Birch tar against mosquitoes and midges, recipes for use

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Hello friends!

Today's topic of conversation will be about birch tar. I want to understand this question: what is the role of birch tar in cosmetics, what is more benefit or harm from it in a person’s everyday life.

As you know, birch tar is extracted by heating wood without access to air. The result is a thick dark mass, oily in appearance, with a sharp, specific odor.

I remember this smell from childhood, when I went to the neighbor’s children to play. They had a horse and a cart, the wheels of which Uncle Sasha always lubricated with tar, and he stocked it with his neighbor, whose name was simply DECTYAR.

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, tar contains a lot of paraffin and very little creosote (a colorless, flammable, oily liquid that is sparingly soluble in water)

Tar is widely used for lubricating wooden parts, for impregnating wooden sleepers, for protecting leather products, in leather tanning, in gardening, in chemistry, and as a repellent for blood-sucking insects.

The natural product, birch tar, contains several thousand useful components; thanks to its rich composition, the product is used even in traditional medicine.

In medicine, it is included in ointments for the treatment of skin diseases (everyone remembers Vishnevsky’s ointment!), and it is also used in cosmetics. It’s precisely about cosmetics and tar that I want to talk about today.

Birch tar

Bottles with birch tar
Birch tar is a black or dark brown product of dry distillation. It has a specific smell, due to which it is successfully used as a folk remedy for mosquitoes and midges. The composition includes resinous substances, phenols and aromatic hydrocarbons.

Application:

Birch tar

• For outdoor use. The product is used to treat skin diseases;
• Against ticks. Birch tar is considered the best remedy against ticks; it is enough to smear a small amount of tar on the blood-sucking insect, and the result will not be long in coming - the tick will immediately disappear. In addition, the pyrolysis product from birch bark can be smeared on the body to protect against other aggressive insects - midges and mosquitoes;
• Insecticide for vegetable and garden crops. The pungent odor not only repels pests, but also improves the health of cultivated plants;
• To repel apple moths and butterflies that eat apple blossoms. To reliably protect fruit trees, it is enough to dilute the sticky liquid with water and spray the leaves of the plants;
• To get rid of the sea buckthorn fly. You can get rid of the harmful insect once and for all if you place jars of a solution with a pungent odor around the sea buckthorn root.

Tar water (tar diluted in water) can be used to treat pets - dogs, cats, cows, rabbits, etc. Note that the animal does not have to be completely treated with tar water. In some cases, it is enough to smear the collars of dogs, cats and other pets to provide them with reliable protection from mosquitoes and midges.

How it works

Tar against mosquitoes acts as a natural repellent. It has a very rich aroma that insects cannot tolerate. Birch concentrate contains no synthetic elements, so it can be considered safe.

Ready-made birch tar against mosquitoes can be bought at a store or pharmacy. A more complex method is to prepare the substance yourself. The average cost of the finished product is 70 rubles per 40 ml.

It is obtained by distilling dry wood. It is a viscous liquid saturated with substances such as:

• benzene;
• toluene;
• cresol;
• xylene;
• resin.

The presence of aromatic hydrocarbons helps birch tar effectively repel insects.

Important!

Products based on birch tar can be used not only by people, but also by pets.

Before use, experts recommend conducting a sensitivity test and looking at the body’s reaction. It is not necessary to lubricate the skin, just take a small breath of this substance. If your health deteriorates, it is prohibited to use this method of protection against mosquitoes and midges.

Birch tar for mosquitoes and midges

Disadvantages of using tar in the garden

There will be no real harm from birch tar as such on the site - it is not poisonous to people (there are many drugs based on it in medicine and cosmetology), it repels most pests and does not kill them, and does not accumulate in large quantities in plants. However, there are also some inconveniences and disadvantages when using it in gardening and horticulture. Let's list some:

• A strong, unpleasant smell for many that can scare away even neighbors and relatives from the site.
• It works equally on both harmful and beneficial insects - you risk being left without helpers in the garden.
• Tar cannot be used on fruits and edible green mass, because their taste and smell deteriorate.
• For the same reason, its use in an apartment for indoor plants is excluded.
• Concentrated tar is toxic; working solutions with it must be prepared with precautions for substances of the 3rd hazard class.
• Working solutions (mixtures) are difficult to mix with other substances (due to the insolubility of tar in water) and quickly separate when left alone - they need to be used within an hour or two.
• Clothes stained with tar are not washed, and the metal parts of the sprayers are practically not cleaned (only with organic solvents).

You see for yourself that such a simple remedy as birch tar can rid your garden of many flying and crawling pests - maybe it’s worth a try?

Features of the action

The dry distillation product obtained from birch resin contains phenols, resinous substances, and aromatized carbohydrates. Thanks to these components, birch tar has a sharp, persistent odor. Mosquitoes sense it from a distance of more than 1 m and try to hide away from the source of the “stench.”

