Why Mosquitoes Love You So Damn Much
If you’re anything like us, mosquitos love you. You could be sitting by the pool with a few of your friends, and by the time you all go inside, you’re scratching away at your skin while everyone else managed to escape unscathed. So what’s the deal?
It’s not just in your head: There is a reason why you attract mosquitoes more than others-you work out a lot. But don’t panic. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a life of itchy, welt-covered skin every summer.
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There are things you can do to limit the amount of bites you get, or make the ones you do get feel a little better. Here, why you get bitten so damn much-and what you can do about it.
Why Do Mosquito Bites Itch?
The itching and swelling that accompanies a bite occurs when your immune system responds to something it doesn’t recognize.
“When a mosquito bites, the first thing it does is produce a little bit of its saliva, which contains proteins that your immune system sees as a foreign body, and mounts an immediate response to attack those proteins,” says Jonathan Day, PhD, a mosquito researcher and professor of medical entomology at the University of Florida. “That response tends to involve histamine that attacks those proteins, and that causes swelling, redness, and itching at the site.”
This reaction happens within a minute or two of being bitten, Day says. It tends to be most severe the first time you are bitten by a particular species of mosquito, since your body doesn’t recognize the mosquito’s proteins, and hasn’t yet made memory cells to combat it.
The good news is, the reaction usually becomes less severe each time you’re bitten by the same species of mosquito. The bad news? There are actually more than 3,000 species of mosquitos worldwide, so chances are pretty good you can still come in contact with a sucker who can make your skin itch and swell.
Why Do Mosquitos Love You So Much?
The main reason you get bitten in disproportionate numbers if you do any kind of aerobic activity is because mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide, which cyclists and runners tend to produce more of than the average person, according to Day.
“If you have a higher metabolic rate, you release more carbon dioxide than someone with a lower metabolic rate,” Day says. “Because runners artificially increase their metabolic rate during runs, they’re not only producing a lot more carbon dioxide than they normally would while resting-probably three to four times as much-but they’re also producing a lot of other attractants, such as lactic acid and an increased surface body temperature.” The same is true of cyclists.
How Can You Avoid Getting Mosquito Bites?
Just because you’re a mosquito magnet doesn’t mean you’re totally out of luck-there are a few things you can do to lessen the chances of getting bitten.
Perhaps the best one, according to Day, is doing any warmups or cool downs in an enclosed space where mosquitos can’t get to you, especially if it’s dusk or dawn-when they’re most active. This is because, especially after your workout, mosquitoes sense those secondary attractants. So stretch inside if you’re prone to bites.
Day also recommends wearing mosquito-repellent clothing (Most of these options, though, are long-sleeved shirts and pants, which you may not want to wear in the summer-it all comes down to personal preference).
While your first instinct may be to reach for a spray to keep mosquitos at bay, Day says “even a little bit of sweat can dilute repellent to the point where it becomes ineffective.”
If you do end up with a bite (or three), Day recommends alcohol swabs to relieve the itch. Scratching it, he notes, will only make it worse-and could even cause infection.
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