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Posted: 9/7/2004 1:20:09 PM EDT
I went to a large wooded tract in an adjoining county yesterday to do a little preparing for archery deer season which starts in a little over 3 weeks. I woke up today with a terrible case of chiggers. I usually get a few now and then, but it has been years since I've had them this bad. They cover about every square inch of my legs, and I've even got a few on my back, arms, and stomach.
What in the hell do I do to ease this unbearable itching?!!! There's an old wives' tale about putting fingernail polish on them to smother them, but that's not how it works. I've read that they bite you, suck a little blood, and leave before the itching even begins. They leave behind a little microscopic drinking tube, which is what causes the irritation and itching. I've applied rubbing alcohol, but this only temporarily eases the discomfort. Any suggestions? |
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Did you roll around in the weeds naked or something?
You just have to wait it out. There are no 'tricks' I know of that work. I got into some a few weeks back, biking in tall grass. They're a real pain. |
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Paint them with clear finger nail polish. it'll smother them
Good luck man, last time I had them, All that was in the house was dark red. chiggers dig in under the spot, they're still there. Chris |
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Heroin |
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We don't have chiggers in So. Calif, but I've seen insect repellent DEET that is supposed to keep those insects away.
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Shave half your hair off. Douse the other half with gas and light. When the little bastards go the the shaved half. Stab them with an ice pick! This works every time! Also this procedure works on crabs!
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You are right....nothing can be done because they are long gone......chigs suck but there is nothing you can do about the itching..except maybe drinking something real stiff. |
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I'm not lying to you when I tell you that sulfur will rid you of them. Preventitively, you could have applied sulfur cream prior to going where ever it was you picked them up. You can still apply the cream to rid yourself of them now.
Another technique taught in Jungle school was to bite the heads off of the tips of matches (1 book of 20 per day). That will prevent you from acquiring chiggers and tics. A bottle of chig-away or sulfur should run about $3 or $4. |
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<Racist slur removed. If you value your time here, DO NOT this.>
the nail polish does work, but if you covered that bad then you would look like a glazed doughnut. goto the drug store and ask for some domboro(spelling). put it in your tub and soak your legs. Use a rag to get your stomach and back. it typically is for poison ivy, oak, sumac, but I've used it for prehistoric mosquito bites with good results, so I would think it should help you. only other thing would be oatmeal bath. again not specifically for chiggers but might work. |
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Hey M4Madness... I don't know for sure, but I think that by the time you start itching they are gone. I believe they dig in and dissolve your hide with an acid saliva. Then they slurp up the skin/saliva cocktail and move on to lay eggs somewhere else.
Best thing to do is spray a DEET-based repellent around your socks/ankles/shoes/cuffs... before you go out. They like to crawl up your pants and infest the crotch, or wherever clothing is tight. Anyway, best thing now is some benedril or such. C_M |
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By the way, if you're going to do the matches technique, you need to start 24 hours prior to departure.
And no, I'm not kidding. They taught us that in US Army Jungle school. I practiced it for years and it has always worked. |
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Whoa, really? For how many days? What chemical is involved? Time to do some Google'ing to verify this. |
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never go outside again is the preventive, the cure is benadryl or some sort of antihistimine.
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KLANSMAN INVASION!!!!!
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Wrong, wrong, WRONG!!! I did some research some time back because I was arguing with my sister-in-law. Here's the deal (going by memory): The chigger is LONG gone by the time you itch. If you suspect you're exposed to chiggers, simply shower - the soap will flush them off of your body, if not outright kill them. As the chigger sucks, it injects a biological agent into you skin. The agent dissolves the skin, and hardens into a "tube" or "pipe". This hardened tube is called a stylosome and causes the itching. Until the stylosome dissolves, you have some nasty itching. Attempting to dig it out is a bad idea, since you'll more than likely get an infection. The reason nail polish or whatever "works" is because it reminds you not to scratch. www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/ENTML2/MF2107.PDF |
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I got chiggers on my bollocks once... i used alcohol... both in me and on me.
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Try a drop of bleach on each one. This is not permanent, but does provide temporary relief.
Next time before you go out, go to the drug store and ask for flowers of sulphur. Put it in an old sock, and lightly beat it against yourself, in the areas where you get them. It works. |
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Thanks for the suggestions, guys. My wife's stepfather said he'd bring the insect repellant, so I didn't worry about it. When we arrived at our destination, we discovered that he'd forgotten it. So I gambled and lost. I haven't spoken to him today, so I do not know if he is suffering as well. I hope he is...
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ATTENTION: Possibly Useful Information Here
Zhukov is right. DEET is the most effective prevention. However, I understand you're looking for relief after the fact. In that case, you could try Max_Mike's heroin suggestion (I've never tried it, but I guess it would work), or more practically, try some Benadryl. AFAIK, there is no more effective over-the-counter relief for large scale bug-induced itch attacks than Benadryl. |
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Just took a couple of tablespoons of liquid Benadryl that we had in the medicine cabinet. Don't know if oral Benadryl will work, or if it has to be topical. But, hey, I'll try just about anything at this point. Thanks.
