The best is permethrin. Buy a spray can and spray your clothes while you are not wearing them. When it dries, you are protected from chiggers and ticks. Chiggers bite, then inject a chemical that keeps the hole from closing while they feed. Then they drop off. It's the chemical left behind that makes you itch. Fingernail polish is worthless. Best to get Benadryl gel for the itch. Gary
Permethrin is the best preventative (
and you DO want to prevent them!). Unlike mosquitoes, you never can tell where they will be or when they will climb on board.
It is also good for ticks, mosquitoes, and other pests. Although chiggers are a mite, which is part of the spider family, like insects, they die quickly from exposure to Permethrin.
Otherwise you may end up looking like this:
Bites are
insanely itchy, and may last for 2 weeks. They may also require a $600 Epipen shot as well in severe reactions. There is little as bad as a spider bite, some of which can damage nerve tissue and twitch for years.
You could try "old wives remedies", but they were never as effective as cold, hard science to me.
If you do get bit, try this, from
WebMD:
Your first step: Take a bath or shower and scrub your skin with soap and water. This washes off any chiggers that are still on you.
Using hot water, wash your clothes and any blankets or towels that touched the ground to kill any bugs that are still hanging on.
Then treat your bites with an over-the-counter anti-itch cream or ointment, like menthol, calamine lotion, or hydrocortisone. You can also get relief if you take antihistamine pills or use a cold compress.
Remember: No freeloaders!
