticks occasionally and they looked like a wart, but later they looked disgustingly fat and pinkish red as were full of the blood they had drank. The head was buried in the skin/flesh and couldn't be seen, only the little short legs splayed out in a circle. Looked like a headless , fat bodied alien. I couldn't touch them so DH had to twist the head out - yuck!!

Ticks are vile. I took a hedgehog to the vet once, it was covered in ticks and the vet (not very sensibly) stabbed the ticks with a syringe! EErggh- blood spurted out. Hideous. My hair feels crawly just thinking of it.
In the nymph stage though ticks are very small and it can be hard to know you have been bitten, so any bullseye rash needs antibiotics.

Ew helly! That's horrific. We use our cats tick comb to remove ones we find! Lovely.

The tick I found in my bed was tiny - not one of those big armadillo things my cat has had. I actually thought it was a bed bug (urgh) so I got pest control around and they confirmed tick with a magnifiying thing.

DH found two on him subsequently but had no rash (luckily - one was on his nether regions!!!). My GP thought I got the rash because I hadn't noticed it on me, with it being on the back of my leg - if they feed off you for more than 24 hours there is a stronger risk of them passing on Lyme Disease.

The tiny ticks are in the nymph stage. I am really paranoid about ticks because of the young girl I know with Lyme disease. When they are small they can easily be on you for over 24 hours as they are so hard to spot and the bites don't hurt. I am glad you got meds quickly, Lyme disease is so dreadful.