View Full Version : Freakin Chiggars
BumpJumper
11-03-2008, 22:51
:mad::mad::mad::mad:
Bluegill and myself hit the Florida trail this weekend. I am eat up with them. Tell me, what do yall use to prevent them, second, how do I stop itching from them????:confused:
Permethrin on your clothes helps prevent them. Wear long pants.
Wait 3 weeks and they will complete their life cycle & die
adventurousmtnlvr
11-03-2008, 23:16
fore relief (after the trail I guess, lol) use "Chiggerex" ... it's for chiggers, ticks and most bug bites ... container is a little larger than the old 35mm film containers (mostly white with red letters and red top). Probably Wal-mart or most drug stores carry it.
Tennessee Viking
11-03-2008, 23:21
CSI calls for clear nail polish.
budforester
11-03-2008, 23:21
Try not to scratch. Calamine lotion soothes the itch a little. It'll go away in a week or so. Sorry for your pain... I know the discomfort.
It's too late for avoidance (this time). Long pants with elastic at the bottoms and DEET, if you know you are going into an infested area, will keep them from crawling up your legs. Treat around the waistband, 'cause they like to get in there, too. Stay out of brush and weeds, if possible, and don't lie in the grass.
I've heard from more than one person that jumping in a pool (or any water with chlorine) after walking through an area with chiggers can help keep them from getting itchy.
_terrapin_
11-03-2008, 23:27
I wish I knew. They were the bane of my hike in 2007. Fortunately the infestation occurred in the last week or two of walking. Took a long, long time to clear up. I'm thinking gaiters might have helped to prevent this.
Blissful
11-03-2008, 23:52
Put clear nail polish on the affected areas.
I feel your pain. I got an awful outbreak in my crotch and armpits, more than 200-300 bites when I camped in a nice pine forest---and hadn't taken any precautions. Itched for 2 weeks!!!!
Prevention methods: (1) put permethrin on your clothes. Sawyers sells it. http://www.sawyerproducts.com/products.htm#003
You saturate your clothes, then let it dry. (2) Old school---worked for me 40 years ago---is to tuck your long pants into your socks, then dust from shoes to knees with sulphur, available at a pharmacist (call first, as not all may stock it.) You may want to dust your butt, too, if you sit down. Stay away from nice pine-straw areas, as this habitat seems to be their preferred abode.
Treatment: Shower or bath immediately after being in their preferred habitat. Scrub vigorously to detach them. Wash your clothes in very hot water to get rid of strays. Home remedy: take a Green tea or oatmeal bath. Use Calamine or hydro-cortisone cream for the itch. DON'T SCRATCH them or they could get infected. Be patient.
Whiskyjo
11-04-2008, 00:16
For the last 45 years of picking wild blackberries I have dusted my socks and cuffs with sulfer powder that you can buy at the drug store. Works for me,,,
adventurousmtnlvr
11-04-2008, 00:20
all sorts of good advice for everyone :) cool. But for me personally (and I do have sensitive skin) ... fingernail polish and calamine lotion did NOT work on my skin but I do know it works for others ...
kayak karl
11-04-2008, 04:32
:mad::mad::mad::mad:
Bluegill and myself hit the Florida trail this weekend. I am eat up with them. Tell me, what do yall use to prevent them, second, how do I stop itching from them????:confused: to prevent, deet and Permethrin on clothes, but thats like closing the barn door:) DO NOT put nail polish in them. the bug is gone. they do NOT burrow in skin. chiggers eat your skin not suck your blood. the chemical they inject dissolves your skin. this causes the white dots your seeing now. household ammonia or epson salts help draw this poison out. do not let bites get infected. how do i know this?
:mad::mad::mad::mad:
Bluegill and myself hit the Florida trail this weekend. I am eat up with them. Tell me, what do yall use to prevent them, second, how do I stop itching from them????:confused: I'm almost done healing up from about 6 bites last month at Wekiwa Springs SP (Orlando). Benadryl cream works really well on them. Also a hot bath or shower will increase the circulation to the area to help your body heal the bites faster, and stop the itch signal for a couple of hours. Good luck!
