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Chiggers!!

 
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ghoster





Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 152
Location: Scottsdale

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 7:01 am    Post subject: Chiggers!! Reply to topic Reply with quote

Hi, is there anyone out there that knows a good remedy for chiggers? I seem to have encountered them up by Payson last week at the Shoo Fly indian ruins and they are driving me nuts. I have invested in a lot of so called anti itch remedies but they are not working, or at least not at the level I need. I have tried most of the over the counter ones but they last a couple of hours at most, and yes I have scrubbed the area with hot soap and water, and done this regularly, but the itching is getting pretty bad. So much so that I considered using a wire brush on them. (just kidding) but it is really hard to sleep and get relief. Any ideas would be more than welcomed. Right now I am up for anything short of napalm to relieve this itching. Maybe Tequila? For internal not external use, at least I might get some sleep.
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azbackpackr
Hi Tech Wizardess




Joined: 31 Dec 2005
Posts: 3639
Location: Needles CA

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

What makes you think it's chiggers? Why not poison oak, or mosquito bites?

I'd keep pouring peroxide on the area. And continue to use the other remedies you have purchased. Plus, take some benedryl pills. Try not to scratch! (Yes, Mother!)
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ghoster





Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 152
Location: Scottsdale

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

I have had poison oak, these bites are around my leg at the top of my socks, so it pretty much is localized and that is one of the signs of chiggers. Mosquito bites would have been all over my legs. Peroxide doesn't really do much, I have tried not scratching, but hey it is not as easy as you would think. But thanks for the concern.
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evenstar





Joined: 03 Jan 2003
Posts: 5548
Location: SCW by way of CA

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

Sounds like little black flies. This is what they did to me at West Clear Creek Memorial Day Weekend '05; lower leg at and above the sock line.



And the only treatment is time!
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ghoster





Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 152
Location: Scottsdale

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

I don't have a picture of mine, but porridge those look terrible. Mine are in a ring around the leg, about a half inch in thickness, and just go right around where the top of the sock was. I grew up in South FLorida and have had them before but this is a lot more bothersome. Time seems to be working, but it isn't easy to refrain from scratching them raw. If I could just get some relief at night so I could get some sleep it might make things more bearable. Still considering the Tequila remedy. But hate the hangovers.
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azhiker96





Joined: 05 Jan 2003
Posts: 1419

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

I've never run into chiggers in Arizona but have run into some nasty little black gnats that left marks like Hooli's. Our bites were concentrated right above the sock line. In either case, the treatment is the same. The bugs are long gone and you just need to treat the itching. Benadryl or any H2 blocker (Zantac, Pepcid) should help. The redness and itching is caused by a histamine release in response to saliva the bugs injected.
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ghoster





Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 152
Location: Scottsdale

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 1:42 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

Thanks for the input whatever these little beggars were they sure did a job. I have been trying out a paste made of baking soda and water, that seems to be the best so far at least the itching has stopped, and all the other stuff that I bought didn't seem to be as effective. Well time will tell. I wondered about chiggers but hey if it looks like a duck etc. It fit the symptoms that I found in the book, and I figured that they might have immigrated. I didn't see any flying insects the day I was out there, but there was a grassy field that I walked through and I just thought that it was there I contacted them. Again, I think I am on to something with this paste thing. I did take benadryl capsules to combat the histamines. Success will be no more itching at night.
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evenstar





Joined: 03 Jan 2003
Posts: 5548
Location: SCW by way of CA

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

ghoster wrote:
Thanks for the input whatever these little beggars were they sure did a job. I have been trying out a paste made of baking soda and water, that seems to be the best so far at least the itching has stopped, and all the other stuff that I bought didn't seem to be as effective. Well time will tell. I wondered about chiggers but hey if it looks like a duck etc. It fit the symptoms that I found in the book, and I figured that they might have immigrated. I didn't see any flying insects the day I was out there, but there was a grassy field that I walked through and I just thought that it was there I contacted them. Again, I think I am on to something with this paste thing. I did take benadryl capsules to combat the histamines. Success will be no more itching at night.


Little Black Flies love grassy fields this time of year. And they don't get up in your face, just lower legs.
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http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902
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RC





Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 109
Location: Irwin, PA

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

Don't know if this works, but I know my Grandma always said to put some clear finger nail polish diretly over the area - kills them. Of course, that is assuming it is not an old wives tail that the chiggers actually plant themselves under the skin...

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

I guess it is the larvae
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MikeInFHAZ





Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 1401
Location: location location

PostPosted: 5/28/2007, 7:32 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

try duct tape over the area, seal it off from air. this has worked before. and if you get tequila, Frys now sells Cazadores Anejo, Corazon Reposado. Both equally tasty, no hangover. (the hangover is cause from Corn liquor, or grain liquor found in inferior tequila)
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ghoster





Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 152
Location: Scottsdale

PostPosted: 5/29/2007, 5:46 am    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

OK, for further information the baking soda seems to be doing the trick, at least the itching is stopped for a bit and I can get some sleep so my attitude is much better. The tequila wasn't necessary but I bought some just in case I have more problems. The venom of these critters could be classified as a weapon, so why aren't they outlawed? Thanks again for the responses, and remember baking soda is the one that finally worked so simple but took a while to get to it.
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Cynhikr





Joined: 09 Jan 2003
Posts: 1197
Location: Tempe, AZ.

PostPosted: 5/29/2007, 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

Was in Pine & West Clear Creek this past W/E and the no-see-ums http://pelotes.jea.com/AnimalFact/Arthropod/NOSEEUM.htmwere brutal. I carry a small bottle of ammonia and a Q-tip as an applicator to put on as soon as I detect a bite. DEET works to a large degree as a preventative. Get 100% DEET @ REI, or better yet ($-wise), Wally-World.

kurt
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