Do Any Other Minnesotans “Cure” Mosquito Bites Like This?

My grandma was a true Minnesotan- born in St. Paul in 1938 before moving to a farm in what would become Lakeville as a small child. She went to St. Olaf College and settled in Apple Valley when the town was in its relative infancy.

Suffice to say, she dealt with her fair share of Minnesota's real state bird, the mosquito.

Like any grandma she had a full bag of tricks and tips when it came to solving problems, things like using hydrogen peroxide on a cotton swab to dry out a zit before picture day as opposed to buying an expensive skin care cream.

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She was also an adamant believer that bug spray and things like hydrocortisone were unnecessary when it came to healing a mosquito bite. Instead, she swore that making an "X" into the offending bite by using your fingernails would stop the constant itching and continued swelling of the bite.

I don't know if this truly works or if it is just a placebo effect but I definitely do this every time I get a mosquito bite... and there have been PLENTY of them this year, my goodness.

I have seen many theories and ideas about how to prevent mosquito bites in the first place but very little about how to fix them when you inevitably get eaten alive on an otherwise perfect summer night in Minnesota.

Have you ever tried my grandma's idea? Do you think it actually works?