Chiggers! The Internet is chock full of misinformation on these little buggers describing them as everything from blood sucking insects, to skin chewing spiders, to flesh dissolving larvae. Getting rid of them is equally as misinformed. Remedies include clear nail polish, rubbing the bites with gasoline, yeast infection cream, hemorrhoid cream, and a mixture of salt and Crisco. Even the description regarding why they itch varies. Accounts range from the things still being alive under your skin and eating away, to the itch being caused by a feeding tube they insert into your body. Other accounts cite the same feeding tube, but indicate that your body grows the tube as a reaction to whatever it is the Chigger is doing to you.
This much I know for sure: I’ve never seen a Chigger. One could walk up to me and offer to shake my hand and I wouldn’t know it. I’m a nice guy. I might even shake his back. So for me, and I’m assuming most people as well, Chiggers aren’t defined by the bug, or the bite, but rather, but the insane itching about the ankles, groin, and waist line.
One of my favorite things to do when trying to keep my mind off of how badly the bites itch is to seek out new folklore and home remedies for the nasty bites. Every now and then, just for fun, I try one of the remedies, just for something to do. Since the descriptions of Chiggers, the reasons for the itch, and the remedies all differ so greatly, there’s really no reason to apply any science at all to the claims. Instead, I’m working on blind faith in the human social machine. “Old Wives Tales” start somewhere… and I’m seeking that nugget of truth.
SCIENCE: This time around I’m trying Ammonia. That’s right. Just pure, plain, so strong it’ll knock you down, ammonium hydroxide, aka NH3 in water, aka Household Ammonia. Just put a little on a paper towel, plug your nose, and rub. For my own safety, and the heightened potential for future children, I’m adhering to the caution to “avoid personal areas” with this remedy.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Initial reports 5 minutes after application indicate that it doesn’t hurt at all, but also doesn’t seem to help in anyway. Additionally, accidental application of Ammonia to non-chigger related red spots, especially those where the skin has been torn thanks to the thick, thorny, Texas underbrush result in great amounts of burning and desire for death.
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“You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.”
In this case, I used it just for you. :)
Chiggers burrow in, inject an enzyme that breaks apart your skin so they can digest it, get their fill of skin, and then drop off your body. They are almost always already off your body by the time you start to itch so anything aimed at killing them (i.e. nail polish) is a waste of time. Try treating the itch like you would any other skin irritation (itch creams and the like).
The most seemingly of credible sources I've been able to find agree with you mostly. The biggest difference is that they suggest that they don't burrow in… it's just the enzyme that breaks up the skin and causes your skin to harden around the parts that have been liquefied.
I'm using the term burrow loosely. The idea is they don't want the outer dead skin so they penetrate through that and use their enzyme on the living skin just beneath the outer dead skin layers.
Interesting. You almost sound like an old friend of mine. He has to try to improve everything. And every once in a while he has to come back and acknowledge the cannot improve on some thing.
Well we found a remedy that does work and he could not improve on it. I am not going to tell you but where to find it. It does work and you can test it and see for yourself. It is not an old wives tail. I lived and died by those for many years. No more. Now I just do like I am told and get along quite well chiggers and their hellacious bites, the few I do end up getting.
Check out http://www.chigger-treatment.com and tell us what you think when you get done.
I'd love to try your product. But my senses tell me I should not pay for
a product without knowing what it is. Anything I could buy at any store
would have a label on it telling me what was inside and what to expect.
Your website should include that as well.
Sorry.
I'd love to try your product. But my senses tell me I should not pay for
a product without knowing what it is. Anything I could buy at any store
would have a label on it telling me what was inside and what to expect.
Your website should include that as well.
Sorry.