If you read my site last week, then you must have noticed that it was all about our trip to Costa Rica. What I didn’t mention, however, was the ridiculous amount of bug bites we got during our stay.
I’m not just talking about mosquito bites, though we got plenty of those. The worst of all the bug bites we collected during our stay were from some kind of black fly. I’m not sure what they’re called, though now that we’re home I’ve dubbed them the Evil Bugs of Pain.
Normally when I get bug bites, I reach for the hydrocortisone cream. But this time we didn’t have any, and Ted talked me into trying out a homeopathic remedy instead: Ssssting Stop, a homeopathic gel we found on the shelf at Whole Foods. [You can also buy this product at Drugstore.com and Amazon, and I'm sure you can find it in local natural foods stores.]
Ssssting Stop: my new favorite thing
I’ll admit I was skeptical when we bought it, a feeling that was enhanced by my insatiable urge to scratch all of my skin off right there in the store. Seriously, I’ve never itched as badly as I did with these freaky bites, and they were actually painful. It’s no wonder I was wary that some herbal gel would make a difference, but I agreed to give it a try.
Once we were in the car, we ripped into the box with a crazed look in our eyes. We had the itch, would Ssssting Stop scratch it? We rubbed the gel on our bites, waited for a few moments, and… Aaaaaahhhh. Wow. The stuff really worked! I was shocked at how quickly and thoroughly the gel took away the itchiness.
The best thing about Ssssting Stop is its ingredient list. It contains Echinacea, Ledum palustre (in the Rhododendron family), Urtica diotica (stinging nettle), citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, and a water gel base. And that’s it. A bunch of plant extracts and essential oils in a base is all it took to make me a believer. Take note, though, that this product’s ingredients aren’t organic. Despite this, I’m still recommending it, because I think that the anti-itch alternatives are much worse.
As a person who seems to be irresistible to hungry bugs the world over, I’m going to make Ssssting Stop my new favorite travel companion. Well, besides Ted, of course. And the company that produces Ssssting Stop has other products, though I haven’t tried any of them yet. My mind has been blown open by their planty gel of wonder, so I’ll be sure to try their other products out at some future date. Until then, I’ll be keeping my Ssssting Stop nearby at all times. Mosquitos and freaky black flies of the world, feast away.
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