Chiggers!

We started the vegie garden this past weekend. I had forgotten N. Texas chiggers! Never had them for four years in Austin.

I'll be dusting with diatomaceous earth when I dare venture out again. Right now, I'm covered in welts.
Any relief suggestions beyond Calamine?

:shrug: I never used it, but had friends who swore by it.

my sympathies on the chiggers.

dg

That helps :D I read that nail polish is based on the belief that they burrow, when actually, they leave behind a feeding tube. Perhaps it would smother the feeding tube. I don't keep polish on hand. And, I have LARGE areas, like both of my knees and elbows, solid. Before I got Calimine on them this morning, they were very swollen in some places. I would need a big paint brush :( I do appreciate the suggestion.

:shrug: If you've got welts that big, you might be allergic to the little buggers. I've also used ice. And Off! as a precaution.

god i hate chiggers!!! when I was a kid, my legs were always covered with them during the summer.

dg

I really needed to tell someone how much I was suffering. I also called a friend, and convinced my roommate to go get me some Benadryl. I thought I might have to go to ER. Throat started hurting, feverish, weak. So, it is well beyond the garden-variety chigger attack, and no longer appropriate to ask for advice, per DU rules. I should be getting some relief soon. Thank you so much for responding.

ps. One of the things roommie got lists "ammonia" as the active ingredient. Now, I seem to recall that my mother used ammonia and/or Lysol when we were kids. Not too sure about home dosing with those any more. I remember yellow jacket stings more than chigger bites.

hope you feel better soon!

dg

They can last a long time. My favorite solution is to soak in a very salty epsom salt bath
a couple of times a week until they dry up. I've also had some success with a mixture of
vinegar and baking soda put either directly on the bite or in large doses in the bath.

Best of luck kiddo. :hug:

them with alcohol/vinegar/calamine and Echinacea tea. The tea brings some pain relief, and I know from experience it can help heal bug bites. I'm using oral and topical Benadryl. I'm onto the Epsom and baking soda, too. There's nothing I won't try at this point.

The welts are warm to the touch and itchy, but the pain subsides. I've never had them this bad.
I guess they were glad to see me :eyes:

and I learned about chiggers for the first time the hard way. I'm so sorry you are going
through it. I think you'll find that a really hot and salty bath will go a long way toward
relief and will eventually dry them up and heal the bites.

Never thought of the echinacea tea! Tea tree oil might also be very good toward the healing
though I don't know if it would bring itch relief.

I hope you have a relatively fast recovery. :hug:

rubbing alcohol, which is probably all kinds of bad but seems effective. Sorry for what you're going through. Sounds like a trip to the doc is in order. :hug:

If I can get some sleep tonight, my body will get a boost on the healing. I'm using alcohol too.
ANYTHING.

We get them here too, and they are a real aggravation.

Some folklore remedies gleaned from the locals:

*Don't wear tight clothing, including socks & underwear.

*Scrub down immediately after exposure with hot soapy water and an abrasive cloth.

*Quarantine (isolate) all clothing that has been exposed until it can be washed.
When chiggers are active, don't re-wear gardening clothes, or put the exposed clothing in an area where chiggers can spread to clean clothes.

*Lightly spread powdered sulfur around areas where you will be working or playing.
Use a pillowcase or old sock.
This has been recommended by every old timer in our area.
We tried it last year, and it appeared to work.
We will be using it again this year.

*We use a lotion called Swan's Clear ANTI-ITCH Lotion.
It is over-the-counter at drugstores.
It relieves the itch, and seems to speed the healing.

Good Luck.

I found this (vid about the lotion)
http://www.expotv.com/videos/reviews/11/124/SwanClearAntiItchLotion/124067

I was up all night. Awhile after I took an Epsom bath, the welts were very swollen and hard. Felt like I was on fire. I started getting sick to my stomach. I finally threw up to the dry heave stage a few hours later; and the relief was immediate and remarkable. Today there's itching, but much better than the former symptoms.

I'm so glad to hear you're getting some relief today. Sounds like a really rough night!
This is a local Texas article on Epsom salts I thought you might appreciate. Never heard
of "dew poisoning" have you?


Get the Epsom Salt.
This Kids Got Dew Poisoning"
by N. Ray Maxie


Grandmothers of the past four or five generations in NE Texas around Atlanta, aren't the only ones to know the benefits of Epsom Salt. That age-old compound is gaining more and more attention these days for its affordable, back-to-basics approach to everything from health and beauty, household cleaning, gardening and lawn care. Not to mention a good old foot soaking.

