Flea bites? Or....?
June 25, 2018 6:37 PM Subscribe
My legs are suddenly covered in small red bites. What the heck happened?
This morning at work (Monday) I noticed my leg was slightly itchy and when I bent down to scratch it (I was wearing a skirt today) I realized my lower legs were covered in many small, red bites. They are not as itchy as mosquito bites are for me, and the little red bumps are much smaller. It also kind of seemed like there were paler rings of skin around the red bumps, but that could be a visual effect. Pictures
-They look like flea bites to me, but I'm not sure if that's possible. I do have a dog, but she has not been extra itchy or anything. Also, I haven't noticed any bites up until today, when dozens appeared all at once.
-Saturday I visited two animal shelters and interacted with multiple dogs, wearing ankle length jeans. I think I did sit on a rug at one point, but again I was wearing jeans. I'm also not sure how long flea bites take to show up. Later I went to an outdoor festival wearing loose cropped pants, where I pretty much just walked around and sat on a bench at one point.
-Sunday I worked in the yard a little, but it's a small urban yard and I wasn't wading through knee high grass or anything. I did work with some wood mulch so there could have been bugs in that. I was wearing cropped jeans. Then, I changed into a skirt and went to two more animal shelters, again interacting with one dog. (My roommate is trying to adopt.) I did walk through some tall-ish lawn grass at one of the animal shelters, but it was only like 30 seconds. Later that evening I again went to an outdoor festival, walking around and sitting at a picnic table, still wearing the skirt.
-I don't recall seeing any bites when I was putting on a skirt Sunday afternoon, but of course I wasn't looking for them. I also wore shorts to bed and don't remember seeing any bites at any time last night or honestly even this morning. Though since I noticed the bites around 9:45 a.m., I don't see how they could have suddenly appeared between 7:45 when I was getting dressed and 9:45 when I noticed them.
-While the vast majority of the bites are on my lower legs, I have one bite on my outer thigh, and one bump that COULD be a bite but maybe not on my stomach.
-I take public transportation to work, but the seats are plastic, no upholstery.
-A week ago I spent a few days at an AirBnb lakehouse in rural Michigan, so I spent a lot of time outside both in and out of the water. However, it seems like the bites would have shown up sooner if I got bit by something while I was there. (I did get a lot of mosquito bites, but can they disappear and then show back up again later?)
-Other than that I haven't been traveling, didn't sleep anywhere new in the past few days, didn't get any new furniture. My roommate did buy a pre-owned car a few days ago and I rode around in it all weekend. She does not have any bites. For what it's worth, I've been exposed to bed bugs before and didn't have visible bites.
I'm not worried so much as I am baffled. If they fade and this remains a mystery, no big deal I guess, but I'd love to know what was gnawing on me.
Thanks for your ideas!
This morning at work (Monday) I noticed my leg was slightly itchy and when I bent down to scratch it (I was wearing a skirt today) I realized my lower legs were covered in many small, red bites. They are not as itchy as mosquito bites are for me, and the little red bumps are much smaller. It also kind of seemed like there were paler rings of skin around the red bumps, but that could be a visual effect. Pictures
-They look like flea bites to me, but I'm not sure if that's possible. I do have a dog, but she has not been extra itchy or anything. Also, I haven't noticed any bites up until today, when dozens appeared all at once.
-Saturday I visited two animal shelters and interacted with multiple dogs, wearing ankle length jeans. I think I did sit on a rug at one point, but again I was wearing jeans. I'm also not sure how long flea bites take to show up. Later I went to an outdoor festival wearing loose cropped pants, where I pretty much just walked around and sat on a bench at one point.
-Sunday I worked in the yard a little, but it's a small urban yard and I wasn't wading through knee high grass or anything. I did work with some wood mulch so there could have been bugs in that. I was wearing cropped jeans. Then, I changed into a skirt and went to two more animal shelters, again interacting with one dog. (My roommate is trying to adopt.) I did walk through some tall-ish lawn grass at one of the animal shelters, but it was only like 30 seconds. Later that evening I again went to an outdoor festival, walking around and sitting at a picnic table, still wearing the skirt.
-I don't recall seeing any bites when I was putting on a skirt Sunday afternoon, but of course I wasn't looking for them. I also wore shorts to bed and don't remember seeing any bites at any time last night or honestly even this morning. Though since I noticed the bites around 9:45 a.m., I don't see how they could have suddenly appeared between 7:45 when I was getting dressed and 9:45 when I noticed them.
-While the vast majority of the bites are on my lower legs, I have one bite on my outer thigh, and one bump that COULD be a bite but maybe not on my stomach.
-I take public transportation to work, but the seats are plastic, no upholstery.
-A week ago I spent a few days at an AirBnb lakehouse in rural Michigan, so I spent a lot of time outside both in and out of the water. However, it seems like the bites would have shown up sooner if I got bit by something while I was there. (I did get a lot of mosquito bites, but can they disappear and then show back up again later?)
-Other than that I haven't been traveling, didn't sleep anywhere new in the past few days, didn't get any new furniture. My roommate did buy a pre-owned car a few days ago and I rode around in it all weekend. She does not have any bites. For what it's worth, I've been exposed to bed bugs before and didn't have visible bites.