Birch tar against mosquitoes is used in several types:

1. Fatty. The raw material for obtaining the product is birch bark. Used for agricultural needs, treatment of animals, protection against mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects. The drug has a greasy consistency and retains the smell for a long time. However, when applied to human skin, it causes clogging of pores. To remove it from the epidermis, you need to take an hour bath, wash with soap, or steam in a bathhouse.
2. Heavy tar. Made from birch resin. An oily, dark-colored product with a specific pungent odor is suitable for protecting dogs from mosquitoes.
3. Special tar is extracted from different types of trees, but the main material is birch bark. The medicine is sold in a pharmacy and is used to treat skin diseases and colds. It is this product that is often used to protect humans from mosquitoes. Compared to other types of product, the repellent property is weaker, the smell disappears faster. To prolong effectiveness, they come up with different recipes.

Birch tar for mosquitoes

Interesting!

The raw materials for the production of the product are extracted from old birch stumps, which are about 9 years old. They are collected after the resin appears on them. Stumps located on a hill are much more valuable than those located in the lowlands.

Usage

You can use tar against mosquitoes and midges undiluted, but in this case the protection lasts about 2 hours. The recipe for preparing a repellent is extremely simple:

1. Dissolve 2.5 ml of pharmaceutical birch tar in 1 liter of water at room temperature.
2. Stir and treat the body.
3. After 2 hours, you can repeat the procedure. However, you will have to prepare a new solution.

It is also known how to use the drug so that the effect lasts for a long time. Melt 100 g of butter in a water bath. Add 1 ml of birch tar and stir. When the mass has cooled slightly, apply pointwise to the wrist, calves, neck, and all areas not protected by clothing. The oil base does not allow the aroma to quickly evaporate, the protective properties remain for 6 hours or more.

Birch tar against mosquitoes is mixed with sunflower oil and olive oil. Rub into the skin pointwise. A folk remedy protects against insects and helps to quickly cope with bites.

On a note!

You can prepare anti-mosquito tar yourself at home. Birch bark is collected in early summer. For forcing, use a bucket and a steel plate with holes. Cover the container with a plate, cover the edges with clay, and turn it upside down. Install on hot bricks, forcing time 2 hours. To obtain tar water, mix the resulting product with liquid in a ratio of 1:2.

Reviews from residents of wetlands, where there is no end to mosquitoes in the warm season, say that the product works better than insecticidal preparations. Does not cause harm to health, has a therapeutic effect when applied to the skin. Medical tar is used to treat dermatitis, eczema, and psoriasis.

Benefits of rats, voles and mice

If you have long been tormented by the question of how to get rid of rats, voles and mice that have settled on your site, then in this case, birch tar will help to cope with the problem. To get rid of pests once and for all, you will need to take corn, wheat or oats as bait and mix them very thoroughly with tar.

In this situation, you do not have to dilute the resulting product with liquid. All that is required is coated as well as possible with the oily substance of the grain for rodents. As soon as the product is ready, spread it in small portions in those places where, in your opinion, rodents are most often found.

You should not rush to remove the poison if rats or mice have not appeared on your site for a long time. It is best to play it safe and wait a while to make sure that the amount of pest control you prepare does not decrease over time. Only when you are sure that no one eats the poison can you say with confidence that you have completely destroyed all rodents.

Types of tar

According to its physical and chemical properties, tar is divided into three groups: fatty, heavy, special.

Birch tar to cleanse the body

• Fat tar is a product of pyrolysis of birch bark. It is used exclusively for agricultural needs, as well as for the purpose of protection against blood-sucking insects and treatment of domestic animals, in particular dogs, cows, rabbits and cats. Fat tar is also used to strengthen the handles of knives and other metal tools, as well as leather goods;
• Heavy tar is obtained by distilling birch resin. Used for lubricating wheelbarrows and tarring wooden products: holders, parts for carts, etc. Taiga residents often use this type of tar to protect hunting dogs from midges or mosquitoes;
• Special tar is a product of dry pyrolysis of various tree species. Used in modern medicine to treat colds and skin diseases.

Resin is harvested in places where stumps accumulate, from which resin has already begun to release. Stumps located on a hill are considered better than those located in holes or lowlands. To harvest tar, felled stumps that have stood untouched for 6–9 years are used.

Extracting birch tar for use as a repellent

Composition and beneficial properties of birch tar

The product contains organic acids, creosols, resinous substances, phytoncides, guaiacol, dioxybenzene and others. The content of these components allows birch tar to accelerate wound healing, get rid of skin fungus, increase blood circulation and cleanse the body, have a beneficial effect in the treatment of sore throats, diseases of the genitourinary system, as well as normalize blood pressure and stimulate metabolism.

The product is especially widely used for improving facial skin, exhibiting the following effect:

• antioxidants cleanse pores, relieve inflammation and remove harmful substances;
• tar makes the skin elastic and accelerates its renewal;
• organic acids help eliminate oily shine, and the functioning of the sebaceous glands is also normalized due to resins;
• thanks to phytoncides, skin color improves and fatigue is relieved;
• tar perfectly tightens the skin and eliminates fine wrinkles.

Masks, creams and ointments with tar help with the following problems:

• diathesis;
• demodicosis;
• dermatitis;
• pimples, acne of various etiologies;
• allergic rashes;
• fungal infections;
• scabies.

How to divorce?

The simplest recipe is to prepare birch tar based on water. To do this, you need to take about 3 milliliters of the concentrated drug and mix it with one liter of water. Next, you need to treat your body with this liquid - and you can safely go outside. But this remedy does not last very long. It’s enough for working in the garden, but when you’re hiking, you need to repeat the procedure after 2 hours.

