Chiggers, A Hard Lesson Learned

[RobertN]

We have ticks in N. California. What is the range/habitat for Chiggers?

 

[creekbend]

We always apply White Vinegar to our socks.

 

[creekbend]

We have ticks in N. California. What is the range/habitat for Chiggers?

Trombiculidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[creekbend]

We have ticks in N. California. What is the range/habitat for Chiggers?

Chigger Map of United States Chigger Concentration Locations

 

[mbohuntr]

I have to say I don't think I have ever been bitten by one??? The only bad expierence I had was moving really old hay out of a loft. I started to itch like crazy on any exposed skin. We used to lay out in the hayfields for hours stalking woodchucks and never had anything like that.....

 

[Stimw]

Be careful with Permethrin, it is really bad for cats if you have them.
If you like using fingernail polish (Lacquer) you might try PVC glue. It's rubbery and comes off easily and you could apply with Q-Tip.
I always wonder about those half naked models they have posing on hay bales??? You don't hear about their itching later.
Hay always made me itch.

 

[PMA]

We call them Red Bugs in South Carolina. I had 14 of them on my private parts one time, never forget that.

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[Gordo 56]

Thanks for your reply, what you say is true from what I gathered from my own research.

Chigger larvae might infest humans by crawling up our shoes and legs as we make our way through the scrub. Technically they do not actually bite us. Likewise, they do not burrow into our skin, and they do not suck our blood. Instead, chiggers use their mouths to drill tiny holes into our skin through which they secrete specialized salivary enzymes designed to break down our skin cells from the inside. Then, they slurp up the mixture through a tube formed by hardened skin cells called a stylosome. Basically, it痴 like drinking a big 添OU protein shake!

Your skin does not take too kindly to all of this drilling and parasitic digestion. Consequently, we typically develop intensely itchy, bright red pimple-like bumps or hives or a generalized skin rash in the areas where the mites were attached, even up to 24 to 48 hours after exposure. Chiggers prefer to attach to skin at areas where the clothing fits tightly against the body, such as at the tops of socks or around the elastic edges of underwear, so a rash in these areas may be a clue to the specific cause.
Forget the old rural myth of applying fingernail polish to the affected areas. Chiggers do NOT burrow into the skin, so trying to suffocate the mites with nail polish makes no sense at all. Second, chiggers do not lay eggs in the skin, so don't worry about that.

Chigger wounds are a complex mixture of mechanical damage to the skin (the drilling), enzymatic disruption of the skin (the digestion), and your body痴 own attempt to get rid of the parasite. Consequently, the most important thing to do is to prevent chigger infestation. By the time it starts to itch, they are long gone.

The nail polish belief has been around for years and years but is just not true.

 

[Gordo 56]

ouch, glad they didn't travel that far on me, I bet you never forgot that

We call them Red Bugs in South Carolina. I had 14 of them on my private parts one time, never forget that.

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[VonD]

Well, I can certainly empathize the uncomfortable nature of chiggers. Being #4 of 5 brothers semi annual visits to "granny's farm" always involved skinny dipping. One time we just threw our clothes on the grass and jumped in the Warrior River and had a great time. We got out and put our underwear, cut offs and t shirts and went about the business of exploring the woods and hills of north Alabama. The next day chiggers had infested our privates and let me tell you I wouldn't wish that in anyone. If the CIA had used chiggers instead of water boarding they'd probably know far more than they did back then. That was no fun. After 3 days of itching craziness granny unveiled her 100% cure for chiggers......zippo lighter fluid! Of course we were all raw from scratching the itch. When that lighter fluid hit the privates I think I could have outrun a Harley 1200 at least for 1/8 of a mile. Man that burned! Next day no chiggers. I don't recommend granny's solution to anyone. The luffa, hot water, and repellent sounds far more ergonomic than zippo.