Buffalo, If You Have A Mosquito Bite Definitely Don’t Do This

Summer isn't all sunshine and beers on a patio. With the warmer weather, the bugs come out to play too. So what to do when you get a mosquito bite?

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Pro tip: don't do this.

A favorite "home remedy" for stopping the itch is to make an "X" with your fingernail, and/or spit on it.

This is a bad idea for a variety of reasons.

First, it doesn't work. “You can’t really fight your own body with spit,” Dr. Robert Sporter, a board-certified allergist tells Buzzfeed.

As well, you could be opening yourself up to an infection. If you pierce the skin, you could introduce a staph infection, which could lead to cellulitis. This is the same reason you shouldn't scratch mosquito bites.

"They’ll develop a bacterial infection because they’ve broken the skin so much,” says Dr. Sporter.

So, what should you do? A mosquito bite itches because your body is having an allergic response to the mosquito's saliva -- histamines are what's responsible. So you might have luck using your regular allergy meds if the itching won't subside.