I rode a really cool MTB trail in the deep woods in Oxford Mississippi (just off Ole Miss campus) on Tuesday. I sell to the university and so I can schedule my time how I like. Oxford is 75 miles south of Memphis. I plan it so I’m done with everything around 3 o’clock and pull the MUni out for some really great trail riding.
I wear bke shorts under baggy shorts that have lots of deep pockets for carrying water, trailmix bars, etc. Here in the deep south in September its hot and humid, so at the end of my ride I was wearing soaking wet bke shorts and had a 75 mile drive home. I stripped off the baggy shorts. I stripped off the b*ke shorts. I put back on the baggy shorts (which dry pretty quick) for the ride home.
Problem is…I have bugspray right there in the trunk next to my MUni gear. I just flat out forgot to use it. I actually moved it out of the way to retrieve a wristguard before the ride. Later, I apparently rode through a thriving society of nomadic Chiggers who were now all invisibly partying on my baggy shorts. Suddenly I had given them free access to my tender region. I’m covered up with chigger bumps. (To those who’ve never had them: Chiggers kind of look like 50 - 1000 mosquito bites but are a million times more itchy!!!)
I will NEVER ride those trails without spraying. If I do…shoot me again.
OMG when will it stop? People stare when I jam both hands down my pants and scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I don’t care what they think.
wow. that sucks. having lived in “the south” i know your pain, never did anything quite that bad though. got about 50 fire ant bites on one foot once though…that was bad, what you’ve got might be worse. use some cream with lidocaine (sp?) in it.
i got thousands of chiggers up and down my legs once after cleaning out overgrown weeds and brush behind a shed. i was wearing shorts. anyway, it was awful. i’ve heard of putting clear nail polish over each of the bites to suffacate them, but i would’ve had to dip my legs in a bathtub of nail polish. that didn’t seem practical. i just had to wait for them to die. aren’t they burrowed and living on you for sometime? good luck!
Actually they are long gone by the time the itching starts. They inject a saliva like substance to help them digest their meal. Once you have been bitten, the nail polish works to keep you from infecting the area from scratching more than anything else. Benadryl, hydrocortison, or a trip to the Doc, will give the most relief.
When you called to report the great ride you had I was SO jealous. However, I now think that I would prefer to be at work and continue to wait for the first freeze - in December!
On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 07:06:15 -0500, “Memphis Mud” wrote:
>Anybody know what to do after the fact?
Immediately after exposure to chigger-infested areas, take a hot bath
to kill and remove chigger larvae. Then apply an antiseptic solution
to any welts that have appeared to kill trapped chiggers and to
prevent infection. Destroying the chigger usually does not stop the
itching completely because the itching is caused by tissue reaction to
the fluid injected by the chigger. Normally, two to three days pass
before the itching stops. Temporary relief can be obtained by applying
a commercial product that contains a mild, local anesthetic. Your
pharmacist can suggest an appropriate product for your needs.
Any unusual allergic reaction, fever or infection should be
treated by a physician.
(found by Google. I searched because I wanted to know what chiggers
are.)
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“Unicycling is like glue: you have to stick with it, and it’s not to be sniffed at - Mikefule”
I recommend riding your Muni in Colorado as a solution. That way, you always have miles and miles of trails in georgeous national forest land right outside your door. The local mosquitos will occasionally bite you but nothing compared to what you have experienced. On days like yesterday, for example, you would have had the option of riding “Rambo style,” shirt off, white belly gleaming in the sun, while rolling along the Colorado trail. After an hour of this type of riding without the intrusion of a single chigger, tick or bug your faith in mother nature and all that is good will be restored.
Actually, having had this opportunity yesterday, I would probably recommend Colorado Muni as a cure for just about any ailment not requiring surgery.
I’m just now starting to recover from my depression after riding under the cobalt blue skies in Utah last summer. My wife has banned me from driving across the bridge to West Memphis (Arkansas) in fear that I won’t slow until I get to New Mexico and never come back. Ahhhgggg.
(itch, itch)