Poison oak, poison sumac, poison ivy, chiggers, and ticks. A great way to be misery!

[DavidSauls]

It's been a terrible summer at Stoney Hill, with constant and amazing rains meaning we couldn't take the tractor a lot of places due to the soft ground. Plus, the grass loved the rain and grew like mad. So it was a fabulous summer for the chiggers.

Finally we had a few dry days so this past weekend I rode my 4-wheeler to check out a low area, declared it mowable, set out to get the tractor....and realized my phone had slipped out of a hole in my pocket, probably in that 2-foot-tall grass. I couldn't find it, even after borrowing another phone to call it (but reception is terrible here, especially in low spots).

So I mowed. I listened for a metal clank in the bushhog, hoping to catch the sight of my phone going into orbit and perhaps seeing its re-entry. Never heard it.

So after mowing I resumed my search, kicking through the thick grass cuttings along my remembered route from earlier that morning. And I found it.

Which is a long story to say that, when you mow tall chigger-filled grass, you end up wading through clippings chock full of furious chiggers.

The next day I was looking for a bowl of acid to soak my ankles in, in hopes of getting some relief.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

This thread makes my legs itch.

 

[worldwide]

poison ivy is rumored to exist on one of our local courses. never seen it in person. I have run into stinging nettles before but the ones here are tame compared to the ones I grew up around back east. bugs are rarely an issue. I think I have it pretty good.

 

[Chainchaser]

The other week we were playing a course and my son apparently hit a ground hornets nest or something. So far I have not seen anything like them on the web so not sure what they were but anyway they were attacking his disc and really pissed off. I walked with in 10 feet and one stung me on the hand. I then got the bright Idea to get a long stick to try to knock his disc away and ended up getting stung 3 more times. Needless to say the disc stayed were it was and I stuck it out and finished the round. This happened on hole 5 of a 27 hole course so it was basically a miserable round for the most part but we drove about an hour to get to the course so there was no way i was not playing it. I did almost get an ace on a 300ft + wooded hole so that was at least some consolation. I can say that over a week later though I am still itching in those spots and will never go near those things again. It's weird because i have ran into ground bees before and been stung but these things were just mean bastards and I can only compare their sting to a wasp sting that I had many years ago. They did not leave a stinger in me so that is why I am thinking ground hornet but when I look at pictures of them on the web they just don't look the same.

 

[cmcolomb]

TECNU!!!

hot, hot water... oh yea so nice

when not showering, use ice cubes to scratch

 

[Jukeshoe]

Chigger bite update: most of the intense itching seems to have passed. I scratched very little, so I think they're healing up pretty quickly. Hydrocortisone seemed to take away the itch a bit, but most effective was Absorbine, Jr. Took away most of the itch, cooled things down, and probably helped keep it disinfected (because of the alcohol content).

Luckily, the little bastards just got my ankles. Can't even imagine being covered in these things!

Does anyone have suggestions for taking care of chiggers remaining in shoes? What do you guys do shoe-wise after getting bitten? Sometimes it's just not feasible to send shoes through a washer/dryer.

Thanks!

 

[cmcolomb]

leave em out in the sun for awhile (assuming hot, direct heat).. chiggers die this way (thus their proclivity to burrow in skin/hide in shady areas)

one thing i love to do for chiggers is alcohol. seriously. scratch the hell out of em --> rubbing alcohol. starts to heal the itch and the cooling sensation is that of the OTC creams.

 

[zenbot]

Chigger bite update: most of the intense itching seems to have passed. I scratched very little, so I think they're healing up pretty quickly. Hydrocortisone seemed to take away the itch a bit, but most effective was Absorbine, Jr. Took away most of the itch, cooled things down, and probably helped keep it disinfected (because of the alcohol content).

Luckily, the little bastards just got my ankles. Can't even imagine being covered in these things!

Does anyone have suggestions for taking care of chiggers remaining in shoes? What do you guys do shoe-wise after getting bitten? Sometimes it's just not feasible to send shoes through a washer/dryer.

Thanks!

I have never got them on my feet. Just under the socks. Did you get any feetsy bites?

 

[jskew113]

Was playing at Munden Point a couple weeks ago. http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=243. A kid in the group a couple holes ahead was playing in the wood line and got into what we locally call seed ticks. These are basically baby ticks that are generally in webs and in very large groups. They are about the size of black pepper flakes. The kid was completely covered in them. The only way to get them off is to strip and wash. The course is an easy 30 to 45 minutes away from anything. I got into them once when I was a little kid and it was no fun at all. Felt sorry for the little guy. Anyone else ever ran into these?

This summer hasn't been to bad at my home course as far as annoyances go. No real chiggers, but the mosquitoes have been bad. Giant Tiger mosquitoes everywhere and we have had confirmed EEE. Deep Woods OFF has been prominent in my bag this summer. Poison Ivy has been everywhere, but that's not unusual.

 

[BrotherDave]

I hate to break it to you, but by the time a chigger bite is itching, the chigger is long gone and the damage is done. Nail polish only works by the placebo effect.

I disagree. According to websites I've read, the itching is caused by enzymes injected into the skin which in turn kills the skin. The chigger then eats the skin. They're still on your skin until you take a hot shower or whatever. Nail polish ****ing works bro.

 

[Jukeshoe]

I have never got them on my feet. Just under the socks. Did you get any feetsy bites?

No bites on my feet. They got just below the sock line on my ankles. I guess one bite is far enough down the ankle to be borderline "top of the foot" but that's splitting hairs.

leave em out in the sun for awhile (assuming hot, direct heat).. chiggers die this way (thus their proclivity to burrow in skin/hide in shady areas)

one thing i love to do for chiggers is alcohol. seriously. scratch the hell out of em --> rubbing alcohol. starts to heal the itch and the cooling sensation is that of the OTC creams.

