No-See-Ums: You May Not See Them, But You’ll Feel Them

Let’s say you’ve planned your vacation for ages down to the smallest of details and you arrive at your final destination full of anticipation and excitement. Now let’s say that you weren’t informed or prepared to understand about one thing that could make your vacation a little less than enjoyable. What could that be? It’s the No-See-Ums, a tiny insect that can leave you wishing that you never went on vacation. This is from the undercurrent.org web site:

Though one-third the size of a mosquito, its bite is inversely more painful. While mosquito bites cause raised lumps on the skin that become very itchy, they can be soothed with calamine lotion, Benadryl, or aloe vera. Mosquitoes can be a lot to deal with, especially when you are not sure how to get rid of them in your home/garden. With that being said, there is no harm in getting in touch with someone like a
Olathe pest control company to help get the problem resolved. At least you know this will be in the hands of a professional.

No-seeum bites result in typically a whole bunch of red welts that irritate the skin, are slow to deflate, and cause three to four days of severe itching. No-see-ums on the beach will bite most often on the ankles and lower legs, just because they’re closer to the ground. But if you’re unlucky enough to pass through a dark swarm of them, no part of your body is off-limits and they could fly into your eyes, ears, nose or mouth.

Sounds like fun right? Wrong! As someone who has a strong reaction to bug bites, I certainly packed my bug spray, but never thought I was actually going to use it. This is where I was wrong and you should learn from my mistakes. Use it because you should and it will definitely make your life easier. Apparently the no-see-ums are attracted to sweet scents, but I think they are just attracted to humans or maybe just me personally. Actually, the sweet scents they mention include deodorant, shampoo, and lotions and not just perfume. Instead of treating after the fact, prevent bites by using your bug spray with DEET or an all-natural alternative spray. The worst time of the day for no-see-ums is during the early hours of the day before the sun heats up and at the end of the day around 4-5pm as the sun sets. If you are going to be out during the times where no-see-ums are more active, you should consider wearing light long sleeved shirts and long pants as well as socks and shoes. In addition you should carry Benadryl in case you or someone in your family has an adverse reaction to the bites.

Don’t let the no-see-ums or anything else prevent you from having a great vacation. As I write this I’m scratching and obsessing about when the no-see-ums first attacked me and whether or not they’ll be back, but I am not going to let them stop me from having a good time! If your vacation takes you to a tropical place near the beach, like the US Virgin Islands for example, educate yourself and be prepared before your vacation so that it will be the vacation you hoped it would be in the end.