Chiggers
Poor Dawnie. She got chigger bit last weekend, and they are still bothering her. I got some too, but I grew up in the South, and came to accept chigger bites as part of being outdoors in the summertime. She is a New York Yankee, and acts as though her half-dozen bites were made by Black Widow spiders.
I told her to dab a bit of bleach on each bite, but she hasn't done it yet. She is using calamine, but the bites still itch. I told her, if the bites still itch, there is still a bug in there, and you need to kill it.
I told her to dab a bit of bleach on each bite, but she hasn't done it yet. She is using calamine, but the bites still itch. I told her, if the bites still itch, there is still a bug in there, and you need to kill it.
0
-
...David, heres something that nips it in the bud. Get a bottle of clear finger nail polish and dab a little on each bite ASAP, they die from lack of air QUICK! That avoids almost all the itching.
...I have a bottle in my first aid kit so if I run into that problem out in BFE, I have it covered...course with my first aid kit, I have everything covered from open heart surgery to an apendectimy...[:D]
0 -
wd40 works good, smothers the rascals[8D] 0 -
Best way to beat chiggers is to not get them. I saw them running around the desert every day while I was over there, never once got bit by one. Now, sand flies are another story. They're the size of a gnat and their bite feels like getting stabbed with a sewing needle. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by COLT
...David, heres something that nips it in the bud. Get a bottle of clear finger nail polish and dab a little on each bite ASAP, they die from lack of air QUICK! That avoids almost all the itching.
...I have a bottle in my first aid kit so if I run into that problem out in BFE, I have it covered...course with my first aid kit, I have everything covered from open heart surgery to an apendectimy...[:D]
thats an interesting method and should work. I have used finger nail polish to get rid of athletes foot, same idea, it kills the fungus by lack of air.0 -
The chigger is long gone, before it started itching. The enzyme it injected is what makes you itchy. It sucked your blood and fell off. Whatever relieves itching is good, lidocain to calamine, give it a try.
Some people will have much worse reaction than others to the bite, sorta like poison ivy. I think with chiggers the more you get bitten the immune system builds up and it's not as bad. My theory anyway.0 -
quote:Originally posted by booger
The chigger is long gone, before it started itching. The enzyme it injected is what makes you itchy. It sucked your blood and fell off. Whatever relieves itching is good, lidocain to calamine, give it a try.
Some people will have much worse reaction than others to the bite, sorta like poison ivy. I think with chiggers the more you get bitten the immune system builds up and it's not as bad. My theory anyway.
That's the way it works with the Wisconsin state bird: the Mosquito.0 -
Hey David,
Tell her to get some "Chigorex". White bottle with a red top. Works well for me. Also, I've found that when I get chiggers on my legs if I will pull the hair out it will relieve the itching quite a bit. The chigger attatches itself to the hair folicle and if you pull the hair out you normally get the chigger with it. This may not work for her if she shaves her legs regularly like most women but something to think about.
Anyway, "Chigorex" works for me untill the effects of the chigger bite wear off.
Bode0 -
it's a common misconception that chiggers burrow into the skin. They don't. The idea is supported by the fact that clear fingernail polish actually does help. I use a product called chigger rid, like fingernail polish it seals off the area and releaves itching. If you have been in an area where you suspect you might have picked up some chiggers, take a bath with a dab of bleach added to the water as soon as possible.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html
Chiggers
HYG-2100-98
William F. Lyon
Common Name Scientific Name
Chigger Trombicula alfreddugesi (Oudemans)
Jigger
Red Bug
Probably no creature on earth can cause as much torment for its size than the tiny chigger. Tiny six-legged chigger larvae attack campers, picnickers, hikers, bird watchers, berry pickers, fishermen, soldiers, and homeowners in low, damp areas where vegetation is rank such as woodlands, berry patches, orchards, along lakes and streams, and even in drier places where vegetation is low such as lawns, golf courses, and parks. They are most numerous in early summer when grass, weeds and other vegetation are heaviest. Chiggers do not burrow into the skin, but insert their mouthparts in a skin pore or hair follicle. Their bites produce small, reddish welts on the skin accompanied by intense itching as irritating as acute cases of poison ivory or poison sumac. These symptoms often are the only way of learning that an outdoor area is infested since chiggers are so small that most cannot be seen without a magnifying glass. Chiggers feed on a wide variety of snakes, turtles, birds, and small mammals as well as humans.
