Chigger Season

[RobertBrown]

I think the nail polish nonsense was some demented fool's idea of a sick joke. There is a lot of misinformation about chiggers, and it doesn't make it any easier to deal with them.

Walked 10 feet into weeds ankle high weeds for couple minutes without protection and got nailed 9 times!

That is a cheap lesson. I have had more bites than I can count more times that I can remember.
It usually takes a couple of hours or more to know you have been violated and by then it's too late.
It's note worthy that further bites can be avoided by washing clothes immediately and thoroughly cleaning out the truck or vehicle.
The only effective treatment I know of is this one mentioned by mx1alex:

I have found heat to be the best answer. Take as hot a shower as you can stand and then take a blow drier to the affected area for as long as you can stand it.

I scrub the bite with soap and an abrasive pad until some blood appears.. Sounds excessive but it's much better than the alternative.

 

[STx]

I hate those little bastages, we have them bad on our place in South Texas. I spray 1/2 an acre or so around the cabin with bifentrhin 2 - 3 times a year, spray around the cabin perimeter pretty much every time we're there. I also treat that 1/2 acre with fipronil and we still have problems with chiggers. If we're going to leave the safety of the treated area, we have to apply DEET pretty heavily, especially along waistbands, socks, etc. or we'll end up looking like pin cushions in a couple of days. Taking a shower soon after getting back helps some as well.

 

[japody]

Here's an interesting read to educate oneself about Chiggers.

Chiggers: Bites Treatment and Chigger Bite Pictures


Dismisses the nail polish theory. Also states the repellents such as OFF are effective in preventing the bites. As I said earlier, I diligently use OFF. I can't remember the last time I had a Chigger bite.

Do you spray the OFF on your clothes or directly on your skin? Those little buggers eat me up!

 

[NativeSon]

When I was a kid I would go over to my Grandmothers house, in what is now the Cedar Crest section of Dallas, and it was still kind of rural. My best friend lived one street over. I was talking to him yesterday and we both relived coming to my Grandmothers house after running the neighborhood all day and being eat up with chiggers. After she was through with us it looked like we had be painted with Calamine Lotion using a paint brush. If they had a barrel of the stuff I truly think they would have dipped us.

Charlie

 

[ovrszd]

Do you spray the OFF on your clothes or directly on your skin? Those little buggers eat me up!

I'm usually in shorts. I spray my shoes completely, then spray my legs up to the shorts.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I always seem to get the bites under my socks so I just wear the ankle socks when the chiggers kick up. ... To me, the bites are alleviated and effects shortened by breaking the pustule head and slathering on rubbing alcohol - 90% if possible. After an hr or so a crust forms proud. I rub them off with the palm of my hand and apply more alcohol.
larry

 

[SPYDERLK]

I always seem to get the bites under my socks so I just wear the ankle socks when the chiggers kick up. ... To me, the bites are alleviated and effects shortened by breaking the pustule head and slathering on rubbing alcohol - 90% if possible. After an hr or so a crust forms proud. I rub them off with the palm of my hand and apply more alcohol.
larry

 

[JRobyn]

True what Dan and Robert say, and is probably also in the link. They do NOT burrow in and live under the skin as I've heard all my life and from many otherwise knowledgeable folks. But their bite/saliva contains toxins and enzymes that dissolve your skin tissue which is what itches. That's why scratching to the point of bleeding and then applying alcohol to flush away the toxins/enzymes is extreme but effective. I suppose that application of high heat affects capillary blood flow to the bite area that alters either sensation or the enzyme action or both. I have sometimes used the blow dryer on bites with some positive results.

- Jay

 

[kenmac]

I hate chiggers !!! You don't know you've been bitten until, it's too late...I now use any product containing deet on my shoes and around my ankles . It does a good job of keeping them off me...

Now, If I could just keep the ticks off me... They seem to hide in trees ,and jump on you as you walk by..
That's the only way I know those baby ticks could get on my head, shoulders, and upper back

 

[dmccarty]

I hate chiggers !!! You don't know you've been bitten until, it's too late...I now use any product containing deet on my shoes and around my ankles . It does a good job of keeping them off me...

Now, If I could just keep the ticks off me... They seem to hide in trees ,and jump on you as you walk by..
That's the only way I know those baby ticks could get on my head, shoulders, and upper back

YES! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

I think they get on my upper back and head by climbing up my arms when I pick up something from the ground or touch a low tree/brush.

Later,
Dan