Ah, summertime. The perfect time to go out and enjoy the outdoors. Well, unless it's too hot or too humid or a thunderstorm hits. Even if you can make it outside, there's the ever present swarms of insects which, if you're not careful, leads to bug bites.

Bug bites are a pain in the butt(or the legs, or the arms, wherever they got you). Here are a few tips on keeping them under control until they heal.

Firstly, DON'T SCRATCH THEM. Bug bites(usually mosquito bites, as those are everywhere) itch due to an allergic reaction to the insect's saliva. Scratching at the bites will spread the saliva into the surrounding skin, which will cause the affected area to get larger, and increase the risk of infection. It also never helps in the long term; it always comes back, and worse because now more of your leg is inflamed. Although it might bother you, just don't even start. If you need to put socks over your hands at night, so be it.

Medication is your friend. There are many, many products out there that reduce itchiness for bites and other similar skin irritation. Cortizone, or any product containing hydrocortisone helps a lot. I honestly think the liquid version works better than the cream, but anything helps. Since the itchiness of bug bites is caused by allergic reactions, antihistamines also can reduce the discomfort. The most common strong antihistamine on the market, Benadryl(or Diphenhydramine) also causes drowsiness, so keep that in mind.

Ice your bites. Bug bites often become inflamed, swelling up and becoming sore and itchy. Putting ice on the bites often helps reduce the inflammation, and therefore the itching. One common method is to wrap an ice cube in a paper towel, and rub it on the bites. Using a regular ice pack seems to work just fine as well.

Finally, the best thing to do is to avoid bug bites in the first place. Bug bites, although common, are preventable. While the nerd in me wants a reason never to go outside, that is irrational for both health and social reasons. Use bug spray on your legs/ any other part of your body that will be exposed to leaves and brush before you head somewhere where lots of bugs will be. Be careful around bodies of water and around sunrise and sunset; mosquitoes breed in standing water, and are most active in twilight hours. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially if the process of getting said cure is tedious, uncomfortable and often wakes you up in the middle of the night. I hate bug bites.