I searched, no topic.

I think I got them either on a bike ride on Sunday or from the gun range on Saturday .

In complete misery right now because I am pretty sensitive to bug bites in general. They start at my knees and go up towards my groin area and are big, red and welty. Unfortunately, I scratched before figuring out what they were.

Besides taking regular showers with lots of soap, and applying hydrocortisone cream, any other ideas on how to self-care for them?

6/6/2011 9:50:25 PM

paint them with fingernail polish or shoe polish
that's the remedy i've always heard

6/6/2011 9:57:17 PM

^ urban legend.

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/avoid-outdoor-pests/chiggers

You sure its chiggers and you weren't just frolicking in poison ivy?

6/6/2011 10:03:21 PM

Chigger plz

6/6/2011 10:06:30 PM

I was told if its chiggers, there are usually two bites kinda close to each other because they always stay male/female. Most people here in the midwest swear by the nail polish treatment.

6/6/2011 10:12:00 PM

Chiggerex



/thread

6/6/2011 10:13:39 PM

Chigger...

that's their word, you have no right to use it...

6/6/2011 10:23:32 PM

/lounge

6/6/2011 10:35:45 PM

^^^

6/6/2011 10:53:14 PM

Quote :

"I was told if its chiggers, there are usually two bites kinda close to each other because they always stay male/female. Most people here in the midwest swear by the nail polish treatment."

never heard of that first part. i think the nail polish thing works bc it burns a little bit & keeps you from scratching it.

i've had tons of them over the years. i had 80something last year when i also got lyme. hydrocortisone can help. antihistimines work (esp the old style ones like benadryl). i usually end up doing exactly what you're not supposed to. i scratch the tar out of them til the skin is good & broken. then it just hurts more than it itches & that's easier for me to deal with

oh! the gold bond medicated anti-itch cream works well for me...especially if you scratch them open first. it has menthol. it's a good burn.

6/6/2011 10:58:34 PM

Yeah nail polish just keeps you from scratching them, it doesn't actually smother the mite. By the time you know you have chiggers, the bugs are down the drain.

It's not poison ivy...these have distinct white blistery centers and no oozy rash. Just 2-3 cm randomly spaced welts that popped up from a few days ago.

But yeah, last year was Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever for 3 weeks, this must be Year of the Chigger. And I don't even work a forestry job, go mountain biking, or do anything in deep woods, just lots of outside time.

I'll try the oatmeal idea on my next bathing round. I have a box of it from Costco to use up.

6/6/2011 11:08:10 PM

ice packs feel good on them too

6/6/2011 11:09:58 PM

I've had hundreds of bites over the years and have yet to find anything that helps short of scratching yourself bloody. Which isn't medically advisable, but is incredibly satisfying on some level.

6/6/2011 11:16:46 PM

i forgot to add... if you are going the nail polish route (even though they say it is urban legend), use clear nail polish

6/7/2011 5:44:14 AM

My grandma always made us use

Quote :

"Chiggerex /thread "

It works alright, I just remember re-applying like every hour

6/7/2011 8:29:53 AM

This thread is racist.

6/7/2011 9:02:35 AM

nail polish doesn't work.

manning up is the solution.

6/7/2011 9:14:20 AM

Bleach worked the only time I ever had chiggers

6/7/2011 12:45:13 PM

The Peoples Pharmacy dealie-o in the paper this morning had a guy that wrote in and said Capsaicin ointment worked well.

6/7/2011 12:58:33 PM

Quote :

"I've had hundreds of bites over the years and have yet to find anything that helps short of scratching yourself bloody. Which isn't medically advisable, but is incredibly satisfying on some level."

Scratch them with a credit card til they bleed.
Scabs don't itch as bad.

[Edited on June 7, 2011 at 1:33 PM. Reason : s]

6/7/2011 1:32:57 PM

if scratching or normal anti-itch cream doesn't work then nothing will. by the time chigger bites itch, they're long gone, so trying to "suffocate" them with nail polish or whatever is a waste of time; it doesn't work. if you think it works, because "it worked for me [you]", then welcome to the placebo affect.

6/7/2011 1:46:25 PM

chiggers don't stay on skin very well, they are gone the first time you take a shower (assuming you haven't tracked them into your bed). thats why its always important to shower after being in the woods, it will save you some headaches.

6/7/2011 2:30:55 PM

3 years ago i had the worst experience of my life and it involved chiggers

i stopped counting the bites at 100. i was in misery

nothing worked, i ended up having to see a doctor for steroids so my body could recover. i was having anxiety due to the stress my body was under and probably spent $200 on medicated creams from the dermatologist to stop the itching and everything only worked so-so

i got the most relief from vicks vapor-rub but it was temporary and desperate, lol

so if your situation is remotely like mine i would recommend going to see a doctor because your body might not be able to handle it on its own

6/7/2011 4:20:59 PM

^ I stopped counting at 30 or so. They've migrated to my butt, it's awful sitting in a chair.

I definitely know it's chiggers from the gun range now, because my friend who I took the concealed carry class with, also has them and has identical symptoms. He called me today flipping out because he has an ear/throat infection and thought it came from the chiggers (no, it was an independent infection. Chiggers don't carry any bacterial or viral infections in the US).