If you don’t have the desire or time to treat the body completely, you can melt 100 grams of butter in a water bath and add a few drops of concentrated tar. When the composition has cooled, you need to apply it to certain areas of the body: neck, wrists, ankles - those places that are not covered by clothing. This composition will retain the smell longer and, therefore, act.

You can mix tar with any oil, for example, sunflower, olive, and apply it precisely. In addition, this composition can be used to treat insect bites, this will relieve itching and promote faster healing of the wound.

How to use

There are several ways to use tar against mosquitoes and midges. It is also used to repel insects at home or outdoors. Not every person can withstand the strong smell in an enclosed space, as evidenced by numerous reviews, so use is more relevant for the street.

How to use:

1. Water substance. The simplest mosquito repellent recipe. Dilute 5 ml of product in 2 liters of warm, clean water. Apply the resulting mixture to exposed areas of the body.
2. Alcohol solution. To prepare it, you need to mix 100 ml of alcohol and 70 ml of tar. Pour the prepared product into a container with a spray bottle and treat the clothes.
3. Spiral substitute. In the taiga, birch tar is used to prepare an excellent indoor repellent. To do this, an ordinary pine cone must be soaked in tar. Let it dry. After that, find a safe place for the cone and set it on fire. While it is smoldering, mosquitoes are definitely not scary. This same bump is actively used by tourists while relaxing in ventilated tents or simply in gazebos on the street. To do this, you need to take a stone heated in the fire and place a pine cone on top of it.
4. Oil solution. In the most urgent cases, you can apply a drop of tar to your wrists. In this case, you need to take into account that the dense oily structure of birch tar lasts a very long time on the skin, clogs pores and is very difficult to wash off. Therefore, it is recommended to use this method only in extreme cases.
5. Oil solution. To prepare it, melt 100 g of butter and add 1 ml of birch tar to it. Cool the resulting solution and lubricate your wrists and neck.

The duration of action of such a product depends entirely on the method of preparation and the rate of weathering of the solution.

Birch tar for mosquito repellent

The benefits of tar and the advantages of its use in the garden

Birch tar is a natural and safe remedy that has long been successfully used in households, folk medicine, cosmetology, gardening and horticulture due to its many beneficial properties (antiseptic, antiparasitic, antimicrobial). It contains resins, paraffin, organic acids, phytoncides, natural antiseptics (phenol), guaiacol...

Of course, we do not urge you, following the example of your ancestors, to lubricate cart wheels with tar or tan leather with it, but, believe me, it is very advisable to use it in the garden. Due to its sharp, specific odor, it works as an excellent repellent for harmful insects and small mammals, and the healing properties of tar help plants fight various diseases.

The use of birch tar on the site, compared to conventional pesticides, has many advantages:

• the drug is safe to use for humans;
• works against a wide group of garden and vegetable pests - from mammals to insects;
• does not cause addiction to insects;
• does not destroy pests, but only scares them away, which is especially important in the case of forest mammals that are “undesirable” only on a personal plot;
• does not require complex equipment for use or even self-production (see below);
• can be used in several ways at once (including without contact with the plant itself, so as not to have a negative effect on it);
• has a long-term protective effect - from three to four weeks to the full growing season.

The healing properties of tar

Residents of the taiga (northern temperate latitudes) have found many uses for this amazing remedy. Let's look at a few simple recipes:

Dermatitis

• A cure for gangrene, malignant tumors, colds and pneumonia. To prepare you will need 4 liters of cold water and 0.5 liters of birch tar. Simmer the liquid over low heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden stick or spoon. Note that the prepared product can be used to protect dogs, cats, cows from mosquitoes and midges if you apply it to your pets’ paws, tails and ears;
• Tar water can be given even to infants over the age of 3 years, 2–4 spoons per day to prevent colds, skin and viral diseases. Adults drink 100 ml every day on an empty stomach; What does psoriasis look like?
• Hemorrhoids are treated in a rather unusual way: they heat a red brick and place it under a bucket. A few drops of tar are dripped into a bucket and the fifth point sits on it for 20–30 minutes before going to bed. The course of treatment is continued until complete recovery. Please note that you should not smear tar on a problem area if you do not want to walk around with irritation;
• Psoriasis in humans and dogs. The affected area of ​​the skin should be smeared with purified tar and birch ash in a ratio of 3:1, respectively. Eczema in dogs can be cured at home by adding beeswax, honey, sunflower oil and copper sulfate to the tar in an amount of 2-3% of each element from the total mass of the tar.

What diseases and problems can a natural product made from birch bark solve? Correctly selected consistency allows you to get rid of catarrhal cystitis, stomach ulcers and gastritis, itchy skin, dandruff, colds, radiculitis, tuberculosis, atherosclerosis, rheumatism of the legs and acne on the face. Note that when self-treating people, dogs and livestock, it is necessary to remember that an incorrectly selected composition can only aggravate the problem.

PS

Due to the fact that there is currently a COVID-19 pandemic in the world, I would like to recommend one old Siberian, but effective recipe for using tar to prevent influenza, ARVI and colds, and possibly COVID-19.

