Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge CHIGGERS...How do YOU get rid of them?

Just got a bad case of chiggers, or trombiculid mites or whatever your regional dialect calls them. Ive always used bleach right away but I sorta didnt notice I had them until they ended up all over, and cant bleach everything. Everyones got a million little home remedies but I cant seen to find like a cream specifically made for them or a magic potion to slop on really quick, kill them, and then stop the itching.

I know we got a lot of outdoorsmen on here. What are your methods?

I use Caladryl from any drug store. Get the flesh colored kind and slap it on thick with a cotton ball or kleenex. Works for flea bites and poison ivy also. Good luck.

Yep, smothers em out. They suck, got em on my lower legs once. I think I put something else on them too but can't remember anymore.

Yeah Im using hyrdocortizone right now and that stops the itching, but then i wake up the next day and have new bumps to apply more goop to. Im trying to find something that kills them and stops the spreading.

Mom used this on us as kids.
http://www.chigarid.com/

I've used clear fingernail polish on them.
By the time it wears off of your skin, they are suffocated and dead.
Nasty little blood suckers.

yeah i tried that too when i first noticed them. Now I'd need a gallon of nail polish to take a bath in.

I had a case like that once. Covered from my feet to my chest. I took a lot of oatmeal baths, used the clear fingernail polish(that took a long time), Caladryle or whatever from the drugstore. It's just gonna take some time.

I scratch until I bleed. Then pour on the rubbing alcohol. For some reason, pain is easier to deal with than itch.

vineger works great

i read about vinegar to prevent them, but not to cure them. Is that for the itching or to kill? Cause i just bleached scrubbed my whole body the other night with no results.

Dave, Im with you, i usually scratch it down to blood and move on. But I'm gonna be a walking scab in a couple days if I keep this up. I'm thinking of dumping my bike at 65 and reaping the benefits of road rash...haha

Problem with chiggers is you don't know you got em' til they're gone. It's a flesh sucking larva that eats your skin, and you don't know it till the next day when they're long gone. They itch like crazy.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html

yeah i was just reading about everything here

http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/

it looks like i just gotta keep putting crap on it...bleh

A friend told us this story when he has in the high school band in Texas... it was a hot day and the coach worked them out... he got the chiggers that day... on his SCROTUM! LOL I made fun of him for like a month! he said he used transparent nail polish as well... I know, no real suggestion but on the bright side, it could have been a lot worse!

lets just say im a block away from where your buddy was, right now...haha

Get some advice from Seasick Steve ....

Read this;

http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/

And take a warm bath.

yeah i just posted that above

I dont fit in my bathtub...haha....But ive been showering more frequently since.

+1 on clear nail polish.

oh yeah....I just found out that I may be alergic to hydrocortisone. It wasnt really aparent before cause the stuff i was using was from 1999, but I bought some fresh stuff last night and I have a burning rash all over my hands to top it off....good god

but... does it still itch?

it burns and itches...i wish i was complaining about the freaking chiggers now....oh yeah...and theres poison ivy and mosquito bites thrown into the mix now...but at least my hands are on fire and blistered

Around here it is said that if chiggers weighed a pound you'd have to carry a shotgun to go out in the yard. I have been terribly allergic to them since I got about 40 bites at the same time over 30 years ago. I use insect repellant if i'm going off the sidewalk around here.
Like has been said if they aren't already gone the first time you scratch it kills them. Basically the chigger spit they use to digest your skin is what causes the reaction. Hydrocortisone to relieve itching is about he best you can do. If allergic to that then some other anti-itch is about it.

I have used the clear finger nail polish remedy with success in the past. The last time I had them I could not get rid of them for a while. I ended up taking a rag with kerosene and wiping it on the areas infected (legs and abdomen only). Within 2 days the spots were getting better. Stung like ****** but it killed them.

I know that vinegar helps jellyfish stings and insect bites.
A baking soda poultice can help too.

Apply castor oil or aloe vera to soothe.

I had them very bad almost completely covered from neck to waste from rolling down a hill in Texas. The only relief I could get was taking very hot showers and them turning the water to straight cold water. It stopped the itch for a couple of hours, then repeat. I was told the only way to get rid of them was to pour Kerosene on them and set them on fire, when they come out for air, stab them with an ice pick. I wasn't brave enough for that, so it took about three or four days before it stopped getting worse and started getting better. I tried putting kerosene on them and it seemed to help but everything seemed to help and nothing really did, I just really wanted it to. It more or less ran it's course.
I think they should use this as an interrogation techniec instead of water boarding. They'd only have to do it to them once and threaten to do it again and they would tell anything we wanted to know.

I was stationed at Ft. Riley, KS at one point, and I hated going on field problems, becauase I'd always come back covered in these little bastids. It made me think how bad it must have been for cavalry troops in the plains back in the cowboy days.

I feel your itch!

(Really! It makes me all itchy just looking at your picture.)

Wishes for a quick recovery.
JB

clear finger nail polish

they cant breath and remove themselfs, also a reminder not to scratch and make the itching worse.

I lived in Okla most of my life and belive me in my camping bag or over night bag I always carry it.

u could use a different color, i don't roll like that!

Good luck, Scottie

To reduce the itching, an application of anti-itch cream containing hydrocortisone, calamine, or benzyl benzoate is often used. Applying fingernail polish to the affected area does not kill the chigger; the chigger is actually no longer present by the time a rash is noticed.

The most effective way of removing chiggers is by washing the affected areas with warm water and soap. This must be done as soon as possible after exposure or possible exposure. Carefully wash the ankles, feet, behind the knees, and under the arms and chest. An Epsom salt bath may help alleviate itching. If one is near the seashore, wading for a few minutes in salt water will both get rid of the mites on one's skin and clothing and also alleviate the itching from their bites. Clothing, especially pants and socks, should be immediately discarded after returning from areas where exposure may have occurred. Another good way of removing chiggers is to cover the chiggers with scotch tape and pull them off that way. However, once symptoms appear, it may be too late to prevent further bites. Taking a hot bath when already covered with chigger bites may in fact be very uncomfortable and increase itching symptoms. Do not rub and scratch the skin aggressively, as this can break the skin and leave it vulnerable to a more serious infection.

Some claim that the chigger is still in the bite, perhaps mistaking the tiny red center of the bite for the chigger itself. In some cases, the chigger is still present when the bite appears. A 10X magnifier can be used to see the chigger and it may be removed with fine-tipped tweezers. Once it is gone, covering the bite with nail polish, calamine lotion, vaseline or other petroleum jelly, baby oil, or anything else may help the pain and itching, but will neither suffocate the chigger nor help the bites heal any faster. Medication such as antihistamines or corticosteroid creams may be prescribed by doctors, and might help in some instances.

Ggzzzzzz I guess I got that wrong.

Yota, u mean I have carried clear nail polish around with me for years, eemmm' decades for no less, for no good reason.

All the above is good advice but you are all going to be in trouble. The Supreme Court has ruled that you must refer to them as Cheegros. Where were you to get them critters and poison ivy at the same time? Does your girlfriend have them too?

my humor was DELEATED!
THX BIG BROTHER!
why don't u delete my other post too!
or does it make u look smarter!

Actually they're not insects, they're mites, of the class Arachnida. Same as spiders.

Kerosene Is what I was told as a kid. Which back then was a better grade than you get now. Unless you go to hardware store and buy clean kerosene at $10 bucks a gallon.At local gas station it's about 3 a gallon