What Are Chigger Bites?

Chiggers are known as hairly, small and red-coloured mites belonging to a family of mites called Trombiculidae, which are really tiny with 6 legs and no wing ^[1].

Chiggers can be found in certain outdoor areas, including weeds, tall grass, forest and other moist areas and always feast on blood of their prey.

According to a research, some thin-skinned parts of people’s body are mainly targetted by chiggers, including armpits, ankles, waist, groin or behind two knees.

What Do Chigger Bites look Like?

When it comes to Chigger Bites, your skin can be itchy and a little bit irritating.

They can trigger itchy and red blisters on sufferers’ body.

How Long Do Chigger Bites Last?

Chigger bites can last up to three weeks to be cleared up. At that time, small read blisters or even bumps from the skin’s clusters result in irritation and itchiness.

Causes of Chigger Bites

Chigger bugs or another chigger mites are loaded with a digestive enzyme that can get injected into your skin when larvae of those mites are on your skin.

As mentioned above, this leads to some blisteres that are red and itchy on victim’s body.

Symptoms of Chigger Bites 

Although, chiggers do not do any serious harm to your health, they still cause discomforts and annoyance. To help yourself, you have to know the chigger bites symptoms to have proper treatments. When these mites attack you, there are likely to be following signs of chigger bites appearing within hours:

• Severe itching, rashes
• Red pumps or hives
• Swelling

How To Treat Chigger Bites Effectively and Naturally

As the mites are really tiny that your naked eye can hardly notice them, it is not easy to prevent the bites. Therefore, it is worth to pocket some of simple and natural treatments for how to Treat Chigger Bites to deal with them in the meantime.

Here are top 15 workable chigger bites treatments that you can easily apply to reduce the symptoms and other discomforts.

1. Hot Shower

As soon as you notice the bites of chiggers, immediately go to bathroom and get a hot shower. This is the first home remedy on how to treat chigger bites that you should immediately apply to eliminate the mites left on your body and ease the reaction of the skin. However, make sure that you do not use very hot water.

How to apply: 

• Soak yourself in a tub of hot water
• Rub a mild antiseptic soap thoroughly
• Do not rub your skin strenuously to avoid rashes and pain
• Finally, gently dry yourself with a clean soft towel and moisturize your skin with some essential oil like olive or coconut oil
• Also, wash your cloth in hot water as well

Hot shower is widely applied to treat the other diseases, such as curing dry and rough hands or getting water out of your ears.

2. Cold Compress

After cleansing your skin to get rid of chiggers attaching on your skin, use a cold compress as the next step of home remedies for chigger bites prevention and reduce the itching caused by the bites with its numbing effect ^[2][3].

How to apply: 

• Take some ice cubes and wrap them in a thin and clean cloth
• Use the ice bag to apply on the bites for some minutes
• Repeat this if the itching keeps annoying you
• Alternatively, you can soak the affected skin in cold or cool water to ease the itching.

Like hot shower, cold compress is a natural way to cure many health problems, including swollen mouth or leg pains.

3. Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera has always been not only women’s but also men’s best friend as it is a trusted ingredient in various treatments for health and beauty problem and chigger bites are not exception. With the natural treatment on how to treat chigger bites from Aloe Vera, you can manage the condition of swelling, pain, inflammation on the skin. At the same time, vitamin E in it helps moisturize and accelerate the healing process ^[4][5][6].

How to apply: 

• Get the gel inside an Aloe Vera leaf then apply it on the affected area. Let it sit on 10-15 minutes before rinsing off with tepid water. Repeat this 2-3 times daily.
• Alternatively, add some drops of olive oil and peppermint oil into some Aloe Vera gel. Mix them well then apply on the affected skin. After 15 minutes, wash off with clean water. Do this 2-3 times on daily basis for the best result.

Learn more other benefits of Aloe Vera at Home Remedies for Scabies and Home Remedies for Measles.

4. Neem

Neem is another source of anti-irritant, anti-inflammatory and soothing properties that can help you effectively deal with discomforts caused by symptoms of chigger bites ^[7][8]. This is the reason why it is one of the best chigger bites relief.

How to apply: 

• Put some neem leaves in hot water. Let it steep for 10-15 minutes then strain. After it cools down, use the liquid to cleanse the affected area. Do this several times a day until you see improvement.
• Also, you can use the products made with neem as lotion or cream to apply on the affected skin. Do this a few times on daily basic to quickly heal the bites.

5. Baking Soda

Another useful help on how to treat chigger bites is baking soda. Baking soda possesses strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that can help you effectively with the itchiness and inflammation. By applying baking soda, you can also reduce the risk of infection ^[9].

How to apply: 

• Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with water to make a paste then apply it directly on the bites. Let it sit on for 10 minutes before rinsing off with clean water. Do this 1-2 times a day for the best result.
• Add a cup of baking soda in a bathtub of cool water. Soak yourself in there for 10-15 minutes. Finally, dry yourself with a clean towel and apply moisturizer. Do this once on daily basis.

Learn more other benefits of baking soda at How to Get Rid of Vaginal Odor.