Before leaving home, open a bottle of pharmaceutical tar and smell the contents for a few minutes. Yes, the smell is not like perfume, but you and I carry out disease prevention, and here all methods are good. Tar essential oils will prevent viruses and germs from clinging to you. When you get home, do the same! And no nasty thing will be able to penetrate your body! Be healthy!

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How to prepare tar yourself?

The best raw material is considered to be birch bark without visible mechanical damage or traces of pests. The main component is harvested only from birch bark plantings subject to felling. Birch bark begins to be collected in early June, when the concentration of sap in the trunk reaches its maximum. At this time, the bark is easily removed from the trunk; you just need to make an incision at the base.

Preparing birch tar in a barrel

Necessary materials. Steel sheet with 2.5 mm holes throughout the entire area. For the wire on which the bucket will be held, it is recommended to make 4 separate holes - 2 at the top and bottom of the sheet. The base of the stainless steel sheet should have a slight concavity - a place where the pyrolysis product will collect.

Assembly sequence. Pour the bark into the container, then attach the steel sheet to the bucket with the convex side up. The seams formed between the bucket and the steel sheet are covered with clay so that the tar does not leak out. Turn the structure upside down and place it on the bricks. Place a container under the steel sheet to collect the tar, cover the bucket with logs and set it on fire. Distillation time is 1.5–2 hours.

How to make tar water to protect pets from mosquitoes and midges? To prepare, you will need an unnecessary metal container, water and birch bark tar. Mix water and tar in a 2:1 ratio, respectively, and boil for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. The boiled mixture must be left for 10–12 hours, and then the clear liquid must be drained from it. Store the product to protect dogs from midges and mosquitoes in a cool place.

Benefits against powdery mildew

Powdery mildew is nothing more than a fungus that likes to parasitize various vegetable crops. Powdery mildew primarily affects those plants that grow in conditions of waterlogged soil and high air humidity combined with low temperatures.

Therefore, if you grow plants in poor-quality conditions, you should at least carefully monitor that spotty plaque does not appear on your plants - this will be the first sign of a crop disease. If this does happen, prepare a solution of birch tar and ash as soon as possible:

• first heat about 10 liters of water;
• then dissolve 1.5 kg of high-quality wood ash in it;
• here we add 4 tbsp. l. tar, mix the solution thoroughly;
• It is necessary to spray with this product using a high-quality spray bottle, not forgetting to regularly clean the device from ash accumulated in small holes;
• It is recommended to treat all plants on the site for preventive purposes;
• It would also be a good idea to spray with a spray bottle or simply spill the soil in the garden.

Adviсe

Despite the fact that tar can be bought at a pharmacy, some people try to obtain the product at home. And this is also possible. In this case, the bark is collected at the beginning of summer, placed in an iron bucket, and covered with a steel lid with holes on top. The bucket is heated over a fire for 2 hours. Next, the resulting composition is also diluted with water, alcohol or oil, depending on which method of application is chosen. There are a few other tips you can use when applying tar. In addition to the fact that you should not experiment on people suffering from various allergic reactions, you should not use this remedy on children.

But at the same time, using a means to combat insects, you can solve a number of other problems. For example, when going to the garden for work related to caring for trees and other plants, you can also treat them with a tar composition. This will benefit them. To do this, just pour liquid with tar into a container with a spray bottle. The same liquid can be applied to the body to protect against insects. It is also good for treating plants that will be protected from a wide variety of pests. And if the disease has already overtaken trees and shrubs, then this is an excellent means of pest control.

By treating mosquito bites with tar or protecting yourself from them, you can also solve the problem of skin diseases. Do not forget that on hot summer days, pets also suffer from insect bites - cats and dogs, as well as horses and cows. In this case, you can spray your pets with a diluted solution. As for cats and dogs, it is enough to put on them a collar treated with a tar composition. Cows and horses can simply have their tails and ears treated. In all cases of using a composition where birch tar is a component, you need to remember not to overdo it. This product can be used in combination or in alternation with other components.

But when there are no other means at hand, birch tar can provide invaluable help - the main thing is to follow all precautions and properly dilute the highly concentrated solution.

How to recognize the presence of parasites in the body

Ideally, you need to undergo all conceivable and inconceivable tests that will reveal the presence of “territory invaders” in your body.
But be prepared for the fact that the doctor will not give you a referral for free tests. The fact is that the wording “Doctor, I want to find out if I have parasites” is not accepted by doctors, since insurance organizations only pay for the diagnosis and treatment of real, not perceived problems. And one more minus: in some cases, tests are normal, but there are parasites in the body... In general, seeking medical help does not guarantee one hundred percent success and will cost a pretty penny. So, if you suspect the presence of parasites, get tested yourself, at least the two most important ones: feces for worm eggs and a smear for genital tract infections. These tests will identify those forms of parasitosis that require immediate treatment under the supervision of a physician.

If the results are negative and you feel generally good, then most likely you are healthy and you do not need to cleanse your body of parasites. But if you have a number of symptoms that allow you to suspect an infection, then you cannot do without cleaning.

The presence of parasites in the body is indicated by weight loss, bowel movements, weakness, unclear deterioration in overall health, changes in appetite, and unhealthy appearance.

