X Marks the Spot
Posted by JoeHaveman@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 48 comments
I did this in front of my daughter. I didn’t really have an answer to “Why did you do that to your mosquito bite?! Does that help???” Anyone else do this as a kid?
Starkville@reddit
Yup. Still do.
periodicsheep@reddit
i’ve been doing that since i was a kid. i’m not sure if it ever really helps or if i just imagine it does.
thatstwatshesays@reddit
Heat is the only thing that helps. I used to have one of those bite healers, but they break and need batteries, so I’ve learned how to do it with a lighter and a spoon. I look a bit like I’m doing drugs but I don’t care bc I hate having to go to the hospital for a mosquito bite (allergic).
NojaysCita@reddit
Tell me more. I’m also allergic - not hospital level, but bites swell into huge bumps and I have many a permanent mark from where I’ve scratched the hell out of myself. I usually do ice and Benadryl, which sucks b/c it knocks me out.
thatstwatshesays@reddit
It’s basically just applying the hottest heat you can stand, directly to the bite. without burning yourself. Works for me in the shower too, but only if I turn the water very hot. You only have to hold it on there for like 10-15 seconds, but if it’s hot enough, it’s like it turns off the itch.
Chrissybear222@reddit
Ok I grew up in the Midwest and I've never seen this before. 😳😮
Objective_Shake_9314@reddit
i grew up doing this in wichita, kansas
little_boots_@reddit
a little, mostly i just scratched until bleeding
IRadiateYou1999@reddit
Yes! Later I learned to follow the X with an alcohol swab. Best way to stop the itching.
LynxLynx555@reddit
Straight X? Belongs on the back of your hand.
GrumpyWords3444@reddit
When I was a kid my ma told me putting the X on the bite broke up the poison, made it itch less and go away quicker. Still do this.
newhappyrainbow@reddit
It usually does help for a while… though your mom’s explanation seems suspect.
GrumpyWords3444@reddit
She passed down what she was told by her mom. You know not to disagree with the Baltic baba's (Eastern European Grandma's) 😂
newhappyrainbow@reddit
Fair!
zombie_overlord@reddit
Not much more than scratching it. Mine would usually start itching again with the X method.
My dad showed me the way though. If you absolutely have to scratch it, use a hairbrush. Doesn't tear up your skin like scratching.
Grimblfitz@reddit
Of course, it helps! It's the only way I can stop scratching.
Tank-Pilot74@reddit
I’m 52 and still clinging on to that old wives tale!
MicheleNP@reddit
Ha!!! I still do this with mosquito bites.
Stigger32@reddit
Don’t know why. Don’t care. But fuck it feels goooood!
TheOriginal_858-3403@reddit
"Honey, you need to suck the poison out!! To save my life! To save.... To.... Honey?"
RogerClyneIsAGod2@reddit
What the fresh hell is this bullshit?
TurbulentRoof7538@reddit
I have no idea! It doesn’t look like they are cutting themselves but whatever it is, it looks deep…
NewAtThis18@reddit
It's just a fingernail mark.
newhappyrainbow@reddit
It’s what you do to a mosquito bite to make it stop itching.
Impossible_Balance11@reddit
Sure did!
dirtjiggler@reddit
Yeah. I got me some that there Skeeter Syndrome, I wish it twere that easy.
beeepboh@reddit
I have tried this but it never worked.
Elendril333@reddit
Pain and itch hit the same areas in the brain. You can temporarily relieve an itch by creating a bit of pain. I still do this until I can get some anti-itch cream on a bug bite.
RiverGroover@reddit
I think this is it. Like other gen xers have commented, I've done this for as long as I can remember, but nobody ever taught me to do it. I just intuitively wanted to replace the itch (and urge to scratch) with a spot of pain. It worked well, so I kept doing it.
TurbulentRole3292@reddit
I just put a dab of lanacaine on it. Stops the itch quickly.
Uzzaw21@reddit
Witch Hazel works quickly too, my grandmother taught me this.
TurbulentRole3292@reddit
Yep
Upstairs-Radish1816@reddit
My mom would do that to me when I was a kid. Sometimes I think she took her frustration out on me.
Tough-Principle-3950@reddit
Never heard of that!
Due-Statistician-682@reddit
I do it. It still works!
publichermit@reddit
Good lord, why? Just don't scratch it. They go away.
Objective_Audience66@reddit
This for me proves we are just biological machines that don’t want to believe that. Everything from the seed that knows what to grow into, the spider that knows how to spin its web, and the baby that knows to cry. I remember doing it and wondering how many other people have had the same thought. Now I know we all did.
HedgehogNo8361@reddit
Still do it!
Anny604@reddit
I still do this too!! I do think it works!’
serastar18@reddit
I’ve done this my whole life
new2bay@reddit
Hell no. Gets some hydrocortisone.
Simple-Marsupial3106@reddit
Haha yes it helps. And I don’t discover until recently (after nearly 20 years) that my husband also does this and believes! But the dab of spit on it is the trick.
quofugitvenus@reddit
Yep, and I still do it when I've got any kind of maddening itch.
AQUEON@reddit
I still do it! Though I showed my granddaughter the hot spoon trick for a hefty flea bite.
She has an overactive histamine response to every thing, poor thing.
unsightly_buildup@reddit
I didn't know that what I always did was a thing that everyone always also did... (was that right?)
Slight-Selection4298@reddit
As a kid, it was always, "X spots the mark" - Xzibit
(Never did this)
TatlinsTower@reddit
Yep, still do. Does it work? Hell if I know, but I do it automatically every time.
DiabloSerpentino@reddit
I used to do this on mosquito bites. I still do, but I used to, too. And it has always seemed to me to help, but maybe it's just psychosomatic. (shrugs)