Southerners: need your help
 

What's your best home remedy for fire ant bites? I was strolling thru the MIL's gardens this past weekend wearing sandals not looking where I was going (typical Yankee) and yikes. Two bites, one on each foot. I'm on day 3 and the pain has turned to intense itching and I'm ready to take a razor blade and start digging it out (the blister) b/c it itches so much. Cortisone is not helping. Help.

Visit your local walk-in non-emergency clinic and pay the copay. They should NOT be hurting 3 days after, something sounds wrong.

You shouldn't do this...but when we were kids and got a really bad one, we'd use the still-hot tip of a sparkler and touch it to the bite. It burned, of course, but the itching also went away.

If it is really that bad, you should certainly get a real opinion. Weird things happen with insect bites, but most of the bad results only occur when people don't seek out medical attention.

Have you tried Benadryl? That might help with the itching.

Never having had red ant bites, I googled it quick and yeah, I'd say go to your dr. or a doc-in-the-box to have them looked at, sounds like there could be some bad reactions in some people. Better safe than sorry.

Have them looked at. After that, if they just give you hydrocortisone and kick you out the door, try a little Windex. (No, really. The ammonia takes the itch away. We used it all the time when I was a lifeguard.)

I accidentally ran on top of a mound when I was little and got covered. After being thrown in the pool to get the ants off, my parents covered me in a meat tenderizer and water mixture. It took the pain and swelling down.

This is what I referenced, it seems to indicate fire ants are mainly in the southeast (but spreading).

Sorry you're uncomfortable, Army Wife. Hopefully a quick visit to the doctor should fix you right up.

I had to laugh about this...
Isn't Windex what the dad in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" used to cure everything?

LOL. There's a big wiiiiiiide world out here beyond F-L-A, SEC. ;)

LOL. Ok!

Not to be a jerk, but here's me being nit-picky -- click the link and look at the very top, title line. "Gation Nation". Woops. :p

Take benadryl. From my experience fire ant bites take about 2 weeks before they stop itching. :( I just got bit a few weeks ago (15 bites on one foot) and are just now not itching. I still have the bumps though. :mad:

When my family lived in Dallas, I would walk barefoot in the summer and I seemed to always fall in fire ant piles. That being said...calamime lotion works well (if it's the thick pink lotion...I think that's calamime)

^^^ Calamine lotion

Hmmm...

this sounds like an allergic reaction (i think that because i've had lots them [reactions]) as some people are allergic to insect venom (i am one of them)

Get to a Dr./ ER/ Non-ER clinic/Paitent first or whatever you have around you. If you can still breathe it is not an emergcy and anaphlaxysis (spelling???) is usually imideiate, but I would not waste time. You are most likely allergic to the venom of the ants that bit you.

If that's what it turns out to be, then I seriously suggest you get tested for other allergies. Getting tested is one of the worst things you'll ever go through (you will think so when everything starts itching) but about a week or two of avoiding whatever you're allergic you'll start to feel than ever.

But seriously, in the mean time, you need to get that looked at. There might be some anti-venom or something similiar they can give you.

I'm really sorry you are going through this, ArmyWife, I hope your feet are better soon.

I wouldn't sweat it. When I was at Ft.Benning I was real close and personnel with those little bastards. Doing push-ups and had them covering my hands and arms up to my elbows.

Takes a solid two weeks for them to stop itching and for the blister to burst and begin healing. It's been like two years and I have quite a few scars to show for it.

God I hated that place...

teh OMGz, you should totally call nationals on hazing!!!!11shift+1

Sounds like typical fireant bites to me not an anaphylactic rxn. When I was 8 I stood in a large pile on accident-couldn't wear shows for several days-I was miserable! Calamine lotion is a must, there are also these "roll on" sticks for insect bites-can't remember the names of them.

Are you thinking of "After Bite"? Those things were a godsend when I was in Costa Rica on my honeymoon. The mosquitoes there are on steroids.

"Skeeter Sticks" is what we called them.

I would spend summers covered in calamine lotion when I was a kid. I remember once my little sister fell asleep in the yard with her head on an ant hill ... woke up screaming with them all in her hair! :eek: Now, I usually put that special neosporin cream that comes with anesthetic in it on any bites (ant or mosquito) to numb them up a bit so they don't itch/hurt as bad.

I think fire ants have a hard time surviving in cold climates.

Aren't they acclimating themselves to colder and colder temps as the generations evolve?

Fire ants and killer bees....

As do I ... so I guess the fire ants and I will just have to get along as best we can :rolleyes:

Cortisone and if you have a lot then use ice to reduce the swelling.

Fire ants don't exist in cold climates, they have about the same range as me.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/fireant/imag...festation2.jpg

don't pop the blister formed by the fire ant bite-it is best to just let it be reabsorbed by the body.

it does take a while for the bite and resultant scar to go away. benadryl tablets internally and listerine(the gold, original type) dabbed on the bites help. if the listerine and other suggested remedies don't help, you might try charcoal capsules. break the capsule open in a cup that you can toss, and mix with a little water to make a paste. apply the paste to the bite(also works great on insect stings). this is messy, but it works.

when I lived in Georgia (many moons ago) .. I was told to use a paste of meat tenderizer and water on fire ant bites ... that always seemed to work for me.

i hate those buggers! i'm from California and imagine my surprise when i moved to Texas and got bit for the first time! everyone asked me if i was allergic...how would i know??

my mom told me never to pop the blister as a teen, but i did it anyways because it itched so bad. i do clean it to make sure it doesn't get infected. cortisone cream helps a little. if you get one of those "after bite" sticks it works well if you apply soon after the bite. the main ingredient is ammonia.

good luck....i just got bit on the toes last friday, but not too bad and they're pretty much gone now.

Thanks guys, the calamine with antihistime in it helps the most. I can't find my meat tenderizer. I think the D took it to the beach last summer for jellyfish stings and I haven't gotten it back. What's with all these tornados today?? Geez, if it's not ant bites, it's migranes from the barometric pressure dropping. grrrrr.