For children - pay attention! – their presence is often indicated by unclear skin symptoms similar to psoriasis or allergic reactions

Reviews

Tar from mosquitoes and midges

My experiments began with a trip to the veterinary hospital. When the dog was bitten by mosquitoes, she took her pet there. The veterinarian prescribed treatment and advised using tar against ticks, fleas, and other bloodsuckers. I followed the advice and began to spray the animal’s fur. The smell is still the same, it stays for three days. But the effect is amazing. I started adding the product to the shampoo and my hair became shiny and smooth. I decided to protect myself from mosquitoes and other nasty things. The application experiments did not end there. I made soap. The skin has become incredibly smooth, inflammation has gone away, pimples have gone away, mosquitoes are flying away, but not as much as I would like. It works better against ticks.

Irina, Voronezh

We gathered in the village to pick berries. When I asked my grandmother if she had a good repellent, she shook her head yes. She brought oil with tar and began to rub our hands and necks. Then she sprayed her clothes with water from a spray bottle. The smell is terrible, but there is nowhere to go. They were quietly picking berries in the forest, insects were buzzing overhead, but not a single mosquito bite was found.

Olga, Moscow

A good insect repellent in the wild, I prepare it myself. I often go hunting and treat my pet and myself with water. Mosquitoes don’t come, and they didn’t bring a single tick with them.

Maxim, Tver

To enhance the properties of a homemade birch repellent, you can add essential oils against mosquitoes: geranium, cloves, lavender, citronella. The drug will take longer to repel

For the destruction of mosquitoes, midges and midges

With the onset of summer, gardeners and gardeners begin to be pestered by mosquitoes and midges. Most people are accustomed to dealing with these pests in a very simple way, which consists of purchasing and using special products that repel midges with their smell.

However, no matter how good these remedies are, it is best to avoid them. If you carefully study their composition, you will notice that there is solid chemistry in the form of substances of synthetic origin. Therefore, it is recommended to use tar to get rid of mosquitoes and midges.

You can purchase ready-made meshes, then thoroughly soak them in tar and then distribute them around the perimeter of the site. However, it should be remembered that in order to be completely protected from insects, the nets must be fastened very tightly to each other, since even through a small gap insects can get inside a poorly protected garden.

Insect repellent sprays, lotions and aerosols

The most popular and easy to use drugs. You can spray the product on anything: clothes, body, head (hair), any objects in the room (except heating devices and elements).

Minuses:

• it is necessary to provide protection for the eyes and respiratory tract when spraying;
• not all drugs are approved for children;
• used in limited quantities during the day/night;
• sometimes have a pungent odor.

Drugs in this group provide protection for 5-6 hours or more and have a 100% result. Some repellents are alcohol-based and do not contain additional caring ingredients, so they require the subsequent use of nourishing creams (after taking a bath or shower) to moisturize the skin. Spray lotions contain skin softening components. Sprays have been developed for treating clothing, tents, etc. with a significant period of protection.

Birch tar instructions for use

In order to get the maximum benefit and not harm your health, when using birch tar internally, you should know that the product is not used in its pure form; it must be diluted with milk and water.

Women's inflammatory diseases

Birch tar. Women's diseases of an inflammatory nature, diseases of the genitourinary system. To treat these diseases, tar is taken with a tablespoon of milk according to the following scheme: on the first day, drop 1 drop, on the second – 2, and so on. Add until you reach 15 drops per tablespoon. Then gradually reduce the amount one drop per day until you reach 5. After this, stop treatment.

To treat female diseases, tar is taken with a tablespoon of milk.

Mastopathy

Mastopathy. The product is used according to the following scheme: per 200 ml. milk in the first 3 days, take 3 drops of the product, in the next 3 - 5 drops, for the next 3 days increase the dose to 7 drops, all by the same 200 ml. milk. The course of treatment can be repeated after a pause of 10 days.

The following recipe for the treatment of mastopathy: place 5 drops of tar on a small piece of bread and eat before bed. The next day, add a drop. Next, add a drop daily, bringing the number to 10. For the next two weeks, eat a piece of bread with 10 drops daily, then begin to reduce the number of drops, bringing it to 5. In total, the course of treatment will last 24 days.

Lung diseases

Lung diseases, bronchitis. Add tar to cold, filtered water (8 parts water – 1 part product). Let stand for 2 days at room temperature. Consume according to Art. spoon in the evening for 10 days.

Worms

Treatment lasts 12 days. Add 1 drop of tar to a spoon of honey on the first day. Then increase the number of drops by one every day.

What do mosquitoes like?

Well, finally, information for the curious:

• Mosquitoes love warmth and humidity
• Mosquitoes bite more women than men
• Mosquitoes love pregnant women
• They prefer to bite obese people (probably because they sweat more)
• Mosquitoes bite more temperamental, energetic people than slow melancholic people
• Mosquitoes like dark clothes, so wear light ones in the summer.

Alla Ivonina

The most annoying problem for any city dweller in the taiga (especially those who come from the southern and central Russian regions) is midges: midges, horseflies, mosquitoes and the like.