Identification
Chigger mites are about 1/20 inch long, usually bright red, have hairy bodies, and travel rapidly. The larval stage has three pairs of legs whereas the nymph and adult stage have four pairs of legs. There is a marked constriction in the front part of the body in the nymph and adult stage. Larvae are orange, yellow or light red and about 1/150 to 1/120 inch in diameter. Eggs are globular-shaped.
Life Cycle and Habits
Adult chiggers overwinter near or slightly below the soil and in other protected places. Females become active in the spring and lay up to 15 eggs per day in vegetation when soil temperatures are 60?F. Eggs hatch into six-legged larvae, the only stage that attacks humans and animals (parasitic stage). After hatching, chigger larvae climb up onto vegetation from which they can more readily snag a passing host. After engorgement, often requiring one to several days, larvae drop off the host and transform into eight-legged nymphs which mature to the adult stage. Nymphs and adults feed on eggs of springtails, isopods, and mosquitoes. The life cycle is about 50 to 70 days, with adult females living up to one year and producing offspring during this time. Multiple generations occur in warmer climates, whereas only two to three develop each season in some northern states. Chiggers are usually encountered in late spring and summer in areas where weeds and briars have overgrown. They lurk on grass stems, leaves, shrubbery, etc., usually in damp, shaded spots near the top of different objects close to the soil. Young chiggers attach themselves to the skin of people, domestic animals, wild animals (including reptiles), poultry and birds. The preferred feeding locations on people are parts of the body where clothing fits tightly over the skin such as around the belt line, waistline, under girdles and under socks, or where the flesh is thin, tender or wrinkled such as the ankles, in the armpits, back of the knees, in front of the elbow, or in the groin.
Bites
Chigger larvae do not burrow into the skin, nor suck blood. They pierce the skin and inject into the host a salivary secretion containing powerful, digestive enzymes that break down skin cells that are ingested (tissues become liquefied and sucked up). Also, this digestive fluid causes surrounding tissues to harden, forming a straw-like feeding tube of hardened flesh (stylostome) from which further, partially-digested skin cells may be sucked out. After a larva is fully fed in four days, it drops from the host, leaving a red welt with a white, hard central area on the skin that itches severely and may later develop into dermatitis. Any welts, swelling, itching, or fever will usually develop three to six hours after exposure and may continue a week or longer. If nothing is done to relieve itching, symptoms may continue a week or more. Scratching a bite may break the skin, resulting in secondary infections. However, chiggers are not known to transmit any disease in this country.
Control Measures
Skin Care
After returning from a chigger-infested area, launder the field clothes in soapy, hot water (125?F.) for about half an hour. Infested clothes should not be worn again until they are properly laundered and/or exposed to hot sunshine. Unlaundered clothes or those laundered in cool water will contain the biting chiggers to again reinfest your skin. As soon as possible, take a good hot bath or shower and soap repeatedly. The chiggers may be dislodged, but you will still have the stylostomes, causing the severe itch. Scratching deep to remove stylostomes can cause secondary infections. For temporary relief of itching, apply ointments of benzocaine, hydrocortisone, calamine lotion, New Skin, After Bite, or others recommended by your pharmacist or medical doctor. Some use Vaseline, cold cream, baby oil, or fingernail polish. (The sooner the treatment, the better the results.)
Prevention
Mowing of briars, weeds, and thick vegetation and close clipping of lawns, to eliminate shade and moisture, will reduce chigger populations, and permit sunlight and air to circulate freely. Chigger larvae can penetrate many types of clothing, but high boots and trousers of tightly woven fabric tucked into stockings or boots help deter them.
