Wee were out on our new five acres the last two days and either something bit me or I got into sintering. I am trying to determine if I should see my doctor today, so any thing you could add be helpful in making that determination.
Yesterday I got home and noticed that my legs were itching like crazy. A quick inspection reveled many little bumps on my calves. It seemed to me that I got into some grass bugs that bit me. I have been putting cortisone on them to control the itching, but it is going on 48 hours and still itchy. We returned yesterday and now my right arm and left hand are itchy and have a few small bumps on them. During the night my pinky on my left hand swelled to a point where it was very tight when I try to bend it. Now, I don’t know if the legs and hand are related or if it is something else.
I was thinking maybe poison ivy, but I don’t have a pronounced rash. I thought maybe I scratched my leg and transferred ivy to my arms, but without a rash I don’t think it is that. Plus the swelling of the pinky, I can’t figure that out.
So, any ideas? Do I just put on cortisone and forget about it or is a doctor visit in order. I am really not that concerned except for the swelling. Thanks a bunch. Also I know that you probably aren’t a doctor and I am not looking for medical advice, rather asking if anyone knows if poison ivy/oak produces these type of symptoms. Mods, if GQ is the wrong forum, please move.
So, does anyone have any ideas? Should I just keep putting cortisone on it and wait foot it
Little bumps, probably chiggers. The doctor will have a prescription med that will kill them, but they will go away on their own after 2-3 days. Give the intch another day to subside.
Benadryl should help the itching; cortisone won’t be effective until the little bastiges leave your skin.
Chiggers, that’s the bug I was thinking of, thanks. Most likely the cause, but doesn’t explain the swelling in the pinky. Stupid itching is about to drive me crazy !
I concur that it’s chiggers. What got to your pinkie may not be the same thing that got the rest of you though. If you put clear nail polish over the red bump they will suffocate and die, it’s what I used to do when I lived in places they were common.
Chiggers do not actually burrow under your skin. Nail polish is an old wives’ tale. Use an OTC antihistamine like benadryl (can make you sleepy, be careful) and a topical antihistamine to help. Also, something you can do at home is to run a shower with the hottest water you can stand, and put any itchy body parts under the water as long as you can stand. This will exhaust your body’s histamine production for several hours. It itches like mad at first, but the next several itch-free hours will be suitably blissful.
I was thinking chiggers until you mentioned your arm and finger. It’s probably poison oak/ivy or maybe poison sumac, but I’m not as familiar with that. Benadryl works for chiggers or these. Finely mill some oatmeal and stick in the toe of some nylons. Knot off. Place in bath and soak. If it continues to spread, you might check with your doctor and wind up with a steroid dose pack.
When I get hives, I’ll get a random finger or toe that swells up. That’s when I know to take an antihistamine for sure. I take a claritin, once a day, and then a benedryl at night to get me to sleep. If you’re getting an internal reaction to the allergen (hives) nothing topical will help. If it goes on another day, I’d see a doctor.
I swear by the stuff. I turned my husband into a Believer, as well.
It’s an OTC ointment with Benzocaine. When I go shopping at Wally World, I buy six or seven tubes of it. I ALWAYS have some on hand. Bug bites, sunburn, any skin irritation–gotta have my Lanacane!
When Hubster was in the Army, he always had Lanacane in his goodie bag during field exercises. And when he taught at the NCO Academy, he carried Lanacane during the field training. As soon as the mosquitoes came out at night, he would travel from student to student, anointing their bites. They almost wept with relief.
~VOW