Everyone, including the local population, tries to protect themselves from their bites, since swelling, pain and itching from insect bites are unlikely to bring pleasure to anyone. Modern technologies offer a lot of remedies for blood-sucking insects, professional hunting and fishing sprays, lotions, family and children's creams, plates and liquid products for fumigators, various pyro-spirals based on reftamide, diethyltoluamide and other “chemicals”.

No one disputes that some of the huge number of repellent agents act narrowly and for an extremely short time, often causing allergies and irritation. Most repellents are useless against midges. They act partially on mosquitoes, horseflies, midges, for a very short time, but not on midges.

Therefore, in the taiga zone, their own protection against midges, mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects has been practiced for centuries. The local population, often living far from large centers of civilization, and indeed from any cities, does not need chemical insect repellents. They already have the most universal and effective recipe, inherited from their ancestors - tar, simple birch tar. Taiga residents make it themselves; making tar is a simple matter (watch the video), mix it with oil and lubricate exposed skin with it, and no mosquitoes, midges or other bloodsuckers are afraid of them.

However, having smeared yourself with an oil solution of tar, you are faced with the need to regularly evaporate the oil from your skin in a bathhouse, since it clogs the pores and simply cannot be washed off with soap? What to do if it’s problematic to wash yourself in a bathhouse on the road or on a hike?

Yes, just make an alcohol-based tar and lubricate the edges of the hood and sleeve cuffs with it. The alcohol quickly evaporates, leaving dry tar on the clothes, which does not stain surrounding objects, unlike an oil solution. Just dilute birch tar in alcohol in the proportion: 2/3 tar, 1/3 alcohol. Alcohol based tar is a solution to many problems.

An alcohol solution of tar works no worse than an oil solution, since the whole secret of its effect on the “flying squads” is in the smell.

For midges, the smell of tar is intolerable, as for other bloodsucking insects. They simply do not fly up to that object or figure that smells of tar.

One extremely effective and useful technique is based on this principle.

Soak several dry pine or cedar cones with an alcohol-based tar solution and dry. You can take not pine cones, but any woody material that smolders well, for example, rotten wood. The good thing about pine cones is that there are a lot of them around, and they burn very poorly, smoldering and smoking more. After the cones moistened with an alcohol solution have dried, set them on fire and get thick smoke with a peculiar smell. This is not a pure tar smell, but a mixture of it with a pine, noble coniferous smell. Place a tray or dish with smoldering cones in front of a tent or the entrance to a hut, thus creating a smoke screen, and the midge with mosquitoes and other “monsters” will turn away from your home, and from you too, in disappointment.

Birch tar, which has long been used in dermatology, has many beneficial properties: it restores keratinization, has antimicrobial, antiparasitic, drying, vasoconstrictive, analgesic effects, reduces redness and soothes itching. In case of chronic eczema, psoriasis and other infiltrative processes in the skin, it has a resolving effect (Albanova V.I., 2002). Birch tar is used both in its pure form and as part of finished medicinal preparations (sulfur-tar ointment, Vishnevsky ointment, Wilkinson ointment, Yam ointment, etc.) and medicinal prescriptions for the treatment of many skin diseases. Birch tar is made from birch bark, the outer layer of birch bark. Like other substances of plant origin, tar has a complex composition; it contains phenols (up to 15%), organic acids (up to 5%), esters of organic acids (up to 10%), organic bases and other substances (aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, heterocyclic compounds, etc.). Birch tar is a black oily liquid with a specific odor. The use of tar for chronic dermatoses is limited - it is not applied to large areas of the lesion and is practically not prescribed to children. A method for purifying birch tar from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, allomelanins, turpentine, water, developed at JSC "Retinoids" et al. allows you to sharply reduce the content of these substances in it, which reduces the likelihood of side effects (Arkhapchev Yu.P. et al., 2004; Arkhapchev Yu.P., Khromykh N.N., 2005).

The main disadvantage of tar preparations is their pungent odor and the brown color that stains laundry when it is smeared on the skin, as well as poor absorption of the preparations by the skin, which makes the skin look untidy. The noted disadvantages can be overcome by applying tar preparations to the skin for a short period of time, after which they are washed off from the skin (by analogy with coal tar preparations).

In order to establish that when purifying tar, its medicinal properties are not lost, and that short-term application of tar is effective and well tolerated, a comparative study was conducted on the effects of purified and Pharmacopoeial tar on skin diseases.

The study was conducted in a double-blind manner at the Scientific Dermatological Institute.

Characteristics of the drug: Pharmacopoeial and purified tars are a homogeneous mass of creamy consistency, black in color, with a characteristic odor of tar.

Packing: glass bottles of 20 g, marked with one or two zeros.

The study included adult patients of both sexes, without age restrictions, with a clinically established diagnosis. Women were excluded during pregnancy and breastfeeding, pediatric patients, patients with individual sensitivity to tar preparations, patients with pyoderma, psoriatic erythroderma, pustular psoriasis and isolated lesions of the scalp, liver and kidney diseases (with impairment of their function), as well as serious concomitant diseases that require treatment during the clinical study and may interfere with its completion.