But yeah....drying them out seems to relieve the itch a bit. And taking allergy medicine. Overall, this still sucks.

6/8/2011 3:55:58 PM

I had close to 90 one time and was miserable as well.. I'm telling you, just try giving Chiggerex a try.

6/8/2011 8:27:55 PM

i dont think ive ever had chigger bites and ive been in the woods more than i been out of them my whole life

6/8/2011 10:08:52 PM

i think some people are more susceptible than others. i've got buddies that go hunting or fishing and they'll get wrapped up, but some of the guys they hunt/fish with don't get any. deemarie gets them when i don't.

6/8/2011 10:19:27 PM

In case it should come up, people from other parts of the country call them "no-see-ums"

6/9/2011 12:50:41 AM

^uh, we called "no see-ums" those little flying bugs that bite you, which kind of hurt/sting, but you never see them....

ah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratopogonidae

[Edited on June 9, 2011 at 8:41 AM. Reason : .]

6/9/2011 8:14:38 AM

no see ums and chiggers are not the same where i'm from. however, chiggers=red bugs.

6/9/2011 5:06:00 PM

not to be confused with clover mites that invade homes in early spring leaving red stains everywhere

6/9/2011 5:08:57 PM

distract them with watermelon and/or popeyes

6/10/2011 9:51:27 AM

Chiggers are quick scurrying red mites. No see ums are annoying little gnats that go for the crotch, but they have wings and fly.

6/10/2011 10:37:10 AM

^i've never seen noseeums go for someone's crotch. we don't really sit around outside naked anyway so maybe that's why.

6/10/2011 11:36:10 AM

well, you're missing out

6/10/2011 11:37:49 AM

I got one a couple weeks ago, put some biofreeze on that sucker and it cleared right up. I was impressed.

6/10/2011 12:11:59 PM

Benadryl

6/10/2011 12:45:56 PM

http://www.mybugbites.com/

6/10/2011 10:28:43 PM

vics vaporub, the menthol really calms the itching.

6/10/2011 10:38:47 PM

ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

8/3/2011 2:10:24 PM

Pretty sure I have one chigger bite on my leg right now. Nothing should itch this bad and this relentlessly for a week and a half straight.

I'm just thankful that it is only one. That's probably a first for me...It seems like there are usually a ton of them or none.

[Edited on August 3, 2011 at 3:01 PM. Reason : l]

8/3/2011 3:00:45 PM

Chigger bites healed, then I got poison ivy from either the farm or our wooded backyard. It got so bad
I couldn't sleep at night, even with Rx-strength steroid cream on it. That cream also makes you have crazy dreams with heart palpitations.

Appearance of poison ivy rules- looked like I was whipped with a really fine lash, and was welty and oozing.

2011: not a good year for me vs. nature.

8/3/2011 3:31:18 PM

I hate poison ivy with a passion. So miserable. I feel for you.

Since you are obviously affected by it you should get really good at spotting it. I haven't had it in about 5 years and the last time I did was probably exposure to dead plants that I had killed the previous fall when I bought my house. Ever since I killed it all in my yard I've been pretty lucky. I am very diligent at looking out for it when I'm in the woods though.

[Edited on August 3, 2011 at 7:58 PM. Reason : l]

8/3/2011 7:56:59 PM

Quote :

"any other ideas on how to self-care for them?"

Scratch till it bleeds.

8/3/2011 8:58:07 PM

Can a chigger get some more puns in this thread please?

8/3/2011 9:50:57 PM

Have a doc prescribe you oral steroids like prednisone.

8/3/2011 10:27:54 PM

Quote :

"I hate poison ivy with a passion. So miserable. I feel for you. "

i hate it as well... i haven't gotten into any in about 10 years, but last time it was really bad..

try zanfel. i was pretty desperate when i tried it (it was my last resort before going to the doctor, and i almost never go to the doctor) but it cleared it up very quickly.

8/4/2011 9:09:47 AM

^ I'm normally very skeptical about things that look like overpriced mystery oils, but the Amazon.com reviews seem to support that stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Zanfel-Wash-Poison-Sumac-Urushiol/product-reviews/B000GCPWUU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

13 out of 19 reviews are 5 Stars.
I suspect several of the bad reviews are from people with Systemic poison ivy...If it's in their bloodstream there is no way a topical cream is going to stop the breakouts.

8/4/2011 10:24:18 AM

Dr. TWW,

I think I may have chigger bites. But other people told me it's probably poison ivy. What do you think?



That's from yesterday, it's spread up my leg today. I don't like this.

PLEASE MAKE THE ITCHING STOP,
begonias

[Edited on September 5, 2013 at 10:54 PM. Reason : cootie queen]

9/5/2013 10:54:32 PM

Fairly positive that's not chigger bites. *I* have at least 20 chigger bites in some very annoying places from backpacking this weekend, and I seriously wish the welts were that small. To my knowledge I've never had poison ivy, so I can't comment on that.

9/5/2013 11:14:13 PM