Thank you to Bite Away for providing me with this device. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Scenario: Sitting on your outdoors patio, you are enjoying the evening. The work for the day is done, a glass of your favorite beverage is in your hand, and the local cicadas musical sound is serenading you. Enters in the pesky flying insect. Suddenly, your arms and legs are now a evening treat for those insects swirling around you! If this sounds familiar, you live in a region where mosquitoes, no-seems, and other creepy insects love to attack you in the evenings.. or perhaps, like me, at any point in your day when you may step outside. Sometimes no amount of bug-spray or candles can send these pesky non-invited guests away from your yard and you end up being someone else's snack.   Growing up, on coastal Maryland, I learned that insects love me.. which means I hate them. This trend has continued despite what conditions and areas of the east coast I've lived in- albeit, most are coastal or river/lake lying areas. The bites are endless from mosquitoes, horse-flies, gnats, no-see-ums, and even the occasional angry bee that my foot or lip has met over the years. Whether it's blood type, clothing, scent, or even drink/ snacks lying around- the critters will find you if they want you, leaving those itchy bumps in the process.  Many will immediately reach for their topical ointments or cremes for relief, allowing various chemicals to enter into their body and bloodstream that aren't good for us at all.  Do you wish you had another option that would help soothe your skin and relief your itchiness?  Created by the German- based MibeTec company, the Take the Bite Away device provides sweet relief of your itchy stinging bug bites through thermotherapy, or the usage of heat application, on the affected area.  How does it work?  After defining the location in need, position your Bite Away so that it's tip is centered on the bite. On your device, you will note that there is a 3 second and a 5 second button selection. These options are designed to focus heat on your bite for that length of time. The longer 5 second option is recommended to provide lasting relief, but the 3 second option is available if your symptoms are less, or you cannot withstand heat application (also the recommended setting for children). After pushing your 3 or 5 second button, your device will flash. When it is ready, it will provide a green light and you will immediately feel heat. When the time limit is up, the device will turn off. A sound will be emitted at the start of the device's heating up and the end of the device's application.  Does it work? I don't ever purposely seek out bites, but somehow, they find me. The past week has been a dreary rainy mess that has brought out the mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and gnats. These critters love to agitate and cause me agony when I'm outside. After some work on our church grounds, I found myself in need of relief from several mosquito bites. Testing first it to get the hang of it, I found that this device does indeed provide immediate relief through mosquito bites and other smaller bites, but it does take a bit of nerve and resilience to withstand the heat concentrated on the bite. At 127 degrees, the Bite Away's heat concentration can feel hot to the consumer who is not used to targeted heat therapy. I did use the 5-second application after testing out both to see what my skin and bites were able to withstand. I did find that I needed more than one application on certain bites- most likely dependent upon the type and severity of the bite.  I found I didn't need more than 3 applications on any of the mosquito bites.  I had no issues using this device on my mosquito bites.  Almost immediately, the itchy red swelling subsided.  Yet, I had an unfortunate incident with a fire ant hill that didn't take to this device like the other bites.  The Bite-Away is designed to provide relief from mosquitoes, wasps, hornets, gnats, horseflies, and other pesky insects. Not being sure if this would provide adequate relief from ant bites, as fire ants are a class of insect bite in themselves, I was willing to give it a shot. It did provide immediate short-term relief on the day my bites occurred, but I found long-term, it was not effective like it was on mosquito bites. Perhaps that is because there is a different type of poison regarding each bite, and we know fire ant bite effects generally linger longer. I also struggled with the heat intensity. Most of the mosquito bites were on the back of my legs, while the fire ant bites are near my ankles. Perhaps the ankle is more tender than the other areas, but I found that I could not withstand the heat intensity and could only use the 3 sec application.   Following the recommendations, the Bite Away application should be spaced two minutes apart from treatments, with a maximum of 5 applications in an hour on the same insect bite. These applications didn't work as well and I found myself needing overnight relief and turning towards other lotions/cremes to help out for the next day and half. This device is FDA approved and is suitable for all over the age of 2. Children Ages 2-12 should have an adult administer application and children should be watched as the heat is rather intense.

Bite-Away is cleared for pregnant women and allergy sufferers as well and no chemicals are used at all. Relying on battery-power, the Bite Away should not be used before stingers of bites are removed, on open wounds, near the nose/ mouth/eyes, and should only be used one device per person to avoid contamination issues.

If like, me, you find yourself often attacked by the pests of the outside world, check the Bite-Away device out! Except on sensitive areas of skin, the heat application will definitely soothe and calm your itchy-laden bites away. Just note you might need to use it more than one day in a row to find relief- and perhaps you might find that, unlike me, your Bite Away works on fire ant bites.
Small enough to carry in your purse, day bag, or even your camping gear, this device will save you money from purchasing expensive topical ointments, providing relief from your agonizing bites, and will help you enjoy the outdoors longer- something we all love in these continued remote learning and chained to computer times.

At $39.99 this device just might give you relief that you can't find in topical ointments/ cremes- and just might make you want to linger outside a tad bit longer! I would say that the Bite-Away is definitely worth your time and money- especially if you are prone to attract the unwanted insect bite. Just grab this device and head out to your favorite outdoor spot! You won't be sorry!