Tar was applied to the affected areas for 15–30 minutes, depending on subjective sensations (burning sensation at the site of application, etc.) once a day. After 15–30 minutes, it was washed off the skin with warm water in the shower using soap or shower gel. Dry skin or a feeling of tightness was eliminated by using indifferent creams or ointments (5% urea ointment, ointment base). In case of extensive skin lesions, accompanied by a disturbance in the general condition and pronounced subjective sensations, combination therapy was prescribed. It included antihistamines, desensitizers, sedatives, vitamins, and detoxification therapy. Photosensitizing and diuretics were excluded from combination with tar.

The individual patient card was filled out by a doctor. The patient was explained the method of using the medication, paying attention to the accuracy of its implementation, and was also informed about possible side effects.

The pattern of patients visiting the Center and the activities carried out are shown in Table 55.
Table 55. Pattern of patients visiting the Center

During each visit, symptoms of the disease were recorded in scores or quantitatively - the number of papules and plaques, infiltration, exudation, peeling, erythema, pigmentation, skin cracks, itching. Clinical assessment was carried out using a four-point system: 0 – no symptom, 1 – mild, 2 – moderate, 3 – severe symptom. If papules and plaques were present, their number and size in cm were recorded in the table.

The final results were also assessed in points: 1 point – clinical cure; 2 – significant improvement; 3 – improvement; 4 – no effect; 5 – deterioration.

Laboratory examination, including clinical blood and urine tests, was carried out before the start of treatment and after its completion.

Assessment of consumer qualities. The patient was asked to answer the following questions:

1. Is tar easy to use?
2. Did you encounter any difficulties with dosing during treatment?
3. How do you feel about the comfort of using this medicinal product (smell, color, does it stain clothes, underwear, is it easy to remove)?

Previous and concurrent treatment (local and systemic, indicating the names of drugs and their dosage form) were noted in the individual card. Unscheduled visits to the patient (without calling a doctor) and changes in the therapeutic regimen were entered into the card.

When using tar preparations, the following side effects are possible: individual intolerance; erythema in the lesions, pigmentation in resolved areas and around the lesions, the appearance of follicular pustules when applying the drug to the hair growth area.

Tar tolerance was assessed by the presence of drug allergies, acute irritation, itching and burning at the sites of application. If such complications or pustules appeared, treatment was stopped. In case of erythema, the time of tar application was reduced; the development of pigmentation did not require changes in treatment tactics.

When using tar, it is undesirable to apply it for a long time on large surfaces of the skin.

16 patients (11 women and 5 men) participated in the study. Three patients (all women) dropped out of the study and stopped participating in it for reasons not related to the effectiveness of treatment. Below we present data on 13 patients (8 women and 5 men) who completed treatment. The age of the patients ranged from 17 to 52 years (average age – 32.5 years). Tar, marked with one zero, was received by 7 people (first group), two zeros – by 6 (second group). Six patients with extensive skin lesions were prescribed combination therapy. It included RP at a dose of 100,000 - 300,000 IU in 3 patients, polyphepan, lipoic acid, novo-passit - in one patient, Essentiale Forte, xanthinol nicotinate, calcium gluconate, RP at a dose of 300,000 IU in one patient, polyphepan, gluconate calcium, fenkarol, xanthinol nicotinate - in one patient.

Table 56 shows the clinical characteristics of the disease in both groups.
The final results in points are shown in Table 57. Table 56. Characteristics of the disease

Table 57. Evaluation of the results of treating patients with tar in the compared groups

As can be seen from the table above, the treatment results were better in the first group (one zero).

The dynamics of individual signs of the disease during treatment are shown in Table 58.

The decrease in the number and infiltration of plaques occurred faster and was more pronounced in the first group.
There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of exudative changes, resolution of erythema, and reduction in desquamation. Table 58. Results of monitoring the dynamics of individual signs of the disease during the treatment of patients with tar

At the beginning of treatment with tar, 3 patients experienced an exacerbation reaction (1 from the first group, 2 from the second) - the erythema became brighter, skin cracks appeared, severe dryness, increased peeling and hyperkeratosis. This was especially noticeable in the presence of rashes on the palms and fingers. Subsequently, the reaction subsided and a persistent tendency towards improvement was noted - small papules disappeared, areas of clearing appeared in the plaques, and the plaques themselves disintegrated into small fragments, peeling became less, itching disappeared. It should be noted that, contrary to expectation, pigmentation with the new method of application was observed in one person. Despite the positive dynamics, within a month it was possible to achieve a cure in only one patient (rashes without pronounced infiltration and exudation were located on the face and scalp) in just 17 days. In other patients, the positive dynamics slowed down somewhat by the end of the month.

Resolution of small papules not treated with the drug (disappeared in 2 out of 6 patients and decreased in number in 3 patients of the first group, disappeared in 2 and decreased in 2 out of 4 patients who had papules before treatment, in the second group), indicates the general effect of the drug or the action at some distance from the lubricated areas.

Adverse clinical symptoms in the first group (one zero) included: dry skin at the application site in 2 patients; sharply painful cracks in the skin of the hands after 4 days of use in one person, a feeling of tightness of the skin in one person; in the second group (two zeros): increased formation of cracks on the fingertips and on plaques in two; severe dry skin, not relieved by the use of emollients in one. The lack of differences in the two groups allows us to associate these symptoms with the drying effect of tar on the skin, which requires correction during treatment. Other unfavorable symptoms included a deterioration in the clinical picture due to ARVI in one patient, a short-term loss of consciousness during the first application of tar in one case (the patient generally did not tolerate odors well), folliculitis in the last week of treatment inside resolved plaques in 1 patient, burning in places applying tar for approximately 5 minutes throughout the entire treatment period in 1 patient.

