Can saliva relieve itching?

Saliva is a secretion from the human oral cavity. It is rich in various mucins, various waters, lysozyme and other ingredients. Saliva is also called saliva. It can moisten the mouth or quickly dissolve food, but saliva does not have the effect of relieving itching. In life, many people will use saliva to apply skin to relieve itching, but this has no effect.

Can saliva relieve itching?

What are the main components of saliva?

In medical terms, saliva should be called "saliva". 99% of it is water, and the main organic matter is mucin, as well as immunoglobulin, salivary amylase, lysozyme, etc. It also contains some inorganic ingredients such as potassium, sodium, and chlorine.

From the perspective of ingredients, the main function of saliva is to moisten and dissolve food. Amylase can hydrolyze starch (into maltose, so steamed buns taste sweet) and aid digestion. Lysozyme and immunoglobulin can play a certain bactericidal and antibacterial role, thereby protecting and cleaning the oral cavity.

Can saliva disinfect and relieve itching caused by mosquito bites?

No effect.

The blister and itching after a mosquito bite is actually because the mosquito injects saliva into the body, triggering an allergic reaction. This allergic reaction is usually mild and will gradually get better after a while if you ignore it.

The medicines we use, such as wind oil, floral water, and cooling oil, mainly produce other stimuli to the skin to suppress the feeling of itching, thereby avoiding repeated scratching, so that it will heal faster.

We know that saliva should be non-irritating, so it will not have a similar anti-itching effect. (At most, there is a brief feeling of coolness, which is actually the effect of water evaporation and psychological effects.)

As for the disinfection effect, it is out of the question. Because the blistering and itching at this time have nothing to do with infection, "disinfection" is completely unnecessary.

Whether you apply saliva or not, it will be fine after a while.

Is it reasonable to disinfect wounds with saliva?

Since saliva contains lysozyme and immunoglobulin, which have bactericidal and antibacterial effects, is it useful to use it to disinfect wounds? This is actually not very reliable.

There are not only bacteria in the mouth of normal people, but also in large quantities.

These bacteria will not cause illness in humans under normal circumstances, but will cause infection and illness under certain conditions. They are called conditional pathogens. The presence of these bacteria indicates that the bactericidal effect of lysozyme is very weak and cannot kill all bacteria.

At the same time, the concentration of lysozyme in saliva is very low, and it must rely on the continuous secretion of saliva 24 hours a day to maintain its effect.

Immunoglobulin can only target a specific bacteria or virus and does not have a broad-spectrum effect.

The antibacterial effect of saliva in the oral cavity can only maintain the "ecological balance" of bacteria in the oral cavity. It is unrealistic to rely on it for "disinfection".

Therefore, applying saliva to wounds can definitely not replace disinfectant. If the wound is contaminated, it is better to rinse it with purified water and a sterilized cotton swab than with saliva; if the wound itself is very clean, saliva may bring bacteria to the wound and cause infection (your own saliva will be fine, and your autoimmune system may also play a role, but if someone else's saliva is used, the risk is even higher).