StarLyte
11-04-2008, 06:23
I'm a magnet for mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers.
Once my physician prescribed prednisone (steroid) and I also used Benadryl capsules AND cream to stop the itching.
That was so darn miserable. Chiggers itch soooo bad.
ALWAYS carry DEET. It's small enough to fit in your pocket.
Continue having fun - and good luck !
nitewalker
11-04-2008, 07:37
to prevent, deet and Permethrin on clothes, but thats like closing the barn door:) DO NOT put nail polish in them. the bug is gone. they do NOT burrow in skin. chiggers eat your skin not suck your blood. the chemical they inject dissolves your skin. this causes the white dots your seeing now. household ammonia or epson salts help draw this poison out. do not let bites get infected. how do i know this?
im glad those are not my feet. i hiked the ocala section last feb with long pants and i only had 5 to 10 chigger bites. lasted about 2 to 3 weeks before they were gone.. a quick question what do chiggers look like?:confused: i always see those little red bugs but people say those are not chiggers.:eek: has anyone taken a pic of a chigger? are they invisible to the human eye??:-?
trouthunter
11-04-2008, 08:09
For a good informative read on chiggers, check out this link.
http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/
Gray Blazer
11-04-2008, 08:12
Avoid sitting on logs or other fallen wood. I hate chiggars!
has anyone taken a pic of a chigger? are they invisible to the human eye??:-?
They are not invisible to the human eye, but they are really, really small.
My worst-ever infestation occurred back when I was in my early 20s. We had gone to visit someone in Middle TN and had a picnic in the grass.
On the way home (a several-hour trip), we stopped at a restaurant to eat. When I went in the bathroom and pulled down my jeans, I could see the tiny critters streaming up my legs, heading for cover.
My eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, especially my close-up vision, so I kind of doubt I could see a chigger now.
nitewalker
11-04-2008, 08:22
For a good informative read on chiggers, check out this link.
http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/
thanks for the link. i was rite those little buggers are the red bug i thought. i was asking some people from florida about them and they told me the red bug was not a chigger. heck im from ct and i figured it out rite away.. red necks what do they know, lol....:D
if you cant find your car in the back yard because the grass is to tall, well then "you mite be a red neck".......... P.S. they call me a northern red neck.. oh well.............peace
kayak karl
11-04-2008, 08:25
im glad those are not my feet. i hiked the ocala section last feb with long pants and i only had 5 to 10 chigger bites. lasted about 2 to 3 weeks before they were gone.. a quick question what do chiggers look like?:confused: i always see those little red bugs but people say those are not chiggers.:eek: has anyone taken a pic of a chigger? are they invisible to the human eye??:-?they look like red pepper on your skin. but magnified...........http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/images/chig2.jpgthey hang around on ferns and low brush and jump on you when you brush by. very common on the dunes on jersey beaches.
kayak karl
11-04-2008, 08:34
if you cant find your car in the back yard because the grass is to tall, well then "you mite be a red neck".......... P.S. they call me a northern red neck.. oh well.............peace
if you have the hubcaps stolen off............................................... ...............................your house.:D "you mite be a red neck".
sherrill
11-04-2008, 09:55
For the last 45 years of picking wild blackberries I have dusted my socks and cuffs with sulfer powder that you can buy at the drug store. Works for me,,,
Same here (although you've got some years picking on me :D ). Deet or any bug spray works too, you have to make sure to get areas that your clothes are compressed next to your skin (socks, waist, underwear) they tend to migrate to those areas.
Trust me, I'm a chigger magnet, I have suffered.
