Insect Care

It is very difficult when travelling or spending time in the outdoors to avoid insects, so it is important to take precautions to try to stop them biting. Insect bites can cause irritation in cases like the Scottish midge but more seriously they can transmit dangerous diseases such as malaria, dengue and yellow fever, depending on where you are in the world.

For information on any venue regarding health risks and medical treatment then check out: The Travel Doctorand the travel pharmacy section of the Care Plus website for recommendations of options that we keep in stock.

Deet is the strongest and most effective insect repellent for the skin available. DEET is effective against all stinging insects and ticks, but is most effective against (malaria) mosquitoes and gadflies, ticks and bloodsuckers and reasonably effective against large horseflies, nits and midges.

Deet is rated as a percentage with 100 being the strongest. 100 isn't recommended for use straight on the skin or for prolonged periods of use, but is useful for putting on natural fabric clothing (it can melt some plastics). Factors 30 to 50 will cover most users needs. Less than 30% Deet is not effective enough whilst 50% Deet will have as much effect as 100% Deet but it will have to be re-applied more regularly. One application of 50% Deet will last 10 hours, whilst 30% will last 5 1-2 hours.

For those looking for something a little less severe, Life Systems Natural 40 is a kinder alternative.

We stock Deet in four forms of application: spray and roll on from Lifesystems and gel and lotion from Care Plus.

• Sprays are good to carry as they can be sprayed into the air and onto clothing as well as skin but can get into eyes and mouth a bit too easily and have a tendancy to leak once the seal is broken (particularly problematic as Deet reacts with some plastics - watch out when spraying near your specs).
• Roll on is an easy to use format that doesn't tend to leak.
• Lotion and gels are easy to apply evenly to the skin and too keep out of the eyes and mouth.

The Scottish and Welsh midge is a less dangerous (but very annoying) character, and to combat him we have Myrtle-based Midge and Mosi repellant, for people with sensitive skins that are travelling in fairy safe regions we carry the Natural 40 insect repellant, both from LifeSystems. For the campsite or the barbeque Mosquito Smoke Coils also help keep insects away, and and for indoors there is a mains powered Plug In Mosquito Killer.

If you do get bitten there are a number of options for relief from the irritation. The classic is Lifesystems Roll On Bite Relief which is quite soothing, but rather more radical are Care Plus' Bite Patches. They are ideal for bad bites that really itch the patch covers them so you can't scratch as easily (which reduces the chances of infection), the active constituents permeate the skin to sooth the area.

Tick born encephalitis is a problem that is spreading west across Europe gradually that is particularly nasty. Combine this with the already UK-present Lyme disease and it can be seen that keeping ticks at bay is important. Ticks are common in moorland, bog and waterside areas, so carrying Tick Deoderant is particularly important for people on paddling trips across Europe as well as serious bog trotters. If you do find a tick attached to yourself removing them without leaving anything behind is very important and is made much easier by the use of the Care Plus Tick Lasso.

People who are allergic to Wasps will also find the Care Plus Wasp Deoderant useful.