I'm not worried so much as I am baffled. If they fade and this remains a mystery, no big deal I guess, but I'd love to know what was gnawing on me.
Thanks for your ideas!
Response by poster: @Anticipation, I did check my sheets and I'll keep an eye on it but I think it's pretty unlikely to go from no bites to dozens of bites all at once if we're talking bed bugs.
posted by ohsnapdragon at 7:16 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by ohsnapdragon at 7:16 PM on June 25, 2018
I had bed bugs. Does not resemble my bites at all.
I totally got them the fleshiest parts of my legs/bum. Your legs are lean. They go for your chubbiest parts and they give you 3/4 bites in a line.
posted by beccaj at 7:30 PM on June 25, 2018
I totally got them the fleshiest parts of my legs/bum. Your legs are lean. They go for your chubbiest parts and they give you 3/4 bites in a line.
posted by beccaj at 7:30 PM on June 25, 2018
Reminds me of when I got a bunch of flea bites. They were infesting a rug, but just were biting me and the pets, no other family members for some reason got bites, but my lower legs were covered! The bites did not show up/start itching right away either. Chiggers are another possibility, though my chigger bites have been more painful than the flea bites were.
posted by gudrun at 7:30 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by gudrun at 7:30 PM on June 25, 2018
Best answer: My first thought was chiggers, but my second thought was swimmers' itch, as soon as I read the part about the lakehouse in rural Michigan. A week seems like a rather delayed onset, but it's worth considering. I may be sensitive, as I've had swimmers' itch from lakes in rural Michigan!
posted by Empidonax at 7:41 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by Empidonax at 7:41 PM on June 25, 2018
The principle of Occam's Razor would seem to indicate those are flea bites.
posted by JamesBay at 7:42 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by JamesBay at 7:42 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: (I should say that swimmers' itch occurs on inland lakes, so if your house was on a Great Lake, you're probably clear.)
posted by Empidonax at 7:44 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Empidonax at 7:44 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
From recent personal experience, swimmers itch "bites" tend to be a lot larger and aggressively itchy, though your immune system may differ.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:49 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:49 PM on June 25, 2018
Chigger bites have more of a scabby center to them, in my experience. And they tend to get gradually worse over time as they run their course and the chigger's stylostome grows deeper into your flesh, digesting as it goes. Also they itch like the devil, just unrelenting itchiness.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:58 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:58 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
If there are lots and you are not unbearably itchy, it's not chiggers, so it's almost certainly fleas. One chigger bite is similarly annoying to a particularly itchy mosquito bite. 5 or 10 or 20 chigger bites itch like nothing else in this world, to the point that sleeping becomes impossible without medication to cut it down.
The picture definitely looks most like fleas to me.
posted by wierdo at 8:42 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
The picture definitely looks most like fleas to me.
posted by wierdo at 8:42 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
They don't resemble bed bug bites that I've had in the past (and I had them in both fleshy and lean areas). They can also be individual bites and aren't always 3/4 in a line (again, I've had both). I also tend to get some swelling at the site for a few days before they calm down, but my skin reacts strongly to bed bugs.
I have no experience with fleas and can't verify that for you.
posted by acidnova at 8:55 PM on June 25, 2018
I have no experience with fleas and can't verify that for you.
posted by acidnova at 8:55 PM on June 25, 2018
Another vote for fleas. If they’re unbearable, cortisone cream will help.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:23 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:23 PM on June 25, 2018
Best answer: After I saw your photo and continued reading, I was just waiting to see whether you were going to mention being in a lake in Michigan and... you did! Looks exactly like my son’s reaction to wading in a pond recently here in Central NY. And while his spots appeared the next day, his also wading friend’s spots didn’t appear for several days (and then they were much smaller and not so itchy).
Also fitting your experience: it’ll appear as a bunch of spots all at once, so if you’re not from Michigan (or nearby) and/or don’t know the phenomenon, then it’s likely to seem as you describe: as in, “what on earth just happened to me?”
So yes, it looks and sounds a whole lot like Swimmer’s Itch to this Michigander. (When I was a kid we’d wait to go in the water until after July 4 in order to avoid it.)
All that said, yes, as mentioned above, it’s a small (not Great) lake phenomenon, so if you were in a Great Lake then it’s surely something else.
posted by marlys at 10:46 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also fitting your experience: it’ll appear as a bunch of spots all at once, so if you’re not from Michigan (or nearby) and/or don’t know the phenomenon, then it’s likely to seem as you describe: as in, “what on earth just happened to me?”
So yes, it looks and sounds a whole lot like Swimmer’s Itch to this Michigander. (When I was a kid we’d wait to go in the water until after July 4 in order to avoid it.)
All that said, yes, as mentioned above, it’s a small (not Great) lake phenomenon, so if you were in a Great Lake then it’s surely something else.
posted by marlys at 10:46 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Mystery solved! I had never heard of Swimmer's Itch before, but it was indeed an inland lake. Reached out to the friends I went with and turns out they all have it too and were similarly perplexed. Thanks all!
posted by ohsnapdragon at 7:03 AM on June 26, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by ohsnapdragon at 7:03 AM on June 26, 2018 [6 favorites]
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posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:54 PM on June 25, 2018