Before going into an area where chiggers may be present, protect yourself by using a repellent such as deet (Off MGK, Muskol, Detamide, Metadelphene, Repel, Diethy-toluamide) or permethrin available at many drugstores or hardware stores. Deet-based repellents are effective for only a few hours, whereas permethrin-based repellents are for use only on clothing and effective for several days. Apply the repellent to both the skin and clothing, especially on hands, arms, or legs, if uncovered, and to clothing openings at cuffs, neck, waistband, and upper edges of socks. Follow label directions since repellents may damage plastics, nail polish, and painted or varnished surfaces. Do not use indiscriminately as severe human allergies can develop. Keep moving since the worst chigger infestations occur when sitting or laying down in a sunny spot at midday with temperatures above 60?F. If possible, stick to roads and trails.
Insecticides
Treating known chigger trouble spots is quicker and less expensive than treating an entire area. Place six-inch squares of black cardboard on edge in the grass and observe for a few minutes. Any small, yellowish or pinkish chiggers present will climb rapidly to the top of the square and congregate there. Make tests in 10 to 12 different spots such as grass, dead leaves, briars, weeds, etc. Unless the entire area is infested, treat only the spots where control is desired such as grass around picnic tables, lawn chairs, or recreational equipment. Chiggers tend to concentrate in "mite islands" while nearby spots are free of them. They become rather inactive at temperatures below 60?F.
Outdoor sprays of chlorpyrifos (Dursban), carbaryl (Sevin) or diazinon will give control. Only the licensed pest control operator or applicator can use certain formulations of propoxur (Baygon), cyfluthrin (Tempo), or fluvalinate (Marvik, Yardex). Treat the grass, shrubs, and trees in lawns, parks, campgrounds and golf courses, if needed, keeping humans and pets off treated areas until dry. Retreatment may be needed after two to three weeks in heavy chigger infestations. Before using any pesticide, always read the label and follow directions and safety precautions.
Do not wear dog or cat flea collars on your ankles or cattle ear tags on your shoes to ward off chiggers. It is very dangerous resulting in chemical skin burns and toxic effect to the wearers.0 -
X'ing it with a ball-point pen is a Maryland friend's solution.
Similar to the clear fingernail polish solution.0 -
A capfull of bleach in the bath water always works well for us. I
believe it serves to dry the bites out some, and relieves itching.0 -
...well, whatever the reason "why it works", the clear finger nail polish works great, cheap, easy to use and works as long as you apply it ASAP.
... Hmmm, I guess I have been the product of the urban myth that the "jeegers" (my mexcin friends pronunciation [8D]) burrow in and the polish sealed and suffocated the little buggers (pun), oh well.
...Since I am not a chiggerologist, I just did not know...[8D]0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
I told her to dab a bit of bleach on each bite, but she hasn't done it yet. She is using calamine, but the bites still itch. I told her, if the bites still itch, there is still a bug in there, and you need to kill it.
Tell her to stop being a hard head and do it. The sooner she does, the sooner they die!0 -
quote:I came to accept chigger bites as part of being outdoors
Not me - ever - when I'm in the South I nevah roll in the grass.
... we don't have biting insects here[:D]0 -
Chigger rid or ChiggerX... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by COLT
...David, heres something that nips it in the bud. Get a bottle of clear finger nail polish and dab a little on each bite ASAP, they die from lack of air QUICK! That avoids almost all the itching.
...I have a bottle in my first aid kit so if I run into that problem out in BFE, I have it covered...course with my first aid kit, I have everything covered from open heart surgery to an apendectimy...[:D]
COLT old son you are spot on I new an old Texas boy would get that. Sort of embarrasing to buy the nail polish! Damn straight!0 -
quote:Originally posted by shoff14
quote:Originally posted by COLT
...David, heres something that nips it in the bud. Get a bottle of clear finger nail polish and dab a little on each bite ASAP, they die from lack of air QUICK! That avoids almost all the itching.
...I have a bottle in my first aid kit so if I run into that problem out in BFE, I have it covered...course with my first aid kit, I have everything covered from open heart surgery to an apendectimy...[:D]
thats an interesting method and should work. I have used finger nail polish to get rid of athletes foot, same idea, it kills the fungus by lack of air.
Sounds like it might work on ringworm too.0 -
Campho-phenique
It was recommended to me by some people on here when I had them. Worked wonders, gone in 2-3days.
Otherwise Chigarid, clear nail polish or baking soda paste.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
18 comments