When I was a little kid, I loved running barefoot through soft spring grass.
That is, until I stepped on a bee this one time.
After that, I was less thrilled with being barefoot all the time.
Stepping on that bee felt like stepping on a hot needle.
My mom helped by making a paste of baking soda and water, and putting it on the sting.
This helped with the burn but didn't fix the situation - I am allergic to bees.
Of course.
This sting meant a ten-day span of home care before it was all over.
First, I had to elevate the foot.
It was swollen and sore and keeping it up helped.
I also would soak it in warm water with Epsom salts dissolved in it.
That was the best, especially when I felt the pins and needles feeling coming back.
I am sure that both of these treatments helped a lot.
You also want to try to pull as much venom out of the sting as you can.
Baking powder paste is extremely helpful.
You can also use damp tobacco on top of the sting to pull out venom, which if you ask me is the only good use for tobacco.
In addition to the baking soda, you can also try camphorated oil on a bite if you aren't allergic to it.
I've heard of people using meat tenderizer also.
My grandparents swore that tenderizer helped with the itch and the irritation.
None of these work on chigger bites though.
Have you ever been bitten by chiggers? It's so miserable, there is nothing like the itch of chigger bites! One of the only things that helps is prednisone.
If you don't want to go get prednisone, you can do some home treatment with nail polish.
Painting a little bit of nail polish on top of bites is really helpful.
You may be so desperate you just figure you'll use whatever nail polish is handy, but trust me - invest in some clear polish.
Otherwise you'll look ridiculous.
You may be able to discourage chiggers from wanting to bite you in the first place if you plan your idet accordingly.
If you eat marjoram, cayenne, and ginger, chiggers may be less interested in you because they find the smell of these spices disagreeable.