The new method of application is more comfortable than the old one (lubricating the lesions and leaving the medicinal product under a bandage for a long time). The advantage is that it does not stain clothes and bedding and does not leave a strong unpleasant odor. The disadvantage is the smell during the application period, and when used to treat the scalp, the smell from the hair remains.

The results of the study showed that both types of tar have pronounced therapeutic activity for psoriasis. The therapeutic effectiveness of local tar therapy alone is not sufficient to achieve complete regression of the rash. The clinical effectiveness of the drug designated by one zero (first group) was higher compared to the drug designated by two zeros. More side effects were noted in the second group of patients who received tar, indicated by two zeros. A serious disadvantage of tar is the development of dryness and cracks in the skin, which requires additional use of skin softening and moisturizing products. The new method of using tar (short-term application) is more acceptable for patients compared to the old one (applying tar to the skin twice a day). When deciphering the symbols on the labels, it turned out that purified tar was marked with one zero, and pharmacopoeial tar with two.

After receiving the results described above, the group of patients receiving purified birch tar was expanded.
Additionally, 63 patients with chronic dermatoses aged from 15 to 60 years, both men and women, were treated (Table 59) (Lukina O.G. et al., 2002). Table 59. Nosological composition of patients

Treatment was carried out on an outpatient basis. The drug was applied to the lesions once a day for an average of 30 minutes (from 10 minutes to 1 hour) for 25 days. In addition, patients received additional treatment, including antihistamines, detoxification agents, and vitamins. The final result was assessed by the dynamics of the main clinical signs of the disease using the following characteristics: recovery, significant improvement, improvement, no effect, deterioration (Table 60).

A positive effect was noted in 98.4% of cases.
In one case, there was no effect from the therapy. In 80% of patients, an increase in skin itching was noted in the first 2 days of treatment. The itching continued only during the period of application and disappeared after the tar was removed. After 3-5 days the itching stopped. Discontinuation of the medication and the use of additional agents were not required. Table 60. Results of treating patients with various skin diseases with tar

In 20.6% of patients (patients with eczema and neurodermatitis), on the 4th–5th day of using DBO, an exacerbation of the skin process was observed - oozing and microvesicles appeared against the background of infiltration and hyperemia. Exacerbation of a local nature was limited to the site of application. To stop the exacerbation, the dose of antihistamines was increased; in 3 cases of eczema, injections of corticosteroid drugs were additionally prescribed (Kenalog 40 intramuscularly, 1.0, once), local lotions with solutions of boric acid 1% or ethacridine lactate 1:1000 and Elokom in the form of a cream or solution . During the period of exacerbation, purified birch tar was discontinued for 2–3 days, then use was resumed.

No abnormalities were observed in the clinical blood test. In 62 patients, no changes in clinical urine analysis were observed; in one case (concomitant arthropathy) there was an increase in the number of leukocytes to 20–30 in the field of vision, squamous epithelial cells to 12-20 in the field of vision; by the end of treatment the indicators did not exceed the norm. In 57 cases, there were no deviations in the study of biochemical blood parameters. In one case, an increase in bilirubin level to 32 µM/l was observed (the patient suffered hepatitis A 1.5 years ago); in five cases there was an increase in the level of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase to 2 mmol/h/l and 1.25 mmol/h/l, respectively; in two cases - an increase in the level of alanine aminotransferase (which was obviously associated with alcohol abuse). By the end of therapy, deviations in indicators were observed only in one case - in a patient who had suffered hepatitis A.

A more pronounced effect was achieved with widespread psoriasis with a predominance of papules; for eczema and atopic dermatitis, the effectiveness of the drug was lower.

Thus, DBO is effective in the treatment of chronic dermatoses (the best results are achieved in psoriasis); The method of short-term application of the drug is effective, easy to use and available on an outpatient basis. With eczema and neurodermatitis, an exacerbation occurred on the 4-5th day of treatment, which is limited only to the site of application of the drug, is short-term, requires additional therapy, but does not affect the results of treatment. According to laboratory studies, birch tar has no side effects on the liver and kidneys.

prof. Albanova V.I.

Seal

Benefits and disadvantages of soap

The therapeutic properties of tar are recognized by official medicine. The substance is part of many antifungal agents and ointments. When treating nail fungus, it is necessary to ensure regularity of procedures, careful removal of overgrown nails and dead areas.

Elimination of unpleasant symptoms occurs within a few days of use - itching, burning, peeling, and unpleasant odor disappear. The skin stops cracking and inflammation disappears. But it takes much longer to completely restore the plate. The question is not the low effectiveness of tar soap, but the peculiarities of nail growth.

The active components of soap are unable to overcome the durable shell of the nail plate. To do this, it is necessary to steam your feet in a bath and remove the stratum corneum. In this case, the tar gets the opportunity to influence the painful microflora of the plate.

The negative point is the specific pungent odor. They talk about this on the forums. To reduce its concentration, you can make tar water, or add a few drops of essential oil to the chosen remedy.