Chiggers

So, poor Adam has been suffering with his recent episode with chiggers. I was asking him all sorts of questions about them since we don't really have them out in California - at least, not that I know of. I did some research online, and I found out some interesting stuff that I thought you all might like to know, especially should you have any future encounters with them!

First, chiggers actually do not burrow into your skin. Chiggers that attach to humans are actually in the larval stage and bite you. They then inject their saliva into your skin and it has these powerful digestive agents that basically dissolve your skin cells. They then drink your liquified skin. Gross huh? What makes it itch isn't anything from the bug itself at all - it's your own body's immune system reaction. It hardens all the cells around the saliva injection site (which is why the bites feel kinda hard if you press on them) so that the saliva doesn't liquify anymore of your body. Basically, it's an allergic reaction.

So putting on nail polish to "suffocate" the chigger? Totally bogus - the only thing it might do it help you not scratch the bite. The longest a chigger will stay on is about 4 days - once it is filled up it drops off and ends its larval stage. The best thing you can do to get rid of the actual chigger is to take a bath as soon as you can. Once they bite you though, you'll have the allergic reaction no matter what. The only thing you can do is try to relieve the itching by using creams or other anti-itch medicines.

Pretty much everything I read said the same thing (even Wikipedia, so you know it's the gospel truth), but there was one article that was very well written, if you're interested in reading it: (Chiggers!)

I hope you found this interesting - I sure did!