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That may very well be true, but it worked for me, Just trying to pass on what worked.
I bet grandmas lye soap( poison ivy killer) would get rid of em too LOL Chris
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Nonono, you were supposed to use it analy...
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Wow page two and nobody suggested ...
Tannerite?
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My foreman just happened to have a tube of that in his truck. He retrieved it at lunch and I tried it. Seemed to make the itching more intense! |
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Try a little bleach in your bath water and take a hot bath, this has helped me.
Dust your boots with 7 dust before going out to prevent this. I use to get them bad, but I guess all the garlic I eat keeps them away. Have not had a attack recently. |
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Yup, Bleach in a tub of hot water, only a cup of bleach, dont over do it....
That should cure the problem, worked for me in the past.... |
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A cup of bleach is way to much try a 1/4 cup first. |
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It's more than just one leg...or I would. |
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Yeah I believe that a cup is what micheal jackson used and look what happened to him. |
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Ah, I can relate. I went to a company picnic back in July and ended up with 77 chigger bites. It kept me out of work for two days because I couldn't sit down or bend my knees very much.
Per the doc: -best policy is to avoid them - use DEET -nail polish does NOTHING -antihistimines will help relieve the itching - oral antihistimines work best - topical antihistimines do NOT work if the bite is pus-filled -oatmeal baths (Aveeno?) help some -do NOT scratch I ended up taking a presciption oral antihistimine - which was the only thing that helped. Hang in there, at worst, they only last 14 days |
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BINGO! Dead-on accurate. And topical hydrocortisone has the same effect of intensifying itches for me too. I am ashamed of myself for missing the obvious Tannerite cure. Perhaps I can make up for it by offering to send you a free cheese grater? |
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Try kerosene. And no I don't mean light it either. Rub in on the area with a cotton ball, rag or paper towel. Let it dry somewhat before putting pants or clothes back on. It will kill/smother the remaining chiggers and it helps relieve the itching. It really works try it. The only drawback it that your wife won't like you to get to close in the bed.
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Remove your skin, place in washing machine on gentle cycle with 1/2 water 1/2 bleach enough to cover entire skin, after wash sun dry on clothes line for 3-4 days, reapply skin with gorilla glue or JB Weld. I know it sounds extreme but it is the only way to relieve yourself of chigger itch, or you could just wait the 3-4 days for the itch to go away on its own.
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HURTS LIKE FUCK BUT THIS WORKS!!!!
-4 cigarettes -one bottle of rubbing alcohol -tub full of luke warm water -tube of toothpaste take a bowl and put the cig tabacco & about 1 1/2 cups of rubbing alcohol, mix. Run tube water to where its is cool enough that your nuts dont fall off. PREPARE TO CUSS!!! Grab the a rag and soak it with the contents of the bowl, rub affected areas! As screams begin, wait a good 10 mississippi and jump in to tub. get out, if it feels hot, mix toothpaste and water and cover affected/HOT areas. Repeat skinny dip. FUCKIN CHIGGERS GONE!!! |
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M4, I have had chiggers MANY times in my life. The best thing I have found is a product called Chigger-Tox. It contains Benzocaine that numbs the itch. It also has stuff in it that supposedly speeds up healing, but I repeat...IT NUMBS THE ITCH! It really works. HERE Is a link to read about it. Good luck bro try not to scratch that really really bad one on your left ankle. Because if you do-THEY WILL ALL KNOW!
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I imagine this would work. I used industrial strenth Solvent...it stings a little, but kills about 30-40 billion layers of skin, enough to do the trick anyway......a few days later you'll have fresh baby soft skin |
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My wife wants to know why I take fingernail polich to the field. I don't use clear because it's too hard to tell if you have it all off or not, but there are plenty of colors to choose from. I use blue myself. |
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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.) |
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This is what I have used for years. It is called "Chigarid" and it works pretty good at killing the itching. The only thing comparable to chiggers is poision Ivy and I am lucky enough to have experienced both of them many times in my life.
www.walgreens.com/store/product.jhtml?PRODID=360971&CATID=100959 |
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Thats what my grandfather told me to do when i moved to oklahoma he said its what the army told him to do. it works |
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Unfortunately, false. Kill-9 and I got chiggers back in July while on a skeet shooting expedition. His were bad, but they were completely gone in a few weeks. It turns out that I am particularly alergic to chiggers. The bites I had got large red circles around them (broken blood vessels). The doctor said they were a hemoragic allergic reaction to the bites. The center of each one became a pencil-eraser sized, deep, scab -- i still have some of these. I still have what most people would consider normal insect bites almost 1-1/2 months afterwards. I also have quite a few scars from my chigger infestation. Oral benadryl helps. Good luck with them. I'm a BIG deep woods off fan from now on. I'll be spraying all over INCLUDING up my trousers before I go out into the woods/fields again. - CD |
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Yeah... careful with that whole really hot water and bleach thing, Chlorine gas isn't something you want to breathe in. Chlorine should only be used with cold water, or in SMALL amounts, 1 cup to a tub is probably too much. I'd stick to something FDA approved rather than "gramma's iderer" unless you've tried everything else already.
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