Wool socks and bug bites

I often get a ring of little itchy bumps around my ankles that show up a day or so after I hike. I am beginning to wonder if there are fleas, chiggers or some other biting small critter that live in my wool socks? I had this my last trip and honestly, there were few bugs out and I wore gaiters the entire time. Has anyone else had this problem? I was thinking it may be a skin allergy to the socks, but I never get this anywhere else and I wear a lot of wool.

I've had similar experience trying to backpack in ankle-height running type socks. I think grit gets under the elastic band and irritates the skin, so I have to stick with regular height socks. No idea if that's your issue, but since we don't have chiggers in the west (thank you, thank you, thank you) I can't think of another pest that might cause this.

Good luck sleuthing,

It is definitely an itch that once scratched turns into a small hard bump - NOT an physical irritation or rub. Some bug is getting to my ankles. I fear that they are also living in my socks and washing the socks in cold water with Woolite is not getting them out.

You could try boiling them. It might shrink the socks, though.

W_D, if you think that things living in your socks is a distinct possibility, then you need to sterilize your socks. That way you will know for sure. You could boil them like Gerson suggested, but a lot of modern washers have a sterilize setting; ours works very well. There are probably other methods out there to sterilize things.

I would think that a few minutes in the microwave would kill anything living in the socks.

Hard to imagine what bug it could conceivably be, but washing them in some RID shampoo should knock out any critters. Could also stress them by putting the socks in the freezer for a day and maybe microwaving them. Even leaving them in the sun a couple days might help. Simulate a Mars mission.

Cheers,

Hmmmm, yes. GrumpyGord I believe that would do it. If they were MY socks, I would definitely clean them first....

I always liked this quote; "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".

I never got chigger bit when I lived in CA, and I doubt you have bugs living in your socks.

I think the wool is just irritating your skin. It could be that small fibers are working their way under your skin. Maybe use some fabric softener or hair conditioner on the wool. If that doesn't fix it, look for some wool socks that are softer.

If you are worried about bugs you can toss the socks in your dryer (while they are still dry) and tumble them on the highest heat for 30 minutes to kill the bugs. That's the recommended way to kill ticks and chiggers you drag in on your clothes here.

Sounds like chiggers to me; I sure wouldn't rule them out. I know that chiggers are supposed to be a problem of the eastern U.S. but I also know that we have them locally here in S.E. Arizona. This is apparently true for some locales in California as well http://www.chacha.com/question/do-you-have-chiggers-in-california

I have picked up the typical ring of itchy little bites around the top of my socks in several parts of Arizona but never in California even though I'm a native son. I suspect that whether you get chigger-ed depends on where you go. I find that grassy, oak-savannah vegetation is great for Arizona chiggers.

I don't think they would last out a good washing in socks but it probably wouldn't hurt to dust the socks with some pyrethrum insecticide and then wash them.

For me, the only relief I can get from the itching of the bites, which seem to last at least a week, is to scratch with a good stout wire brush The itch always seems to come back though

Pika, what has happened to Arizona? I am all too familiar with chiggers from Texas, but I never encountered them in Arizona and I did spend some time in oaky/grassy locales. Guess they should have kept up those ag inspection stations. Durn Texicans!!

I'm not sure how or when they got here but they did. I have never had the chigger bites here that I got when I was in the Army in North Carolina but they are certainly adequate for my purposes. If you would like, I'll try to arrange to ship some to you; I don't want you to feel left out

It looks like all I have to do is borrow a pair of WD's socks.....

If they are chiggers, you should be also getting the bites on your waist band and other tight clothing spots. Chigger bite bumps last a couple weeks too. Seems early for chiggers though.
I'd guess fleas or mosquitoes. Mosquitoes always go for my ankles and ears first for some reason. Mist your socks with OFF or some DEET based spray and see if the problem stops.
Change to a couple layers of really thin nylon socks and see if wool is your problem. I hike in doubled, super thin, nylon which are still thinner than one pair of regular socks and it works great. You are making me itch!

So is it bugs or wool allergies?
If you spray the socks with permethrin, that will kill all chiggers (and other bugs) who dare to touch.
...Now if you have the itch, it sounds like wool allergies.

Hopefully you find the cause.
-Barry

I have had that happen to me. In my case it was hungry mosquitoes. Last year I was out for 2 days in Desolation Wilderness in Sept. 2 days after I got back, my ankles were itching like crazy. I had repellent on, but not down by the ankles. I have never ran into chiggers.

Desolation was brutal last year. But my last trip in October was wonderfully bug- (and people) free.

Cheers,

Henry Coe Park is a possibility. It is prime grassy oak vegetation and known for tons of ticks.

I could not get far into the link- I am not on facebook.

I was just reading that there are ticks at Malibu St Park. I don't remember ever getting bit there, not once.

We have some tiny ticks here that will bite and move on, or come off if you scratch them, and you won't notice the bit till after they're gone. That could be what happened to you.

I grew up in prime lyme's disease country, but never had a problem. The first winter I was out here I camped at Malibu creek and got a tick. I've had hundreds of ticks in my life and that was the first I had a reaction too. Kinda freaked me out, but it was just a common reaction and no lyme's disease.

The whole coast is crawling with ticks, well into the north. We even have a state park named for them, albeit in Spanish.

Garrapata State Park

Have some spiffy shots I took there of prickly pear cactus surrounded by sprays of poison oak.

Yeah, it's a friendly spot.

Cheers,