Health & Fitness Tools

Chigger Treatment – Reduce Chiggers

15th November, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

What Are Chiggers – Remove Chiggers

Chiggers, or harvest mites are microscopic, reddish arachnids that generally can’t be seen with the naked eye. The larvae (babies) hatch in grass and foliage and attach themselves to anybody who gets close enough for them to climb onto. After finding a suitable host, the larvae attaches itself to a pore or hair follicle and injects digestive enzymes into the hole that promptly dissolve the surrounding pores and skin cells which are then employed for nourishment by the growing chigger. Once they’ve eaten their fill they release from their hosts, grow into adults and feed on plant matter on which they lay a lot more eggs.

The bites themselves generally progress into super-itchy, raised red welts that can take up to two weeks to heal. Below you will discover instructions for eliminating chiggers at the same time as reducing the effects of their bites.

If you want to read more please check out what are chiggers

2. Eliminating chiggers from your property

Chiggers are active during the warm season from spring to early fall. They may be discovered living in berry patches and bushes, tall grass and weeds, straw, leaves, fences, bark, and dense foliage. Outside, preserve grass trimmed and weeds pulled. Remove any dense foliage that isn’t part of the landscaping at the same time as piles of decaying leaves and plant matter. Flood all remaining foliage having a mixture of soap and water to kill off adults and larvae. Repeat the flood as soon as a week for a month to get newly hatched larvae and you should have eliminated most of them.

If they’ve produced it into your houseplants, move them outdoors and kill the adults and larvae by soaking them having a mild insecticidal soap that is labeled as safe for edibles or houseplants. Preserve the plants away from folks and pets and repeat the rinse weekly for four weeks.

3. Chigger treatment and prevention

When a person or pet becomes infested with chiggers, it’s essential that you wash them at the same time as their clothing at the exact same time. Otherwise larvae that hadn’t yet produced it to the pores and skin can stick around for another chance and as soon as they feed, they will drop off and head for the nearest houseplant.

When traversing a potentially infested area, try not to move through dense foliage or sit to the ground. Following are some extra preventative measures:

If you want to read more please check out get rid of chiggers

The most protective clothing you can wear is tight-knit, loosely fitting garments that leave no exposed pores and skin for a chigger to latch onto. Put on your shirt and socks over your pants along with footwear that do not have open ventilation holes. Bathe and wash all of the clothes to the hottest setting with detergent right away upon returning.

Sulfur powders available at your local drug store work well as a chigger repellent. Apply in and on your clothing and footwear just before heading out. A powder puff makes application a lot easier.

Insect repellents containing DEET (Diethyl-m-toluamide) are efficient at repelling chiggers. Apply these to your clothing, not to your pores and skin or to your pets. Be positive to use on your footwear, pant legs, waist, and sleeves.

Citronella oil is derived from citronella grass. It is employed in perfumes, soaps, and insect repelling sprays, candles and tiki torches. These are marketed mainly as mosquito repellent but also repel chiggers.

Should you believe you’ve just grow to be host to a gang of chiggers, right away wash all of the clothing with detergent and to the hottest setting – then wash yourself with plenty of soap and hot water. An exfoliating pad may be employed and unique attention should be paid to warm, moist areas (inside of knees, groin, anus, waist, armpits, neck, between toes, etc)!!!

Chigger bites are insanely itchy and swell into raised red welts that can last for a couple of weeks just before subsiding. As challenging as it may possibly be, resist scratching these bites – they are able to grow to be infected. Instead, apply something that can limit their exposure to air. A number of possibilities that folks have reported success with are:

* Clear nail polish
* Green tea extract
* Calamine lotion
* Hydrocortisone cream