I have been planting flowers and some lettuce and it seems like some insects bit myfeet and legs...it looks th

the size of our smallest toe nail and it is red and it is itching very much!! ouch. I live near Chicago so I hope it cannot be any paratise...anyone can tell me about it? I came from another big city (out of USA) but like NYC or Los Angeles that is full of polution , that means , there is no paratise in the plants (never heard)!!! What can it be? Do I need to see a doctor? What kind of doc should I go in case I need to . TY

FlowersBirthday FlowersSympathy FlowersNo you don't need to see a doctor. they could have been chiggers or a spider or even some mosquitos. Just get some 1%hydrocortisone cream and put that on there. you could even put some rubbing alcholol on there that may help with the itching. but just wait it out thats all you can do. don't scratch them b/c they could get infected.
Reply:This sounds like the common chigger bite that we in the south have tons of them. To get some relief, brew some chamomile tea and wash the areas with it. That will take away the itching, pain and irritation, take down the inflammation and assist the bites on there way to healing. This can also be mosquitoes and chamomile can take care of those bites too.


I also recommend an all natural insect repellent that can be used on you, your pets and children that contains no deet. www.dandesoap.com sells a natural repellent made from a witch hazel base called "Anit No Kin" Insect repellent spray.
Reply:If you have mosquito or spider bites, then hydrocortisone cream might help, so will an antihistamine, either topical or in pill format (benadryl comes to mind).





If you have chiggers, they're not really bites, exactly. These little buggers actually burrow into your skin. Look for tiny orange-red dots in the middle of the bumps. They itch like crazy! The best cure for these (and believe me, when we got chiggers on vacation one year, we tried everything) is finger nail polish - clear looks best - just paint the spots and then after a day or two peel the polish off. This will suffocate the chiggers. We also used a product called "chig-a-rid" or something like that - but it appeared to just be clear nail polish.





Now, if you broke out a few days after you were in the garden, I'd suspect poison ivy, oak, or sumac. These bumps have little blisters on them. Calamine lotion is said to help, but not much, in my opinion. I like prescription steroid creams much better. And really bad cases are treated by doctors with oral steroids.





Good luck.acting resources