One of the earliest discoveries of magnesium sulfate - the scientific name for Epsom Salt - occurred back in Shakespeare's day in the mineral rich waters of Epsom, England. In those early days, some folks came there to drink the waters as a purgative. While these days some may prefer only to soak their aches, pains and toxins out in a warm bath solution, Epsom is still used as an ingredient in some stomach medications.

This mineral product is "the ultimate foot soak," easing achy muscles, smoothing the rough patches and absorbing odors. Just add ½ cup of Epsom Salt to a large foot-pan of warm water and soak for as long as it feels right.

Hot Epsom Salt water seemed to be the cure-all for a lot of rural illnesses and maladies during my growing-up years in the Ark-La-Tex area. My mother's very rural "medical expertise" was to use it early and often on us kids. It was used on insect bites and strings, and brought great relief from the most dreaded of all, chigger and tick bites.

More than one time I have gotten off the school bus and came hobbling down the road home with a sprained ankle. Before I hardly knew it, mother had a warm pan of Epsom Salt water ready for me to soak the ankle in for about 30 to 45 minutes. Most of the time a sprained ankle resulted from playing high school sports, especially basketball. A daily soaking was routine for the next several days.

Other uses mother often made available for herself were a relaxing and sedative bath using 2 cups of the mineral in a tub of warm water. She and my sisters also used it as a face cleaner, mixing it into their regular face cleansing cream. They too, had a concoction of mixing Epsom Salt with their shampoo to aid in removal of excess oil from the hair. Then they rinsed it with lemon juice or organic apple cider vinegar.

I know, some of these old fashion remedies and solutions aren't for everybody to use these days, nor do many of us want to use them.

But, I also know first hand that Epsom Salt was a great soak for sprains and bruises; for splinter removal, too. Just soak that splinter for awhile and it soon loosened up and quickly aided in drawing it right out.

On several occasions I recall becoming infected with what some country folk knew only as "dew poisoning", while others in our area might call a similar condition, "ground itch." It was an itchy, red and miserable foot rash developed from going barefoot through grass and weeds wet with early morning dew.

"Dew poisoning" was a severe foot irritation I could have surely lived without while growing up in Cass County. But, during the warm months of the year, going barefoot was the only way to go for a backwoods shirttail country kid. Freedom from socks and shoes..... Heavenly!

Epsom Salt had many "old time" valuable uses and was the best available solution for "dew poisoning."

I ended up with the last patch being on the inside of my left wrist, up to the elbow. Never! had such welts. At that point, Epsom water was too harsh. Plain old sea salt dissolved in water was the only thing that soothed. It came about as a last resort. All healed up now, except for some red bumps that erupted right at the wrist line. I think some blood vessels burst from the swelling? Something weird.

I don't have any experience with sulfur, but will go ahead with Diatomaceous earth treatment. We had a freeze one night since, so that got rid of whatever was there at the time. Devils.

This was the site I eventually favored for all things chigger >
http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/
Chiggers are not bugs or any other type of insect. Chiggers are the juvenile (or larval) form of a specific family of mites, the Trombiculidae. Mites are arachnids, like spider and scorpions, and are closely related to ticks.

Chigger mites are unique among the many mite families in that only the larval stage feeds on vertebrate animals; chiggers dine on us only in their childhood, and later become vegetarians that live on the soil.
...
It is of little comfort to learn that North American chiggers only bite humans by accident. Although our chiggers can feed on most animals, they are really looking for reptiles and birds, their preferred hosts. The itching reaction human skin has to chigger bites occurs because we are not their correct hosts. Chiggers that specifically prey on humans in Asia and Pacific Islands cause no itching!

Unlike ticks, which quietly wait for hosts, chiggers run about almost constantly. Chiggers tend to move towards and onto any new object placed in their environment. You can test your lawn for the presence of chiggers by placing a black piece of cardboard or a white saucer. Vertically on the ground. If chiggers are present they will move rapidly over the object and accumulate on the upper edge where you can see them with a magnifying glass.

x(

Interesting home remedies. I'm going to try avoidance here on out.

Someone suggested this to me when I had a severe case of chiggers. It really works, stops the itching instantly.

You probably smell so bad, even the chiggers leave.