Chiggers

[bike4ever]

So I was out at a local trail last Thursday. By the time I got home, the lower half of my right leg was beginning to "bug" me. So, it seems I attracted a batch of chiggers. What remedies have you found successful?

Today, Monday, I am finally not attacking my legs. They do look like a war zone though.:rolleyes:

[makbike]

Have you tried clear fingernail polish? There is also an OTC product "Chigger Aid" that I've been told works.

[KnottedYet]

I've used clear fingernail polish. Smothers the little buggers a treat!

[bike4ever]

I did use the fingernail polish - really burned on contact. It still took a few days before the itching stopped. My legs looked funny with shiney welts on them from the polish.

I wasn't aware of the Chigger Aid - definitely will have to look into that one.

[crazycanuck]

Chigger? :confused:

C

[bmccasland]

Having reacquainted myself with the evil little bugs when I moved back to Louisiana - I feel your pain Bike4ever.

CC - they're an EVIL little mite, almost impossible to see that crawls up your legs or arms to sheltered areas, injects digestive enzymes, and then feeds off your blood.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html

Shower immediately after you come in from beating in the weeds. I've found hydrocortisone cream helps, applied frequently. Of course this was after I scratched myself - my reintroduction was over 100 bites. I haven't tried the fingernail polish method, but the idea is that you'll smother the buggers and they'll die.

Evil nasty little bastards.

[Kimmyt]

OMG over 100 chigger bites! I get one or two and I feel like I'm going to diiiiiiiiieeeee of itchiness!

I just reapply and reapply and reapply that alcohol based anti-itch cream stuff. And then swear I'll never sit in the grass in the summer again. And then forget and do the same thing next week.

Damn bugs... :mad:

[chort]

I've used clear fingernail polish. Smothers the little buggers a treat!

Just wanted to add - DO NOT shave after this. I made that mistake - forgot I had it all over my legs and I cut myself up good!!!!!:o

[bike4ever]

bmccasland - Thanks for the rather disgusting yet very informative article on these devil bugs.

I had applied bug spray before the original ride. I get very large welts when bitten by mosquitoes so I make every effort to try and eliminate them. I've been lazy lately and just used the Avon bug spray (swiped it from my mom in VA). This has worked fine for mosquitoes.

I will definitely apply my deet this Thursday before riding there again. Yes I am returning since this trail is one of the most challenging and closest in our area.

[emily_in_nc]

Our yard has been infested with chiggers in the summer ever since we got a truckload of mulch that was full of them. We use organic methods of gardening and have so much wildlife that we can't spray the whole yard with a pesticide, so we just live with them. It sucks! :mad:

The only thing that seems to help is stripping immediately upon coming in after working in the yard -- putting all clothing into the laundry basket, hitting the shower and soaping down all over. Even doing this, we always manage to get a few bites, and they do itch like the devil. We use 1% hydrocortisone cream, which does help, but must be reapplied when they start itching again. It usually takes about a week for the itch to be completely gone.

One of the pleasures of living in the south -- not! :eek:

Emily

[RoadRaven]

Thanks for asking CC... I opened this thread wondering what the heck chiggers were... now I kinda wish I didn't...

Thank goodness we have nothing like that (to my knowledge) here in Middle Earth!

[Aggie_Ama]

Clear nail polish for the last time when I had about 5. I got them in the hundreds when I was in girl scouts, my Pawpaw got my the Chigger Aid and it worked well but it may burn.

Those things are evil, my neighbor said he had them but I haven't been hit *YET*.

[Sky]

I haven't tried this myself, but my son puts strips of clear tape on his bites and he says that stops the itching.

[singletrackmind]

Ugh, chiggers!! So far we've been lucky, though the step-daughter got a mess o' seed ticks last week geocaching at Route 66. Chiggers are way worse, but seed ticks are next on my list.

Greensfelder? Chubb? Klondike? Somewhere else?

[DebW]

I hate chigger bites worse than black fly bites, but luckily those two are mutually exclusive so I happily live in the Northeast. But got 2 chigger bites in my armpit last weekend in NJ. The worst part of chiggers is often WHERE they bite you.

[mimitabby]

Gosh, Seattle is grand.
too cold for chiggers, too cold for horseflies and deerflies, hardly any mosquitoes or roaches....
okay, we have craneflies. they eat lawns.

[bike4ever]

singletrackmind - I got mine out at Chubb which is beside Route 66.

I rode there today without any extra visitors. I was careful to apply deet on any exposed skin though.

[singletrackmind]

Sweet sweet trail for hiking and biking. Have you tried the new little connector trail yet? Thanks for the info....got a kid that reacts like mad to bug bites of any kind. Getting to be that time of year, I guess.

[LBTC]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[RoadRaven]

OK... so, unable to contain my curiosity (I am a Leo and hello, guess what??? curiosity killed - or at least made feel "pukish" - the cat!)... I googled images for Chiggers... lots of nice "cases" and lots of diagrams and pictures of the critters themselves...

:eek:

[La Victoria]

Hi,
I know this is going to sound crazy but I'm from east Texas, possibly the chigger capital of the world (there is a annual Chigger Festival there). We used toothpaste on chigger bites and it really soothes the itchiness. Plain ol Crest toothpaste, the old fashioned white paste kind works the best and if you keep it refrigerated the coolness really feels good. I used to put a tube of Crest in the frig every summer just for chigger bites.

La Victoria

[Aggie_Ama]

The worst part of chiggers is often WHERE they bite you.


Deb- You are so right! The first time I got them was right at the top of my legs in the little area where your leg bends to the crotch and along where the cheeks of rear end meet the upper thigh. Talk about an uncomfortable spot and you can't politely scratch that!! :eek:

[bike4ever]

toothpaste? way cool. I will definitely try that next time.

[emily_in_nc]

Deb- You are so right! The first time I got them was right at the top of my legs in the little area where your leg bends to the crotch and along where the cheeks of rear end meet the upper thigh. Talk about an uncomfortable spot and you can't politely scratch that!! :eek:

How true! I have a couple bites right now in my nether regions, and I could even feel the worst one (on my outer labia) on my bike ride this week.

I HATE chiggers! :mad:

Emily

[mimitabby]

how the heck do they get to your nether regions? (hopefully not TMI?)

[Tuckervill]

They crawl. They go for the warmest place on your body. If you sit down in the grass, that's a bonus for them because they don't have to go too far. They also like to get under waistbands and bra straps.

When I was in the army I sat in the woods all night on guard duty, and the next day I had chiggers every-stinking-where. I mean EVERYWHERE. Way more than 100 bites. I sat in a bath of bleach and water to kill the little b-stards.

But, ever since then (about 20 years ago), mosquitoes and chiggers do not seem to bother me at all.

Karen

[farrellcollie]

I hate chiggers too. I once got over 100 on both legs from walking the chubb trail (that is one chiggery place) - if you find anything that works - please post it - I found nothing relieved the itch for long - I now use deet on my clothing and shoes and socks and a deet lotion on my legs (the lotion has a smaller concentration). I never got many ticks on me - but the dogs did and it was horrible with the seed ticks until I started using frontline on them.

[emily_in_nc]

how the heck do they get to your nether regions? (hopefully not TMI?)

Unfortunately, they migrate from wherever they originally got on you, and they're so tiny you can't feel them crawling. I get a lot of bites where the sun doesn't shine from being out gardening in shorts, bending over, kneeling down, etc. Even when I take a shower immediately afterwards, it's sometimes too late. VERY uncomfortable! :(

Emily