[Gatesedge] Re:Chiggers

[Eadric Anstapa]

Here's to the chigger
Which aint much bigger
Than the dot from a fine point pen

But the whelp that he raises
It itches like blazes
And that's where the fun begins.

OK Gwyn, I know you don't want to hear this now..

The thing about the alcohol to kill them, or the fingernail polish to
smother them, or the campho pheniq are all old wives tales.  These don't do
anything to the chigger cause he isn't there.  The chigger is gone and you
are just feeling what he has left behind.

A chigger bites you at the base of a hair follicle and injects digestive
fluid that dissolves cells.  They then consume these dissolves cells and
drop off.  After they are gone the areas continue to itch from the digestive
fluids and dissolved flesh still present.

Fingernail polish, Vaseline, campho phenique, etc work because they seal out
the air and offer some relief.

The only real relief you can get is phone antihistamines and from steroidal
creams.  Benadryl helps some people both in liquid topical form and by
taking the pills.  The cortisone creams help other people.

Take a look at http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/chigger.html

or for more than you ever wanted to know abut insect pests that infest
humans
http://entowww.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/uc/uc-013.html

STOP SCRATCHING

Lord Eadric Anstapa
Coastal Regional Archery Marshal, Ansteorra
eadric at scabrewer.com