Does Using Heat Actually Help With Itchy Mosquito Bites?

Getting bit by pesky, blood-sucking mosquitoes during the summer is no fun since the bites can cause skin symptoms puffy red bumps, small blisters, and swelling. Aside from how they look, mosquito bites are also bothersome because of how they feel—often very itchy.

While you can often get relief from mosquito bite itchiness with over-the-counter (OTC) creams and home remedies, people on social media claim that using heat can help, too.

Some TikTok users claim that using the “warm spoon trick” can get rid of itchiness and discomfort from mosquito bites fast. One user even claimed that placing a warm spoon on the bite can get rid of the itch in less than a minute.

“I can help you get rid of bug bites in less than a minute. All you need is a cup, a spoon, and a little bit of water,” the user said. “Microwave the water for one minute, stick the spoon in the water for 30 seconds, take the spoon out, and press on the bug bite.”

While experts say heat—whether from a spoon, compress, or electronic device—can temporarily alleviate itchy mosquito bites, they don’t recommend it. Here’s why.

Why Would Heat Help Mosquito Bites? 

Kevin Wang, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of dermatology at the Stanford School of Medicine and attending physician at the VA Palo Alto Medical Center, told Verywell that generally speaking, applying heat to a mosquito bite may decrease itchiness. However, that relief may only last a few minutes to a few hours.

According to Wang, using heat works for some people because it activates a specific signal pathway on the sensory nerve cells on your skin that causes itching. When heat is applied to the skin, it acts like a "counterirritant” on the nerve cells and blocks the transmission of the itching signal to the brain, which relieves the sensation of itching.

“Any modality that applies heat—capsaicin, hot showers, hot water, hot compresses—all of them are acting on the same or very similar family of signals of receptors that are encountered by the skin from the external environment and brings it to the spinal cord and eventually to the brain to alleviate the itch,” he said.

Calvin Williams, MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist and medical director of Essential Dermatology Group, in Bedford, Texas, told Verywell that the process is similar to how a parent’s kiss on a boo-boo can help reduce the pain of a young child’s injury because “heat provides counter-stimulation which can distract the nerve cells from transmitting the itch signal.”

According to Williams, heat can also relieve itchiness by neutralizing proteins from a mosquito’s saliva—for example, histamine and other inflammatory molecules that are released by cells in response to injury or infection. When heat is applied to an affected area, the release of these proteins decreases, which can lead to temporary relief from itching.

“The proteins in the mosquito’s saliva can be denatured (made ineffective) by heat, ultimately reducing the body’s immune response to them,” he said. “The heat helps to neutralize the proteins delivered by mosquito’s saliva which cause the allergic reaction. However, the relief may be temporary, as the itch often returns after the heat is removed.”

Other experts caution that while heating methods can work for some people, they won’t work for everyone.

Cameron Rokhsar, MD, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Health Systems, told Verywell that if anything, heat “exacerbates inflammation by receiving more blood flow and therefore inflammatory cells.”

Why? “Heat recruits increased blood flow into the area which means more inflammatory cells come to the area,” Rokhsar said. “They release histamine which is the mediator of itch.”

Do Experts Recommend Using Heat to Relieve Itch? 

Even though using heat sources could temporarily stop the itch from mosquito bites, experts do not generally don’t approve of the method to get relief.

“It’s not something I or my colleagues routinely recommend for itching,” said Wang. “There are far more effective medicines and methods for itching.”

Wang also warned that if you apply heat to a mosquito bite or affected area, especially from a hot spoon or during a hot shower, you run the risk of burning the outer layer of your skin and causing more inflammation or irritation to the affected area.

“The biggest concern I have is safety. Most people aren’t going to take a temperature of how hot their hot water is before they apply it directly on their skin,” said Wang. “You are more likely to get burned by it and you risk getting first-degree semi-injury and that’s why I don’t recommend it.”

Experts also cautioned against using electronic heating pens or similar devices. Although many of these devices claim to use heat to help with symptoms like itching, swelling, and pain, Wang said that there isn’t much evidence to show the long-term health effects that using these devices could have on a person’s health.

It’s also not known how long these devices can offer relief from itchiness and whether their effects are longer lasting compared to other methods.

“I think anything that patients can do that helps the itch I’m all for, but I think you have to be careful because you don’t know the longer-term consequences of chronic use of these machines,” said Wang.

What Can You Do to Ease Itchy Mosquito Bites?

If you’ve been a mosquito magnet this summer, fear not. You’ve got plenty of non-heat options for helping with your symptoms.

“There are other modalities that can treat itch much more safely, like capsaicin cream or Gold Bond cream—the stuff that Shaquille O’Neal advertises,” said Wang. “You can use these to apply directly to the skin for the same kind of burning effect as a hot spoon.”

According to Williams, these treatments should only be used for simple insect bites and not for severe allergic reactions. If you have large areas of swelling, inflammation, soreness, redness, hives, low-grade fever, or swollen lymph nodes, these are signs you're not just dealing with run-of-the-mill bites you can treat at home.

“It’s important to remember that people’s skin and reactions to insect bites vary greatly and if the bite is severely painful, or if symptoms don’t improve, it’s best to consult a healthcare provider,” said Williams.

Here are a few options that experts recommend for getting relief from mosquito bites:

• Cold compresses: Williams said to apply an ice pack on any affected area for at most 10 minutes to reduce swelling and itching. Sometimes, applying a cold pack can also be soothing.
• Topical creams: Wang said that over-the-counter (OTC) anti-itch creams or even prescription cortisone creams can be used to decrease inflammation and help relieve itching. Other topical creams like calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream can also help. 
• Antihistamines: Rokhsar said that taking OTC oral antihistamine medications like Allegra or Zyrtec can reduce the allergic reaction associated with mosquito bites.
• Natural remedies: Applying home remedies like a mixture of baking soda and water to the affected area on the skin can help reduce itchiness. You can also try taking a bath with colloidal oatmeal which can be soothing for irritated or itchy skin, Williams said.