The Big J
11-04-2008, 09:56
I have had chiggers many times. The best remedy I learned from an old timer, is to use Absorbene Junior it soothes the itching and suffocates the chigger to come out. It burns for a second if you have been scratching them. I was told They use it on horses that get a bad case of chiggers. Could of been just pulling my leg on that one, never looked into it.
skinewmexico
11-04-2008, 10:44
I can't think of anything in the world worse than chiggars. I'll have to try the Absorbene Jr. though, if I'm ever crazy enough to go back someplace that has them.
The Solemates
11-04-2008, 11:50
got em just a month or so ago. i just impatiently wait for them to go away and basically scratch them raw :(
... and basically scratch them raw :(
Hurts so good!:eek:
JaxHiker
11-04-2008, 15:48
Gnarly feet pic. Permethrin is my friend. I hug it and squeeze it and name it George. I believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a lot more than scratching my a double s off...or something like that.
cravj1988
11-04-2008, 17:50
When I thru hiked in 2007 I carried a 2oz bottle of 6% Bleach. This can be used to treat water (2 drops per liter), sanitize mats or bed rolls at hostels for mrsa staph, and I also used it to get rid of chiggers and the itch around my ancles.
hnryclay
11-05-2008, 00:30
WoW chiggers suck... Anyway, you can go to the doctor if you want and get a steroid treatment. I suffered a bad spell of them a couple of years ago at work, splicing a fiber optic cable in the mountains, I was wearing 16" lineman boots, and jeans so that does not help. BTW don't listen to anyone suggesting suffocating them, or that they lay there eggs in your skin, they are long gone now. Keep the wound clean, and if you cannot stand it, go to the doctor.
adventurousmtnlvr
11-05-2008, 02:52
to prevent, deet and Permethrin on clothes, but thats like closing the barn door:) DO NOT put nail polish in them. the bug is gone. they do NOT burrow in skin. chiggers eat your skin not suck your blood. the chemical they inject dissolves your skin. this causes the white dots your seeing now. household ammonia or epson salts help draw this poison out. do not let bites get infected. how do i know this?I don't know Kayak .... Hey girls ... doesn't this resemble razor burn, lol.
Kidding of course! And itchy ouch Karl. But been there done that with tall grass in a lake in Marietta where I lived many years ago. I thought I was itchy from grass ... but no ... red dot razor burn special on my ankles that turned out to be chiggers. Not fun. And takes forever to get rid of.
am I the only one with "mind or matter' syndrone, lol ... this thread is making my ankles itch, lol
BumpJumper
11-12-2008, 22:26
Trout...that was the best read on them. Thanks.
So....they do NOT burrow so nail polish is dumb.
They dont suck blood so drinking a quart of the finest liquor to get them drunk and hope they pass out and fall off wont do it.
Once bitten, your screwed so what if.....you rub yourself down with sunburn lotion containing lidocaine? Stops the itching from a burn, why not a bug bite?
Here is what I did. I scratched, itched in places that just wasnt pretty. I went to the store and bought bogo calamine, benedryl (by the case) poured it in my bath water and soaked 22 hours of a 24 hour day. Drowning them didnt work either. But, my skin got so pruney that the little boogars found themselves in my flapply skin and hauled ass!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, that wasnt quite what happened but lets just say I was screwed for a week.:D
Chaplain
11-13-2008, 17:38
Trout: Thanks, that was a great read. Informative. Appreciate it. I hate those little chiggies . . . . uh, oh, hate talk.
BumpJumper
11-15-2008, 07:39
I went to the local pharmacy to get some sulphur powder and the pharmacist said that I was the third person in ONE day to come in and buy it for chiggers. I took the last jar. She said the hunters all use it for chiggers and swear by it.
I do remember years ago, my ex and I went camping and we dusted our ankles and campsite. NO chiggers. So, I may stink when I hike but at least I wont itch.
GeneralLee10
11-16-2008, 19:45
When you have chiggers already what you can do is use Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to help get rid of them. Just rub it in when you are in the shower like soap. It will take about 3 to 4 days and they will be gone I do that when they jump on me. If you don't use some type of repellent sulfur works the best for me.