Taken alive by Chiggers
09-03-2009, 04:34 PM
#1
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 1997
Location: Cheasapeke and Delaware Bay Region
Posts: 10,485
Taken alive by Chiggers
Yep, after so many years of not getting them I got them yesterday. Don't know how but they got to the back of my hands. I have always had them on my legs but since useing Peramone and Muddy Boots they have been a non issue. Only thing I can guess is when I layed my treestand down to look for my lost Hootman saw they must have infeasted in the straps and transfered to my hands when I put the stand on my back. Anyway it's been so long I have forgotten the cure for the itch. I've dug them raw and they still itch. HELP
09-03-2009, 05:40 PM
#3
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: IOWA/25' UP
Posts: 7,145
Bottom line; Benadryl as it is an antihisthamine
http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/a...bout-chiggers/
The truth about chiggers
Experts expose myths about the mites
by Sylvia Anderson
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Chigger bites? Your grandma may have told you to put clear nail polish on them to keep from itching, the theory being that chiggers burrow deep down in your skin and by sealing off your skin with polish, you suffocate the little mites. But does it really work?
“No and most definitely no,” says Ludek Zurek, research entomologist with Kansas State University Research and Extension. “Chiggers can’t burrow.”
They are actually easy to brush off, he says, especially when taking a warm, soapy shower. So if the nail polish seems to work, it’s probably because you brushed them off with the polish.
Unfortunately, you most likely don’t realize they are crawling on you until the itching begins, which is usually six to eight hours after they bite. And it doesn’t help matters that they are hard to see.
“Chiggers are only 1/150 inch in diameter,” says Tom Fowler, with the University of Missouri Extension Service in Buchanan County. “So they are very small.”
If you’ve ever been plagued with masses of itchy bites, you may think the critters compensate for their size with enhanced biting abilities, coming back to feed on you over and over again. But that’s another fallacy, Mr. Fowler says. Once they are dislodged, they die, he says.
“They do not live to fight another day.”
The reason you can get multiple bites is because chiggers tend to be clumped, Mr. Zurek says.
“Some areas can have whole congregations of chiggers, while equally good areas have almost none. And high- and low-risk areas can be just yards apart.”
Our experts agree the best way to avoid chigger bites is to avoid walking or sitting in damp, shady areas with tall grass and weeds. Or when in these areas, wear long pants, tucked into socks, a long-sleeved, buttoned-up shirt and use a repellent containing diethyl-meta-toluamide, or DEET. Afterwards, take a shower and put your clothing immediately into the washer with soap and hot water.
When such efforts are too late, the best treatment for bites is to apply a combination sealant-antihistamine, such as Caladryl, Mr. Zurek says. It contains calamine lotion to control itching and benadryl to serve as a histamine blocker. Then wait for cooler weather. After the first freeze, chiggers are history.
Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at [email protected]
http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/a...bout-chiggers/
The truth about chiggers
Experts expose myths about the mites
by Sylvia Anderson
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Chigger bites? Your grandma may have told you to put clear nail polish on them to keep from itching, the theory being that chiggers burrow deep down in your skin and by sealing off your skin with polish, you suffocate the little mites. But does it really work?
“No and most definitely no,” says Ludek Zurek, research entomologist with Kansas State University Research and Extension. “Chiggers can’t burrow.”
They are actually easy to brush off, he says, especially when taking a warm, soapy shower. So if the nail polish seems to work, it’s probably because you brushed them off with the polish.
Unfortunately, you most likely don’t realize they are crawling on you until the itching begins, which is usually six to eight hours after they bite. And it doesn’t help matters that they are hard to see.
“Chiggers are only 1/150 inch in diameter,” says Tom Fowler, with the University of Missouri Extension Service in Buchanan County. “So they are very small.”
If you’ve ever been plagued with masses of itchy bites, you may think the critters compensate for their size with enhanced biting abilities, coming back to feed on you over and over again. But that’s another fallacy, Mr. Fowler says. Once they are dislodged, they die, he says.
“They do not live to fight another day.”
The reason you can get multiple bites is because chiggers tend to be clumped, Mr. Zurek says.
“Some areas can have whole congregations of chiggers, while equally good areas have almost none. And high- and low-risk areas can be just yards apart.”
Our experts agree the best way to avoid chigger bites is to avoid walking or sitting in damp, shady areas with tall grass and weeds. Or when in these areas, wear long pants, tucked into socks, a long-sleeved, buttoned-up shirt and use a repellent containing diethyl-meta-toluamide, or DEET. Afterwards, take a shower and put your clothing immediately into the washer with soap and hot water.
When such efforts are too late, the best treatment for bites is to apply a combination sealant-antihistamine, such as Caladryl, Mr. Zurek says. It contains calamine lotion to control itching and benadryl to serve as a histamine blocker. Then wait for cooler weather. After the first freeze, chiggers are history.
Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson may be reached at [email protected]
09-03-2009, 06:49 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Where the ducks don't come no more
Posts: 4,420
I've used clear nail polish for years. It isn't designed to make it go away.... but it stops the irritation caused by things rubbing againest the bite and making it itch. Saves you from yourself so to speak.
Camphor Phoeneque seems to have always helped curb the itch as well. Nothing works better than time.
Camphor Phoeneque seems to have always helped curb the itch as well. Nothing works better than time.
09-03-2009, 07:31 PM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: HENDERSON KY USA
Posts: 6,634
Hardcore is right and as swamp states,nail polish relieve the itch because it does keep things from rubbing against the bites.You can also use an antihistamine cream on the bites as well as the benadryl.
I have never heard of them on the back of the hands,kinda strange.Sure they are chiggers and not noseeums or something like?
I have never heard of them on the back of the hands,kinda strange.Sure they are chiggers and not noseeums or something like?
09-04-2009, 12:38 AM
#7
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 1997
Location: Cheasapeke and Delaware Bay Region
Posts: 10,485
Yea TFOX they were chiggers, once you've had them you don't forget the damage they do. This is the first time getting them on the back of my hands though. It was a dry swampy area and they must have transfered to my hands from gear layed on the ground.
09-04-2009, 05:55 AM
#10
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 868
I HATE those little buggers.
Got into a mess of them while stalking a hog earlier this year in Texas. I was ready to go after the itchy parts with my hunting knife to make it stop.
The best relief I have found is very hot water (this works for poison ivy, oak, sumac, etc... as well).
Start the water running warm and put the affected part under it. Continue to raise the temperature slowly until you can no longer stand it. It seems to kill any and all itching for a number of hours. The longer you can endure the temperature, the longer you will get relief.
Got into a mess of them while stalking a hog earlier this year in Texas. I was ready to go after the itchy parts with my hunting knife to make it stop.
The best relief I have found is very hot water (this works for poison ivy, oak, sumac, etc... as well).
Start the water running warm and put the affected part under it. Continue to raise the temperature slowly until you can no longer stand it. It seems to kill any and all itching for a number of hours. The longer you can endure the temperature, the longer you will get relief.