Cool, thanks for the tip. I doubt there are any still in the shoes, but I'm not going to take ANY chances.

And yes, rubbing alcohol based products do seem to do a really amazing job of stopping the itch (and preventing infection). When I couldn't stand the itchiness anymore and had to scratch, I used alcohol wipes (from work's first aid kit). At home it's Absorbine Jr. :thmbup:

 

[hophead]

I disagree. According to websites I've read, the itching is caused by enzymes injected into the skin which in turn kills the skin. The chigger then eats the skin. They're still on your skin until you take a hot shower or whatever. Nail polish ****ing works bro.

Nail polish just seals the bite and prevents air from getting to it which can help with the itching. A gel or product over the counter can do the same thing, help more with the itching and help prevent infection. They actually don't bury in your skin and wipe off easily, if u could only see them. Best thing to do is scrub down likely infected areas as soon as u finish a round with rubbing alcohol and shower soon as u get home. Time is the biggest factor in the severity of the bites.

 

[Jukeshoe]

Nail polish just seals the bite and prevents air from getting to it which can help with the itching. A gel or product over the counter can do the same thing, help more with the itching and help prevent infection. They actually don't bury in your skin and wipe off easily, if u could only see them. Best thing to do is scrub down likely infected areas as soon as u finish a round with rubbing alcohol and shower soon as u get home. Time is the biggest factor in the severity of the bites.

This is my understanding of the situation as well.

 

[mashnut]

I disagree. According to websites I've read, the itching is caused by enzymes injected into the skin which in turn kills the skin. The chigger then eats the skin. They're still on your skin until you take a hot shower or whatever. Nail polish ****ing works bro.

Chiggers don't burrow into your skin, so if they're still there it's more effective to shower than to try to individually paint the chiggers anyway. Most sites I can find say something to this effect:

Many home remedies for chigger bites, like painting the bite with nail polish, involve the idea of smothering an embedded chigger. But by the time you notice the bite, you've often brushed or scratched away the chigger already. The reason nail polish makes some people's bites feel better is that it seals the bite from air. Over-the-counter creams that relieve itching often do a better job of making the bites feel better. It's also a good idea to apply an antiseptic, especially if you've scratched the bite extensively -- too much scratching can lead to a secondary infection. If you're bitten, don't be tempted to try home remedies involving toxic substances, and don't try to remove the stylostome -- either could cause secondary infections or other injuries.

So I believe that it helps the itching, but it's not an effective way of removing them from your skin, and in most cases the chigger is long gone by the time you're doing it.

 

[BrotherDave]

Look you TDDs, I never said they burrow into your skin. Y'all need to go to school and get a Communications degree like my man MTL so that you can read real good.

It's very simple. The chigger shoots an enzyme into your skin. This breaks the skin down. Your skin breaking down makes you itch. The chigger then eats your broken skin, gets its fill, either buggers off or gets washed off and leaves you with effed up, itchy broken skin. Your skin has to be broken down before the chigger can eat and your skin itches as soon as it starts breaking down (usually your most itchiest is at the onset of the skin being broken down so therefore the chigger is still there).

Everything I've ever used only gives very temporary relief to the bite. So I scratch like crazy and open it up for infection OR I can put a little clear nail polish on it (which has some vitamin e and stuff that your skin likes) and it doesn't itch nearly as much and hence my bites heal up much faster.

Go ahead and keep itching you mud ducks, I'll keep my anecdotal relief methods to myself from now on.

 

[zenbot]

Am I the only one turned on by this?

 

[Jukeshoe]

little clear nail polish on it (which has some vitamin e and stuff that your skin likes)

AHA!!!

He really IS in it only for the nail polish!!

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Am I the only one turned on by this?

So porn doesn't do it for you, huh? Well, you won't get in trouble for looking at this in the workplace.

 

[hophead]

I disagree. According to websites I've read, the itching is caused by enzymes injected into the skin which in turn kills the skin. The chigger then eats the skin. They're still on your skin until you take a hot shower or whatever. Nail polish ****ing works bro.

Look you TDDs, I never said they burrow into your skin. Y'all need to go to school and get a Communications degree like my man MTL so that you can read real good.

It's very simple. The chigger shoots an enzyme into your skin. This breaks the skin down. Your skin breaking down makes you itch. The chigger then eats your broken skin, gets its fill, either buggers off or gets washed off and leaves you with effed up, itchy broken skin. Your skin has to be broken down before the chigger can eat and your skin itches as soon as it starts breaking down (usually your most itchiest is at the onset of the skin being broken down so therefore the chigger is still there).

Everything I've ever used only gives very temporary relief to the bite. So I scratch like crazy and open it up for infection OR I can put a little clear nail polish on it (which has some vitamin e and stuff that your skin likes) and it doesn't itch nearly as much and hence my bites heal up much faster.

Go ahead and keep itching you mud ducks, I'll keep my anecdotal relief methods to myself from now on.

LOL! Spot on bd. Not doubting your method but you should try some of the Tecnu clear calamine type gel. It does something similar but helps more with itchiness and infection. Also works great with other bug bites and poison ivy.
What's your flavor, do u go straight up black in true goth style or keep it pretty with a nice candy red?

 

[catfishaustin]

Mean Green

I can testify to Mean Green as an effective and way cheaper substitute for Zanfel to scrub away poison ivy (even after you've had it for a few days). I bought a tub online which is essentially a lifetime supply. Only issue is it'll grow mold after a while; solution - stick it in the freezer, scoop out a bit & thaw it when you need some. Just got back from playing Stafford Lake in CA, and can confirm it works on poison oak too. See for detail:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1744563&tn=100