Stopping the Itch from Chigger Bites

First, I want to say this: I know there are some people who are going to want to give me a lecture on the evils of bleach, especially putting it in any form on your skin. Please don't - especially if you've never had a chigger bite! I know about the dangers of putting chemicals on your skin, or even worse, on a child. I think the effects of DEET are way more toxic then bleach, and I have not tried any other method that will actually prevent chigger bites or ease the insane itch from them - and believe me, I've probably tried most of them!

I never knew what chiggers were until I moved to Oklahoma. I don't think I've seen an insect that is worse! They wait in the grass and jump on you when you walk by. They crawl until they are stopped by socks, underwear or just can't go anywhere else - so common places for multiple bites are around the ankles and underwear line, the armpits, and the groin. You don't even know you've been bit at first, it usually takes several hours or the next day - and then you have this horrible, insane itching for days/weeks and terrible scars up to dime-size. If you have the misfortune to be allergic to them, as one of my sons is, it's even worse - he's spent up to 2 weeks on oral steroids and antibiotics to deal with results of chigger bites. They like his armpits. He's had swollen glands in his armpits.

My 2 youngest spent an ENTIRE summer not being able to play outside AT ALL because they were SO sensitive to these bites. Yes, you can use bug spray to help, but it doesn't always prevent them and I don't like the idea of bathing my kids in bug spray several times every day. Treating our yard only helped minimally.

About 5 years ago, I met a woman who had been a Boy Scout leader for many years. Boy Scouts around here tend to suffer a lot of chigger bites in the summer because they camp at least every month. She told me that she had learned a solution that stopped the insane itching before it ever starts and had used this method for years to great effect! I began using the same method at home and we haven't had more than a couple of chigger bites that got out of hand in all these years since!

Basically, you do this at night before bed or when you've come inside for the day. DON'T wait until you know you've been bit, it's too late! If you know you have chiggers around, do this when you come inside. Take a small bucket or bowl of water and add just a tiny bit of bleach. It doesn't take much, you just want to BARELY be able to catch the smell of the bleach, if the smell is strong then you've used too much. I can't give you a measurement, because I keep bleach in a contact lens solution bottle and just add a quick squirt. Then you use a washcloth or rag to wipe the skin down. If you tend to just get bit on your legs, wipe just your legs. My boys would get bit all over, so I stripped them and wiped them from neck to toe. Let the water dry on the skin.

Now the Boy Scout leader said they mixed up a dishpan of bleach water and had the boys stand in it at bedtime and wipe their legs before entering their tent, then they left it on. I didn't like the idea of leaving bleach on my kids skin, especially since I had to use it over their whole bodies. So I would wipe them down about 10 minutes before bath time and by the time I had their bath ready, they were dry. Then they took their bath as normal. This seems to work as well as leaving it on does. And no, JUST taking a bath didn't seem to help the chigger bites, they still got the itch the next day if I didn't use the bleach solution.

For a couple of summers, every time I went outside I ended up with chigger bites. just walking outside to my car was enough for them to get me. They only seemed to like my legs, and my feet suffered terribly because I wear sandals all summer. I use the same method when I come in for the day, only I just wipe from my knees down, let it dry 10 minutes, then rinse it off. I only have a problem now when I forget. I also have a bad reaction to mosquito bites and they really like to chew on me, I think they just wait for me to step outside in the evening! Within minutes of getting bit, I start to itch and swell. I've learned that this trick works on those bites most of the time too, if you do it as soon as you get bit.

I'm not sure exactly what the bleach does. My theory is that maybe it neutralizes or disinfects the poison that the chigger injects into the skin. Many people believe that chiggers lay eggs under your skin and the itching is from the eggs hatching - this is a HUGE myth! The itch is caused when the chigger (or mosquito) injects a poison into the skin that works to liquefy/dissolve the tissues to that the insect can then feed on it. Still gross, but not as bad as the idea that you have baby bugs under your skin! LOL!

By Judy from Tulsa, OK

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Shared on: 06/17/2011