The overlooked mosquito bite treatment that could save you from endless itching this summer

• I have sensitive skin and am prone to large, itchy mosquito bites.
• I used to rely on topical antihistamines to treat my bites after the fact, but they didn't help enough.

Every June, it's the same: the mosquitoes arrive on my apartment deck between 6 and 7 PM, honing in on my sensitive skin and taking several bites. If I'm lucky, the bites are small enough to be a nuisance and nothing more. They itch, but fade away without leaving any lasting marks. Sometimes, I'm not so fortunate.

As someone who is prone to getting massive skin reactions by simply looking at a biting insect the wrong way (if you want to know whether your home has fleas, leave me on the couch for an hour and you'll get a definitive answer), many of my mosquito bites turn into quarter-sized eruptions. This has been the case for most of my life, and I had mostly accepted it as my fate, treating bites with topical Benadryl and moving on.

But after one particularly bad mosquito attack a few years ago, where an already-large welt grew to take over much of my upper arm, I had enough. Desperate for help, I went to my dermatologist, who gave me a suggestion that has changed my summers for the better.

Instead of using a topical antihistamine after getting a bite, she suggested taking an oral antihistamine like Allegra a few hours before anticipating potential bites.

Oral antihistamines "are a powerful, but sometimes overlooked, home treatment" for mosquito bites, Dr. Delilah Strother, a board-certified family medicine doctor, wrote for the University of Washington News. According to Strother, they're better at "relieving swelling and itching than topical products (including topical antihistamines and calamine lotion)."

Like my dermatologist, she recommends taking antihistamines like Allegra or Claritin a couple hours before mosquito encounters. One dose should give all-day relief.

If those products aren't enough to tamp down an allergic reaction, putting ice or topical steroids on a bite can also help, Dr. Purvi Parikh, a specialist in infectious disease, allergy, and immunology at NYU Langone Health, told Everyday Health. If a bite just keeps getting worse, visit your doctor. You may need prescription oral steroids or other treatment, Parikh said.

Since I started pre-emptively using oral antihistamines, I no longer get giant welts that elicit sympathetic looks from friends and family. I don't live in fear of my deck at dusk. And I have several blister packs of Allegra ready to go for the summer.