A little help!

[SusanC]

Ok, Ive had pools my whole life... chlorine pools and I know how to deal with problems with those.

But I joined today because my problem is with a friends pool!

I am in Phoenix, AZ and have a friend with a salt water pool that they are learning how to take care and doing really well.

Except...

Everytime I swim there I end up with dozens and dozens of bits on my ankles and lower legs. Sometimes clusters of them,
and they WONT HEAL! I finally had them healing after avoiding the pool for 6 weeks.. and went in yesterday and the areas that have marks
from almost healed bites are irritated again and surrounds by tons of new bits as well as bites everywhere.

My friend rarely gets bites and neither does her family or my husband there.

I have not seen these biting bugs... ever and sometimes it takes a couple days for the bites to appear and I want to claw my legs to death!~
I must be itching at night because the next morning it looks like a full blown rash.

Question... what the heck is biting me and why only me?

How can I avoid getting bit without just giving up on swimming over there?

I joked the other day about something laying eggs in my leg because the marks wouldnt heal and would actually get raised up after a few weeks... I pulled the top off and put antibiotics in the area and it finally was healing until yesterday.

Please help?

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

Sounds like chigger bites to me.

 

[Lykly]

Yep, same thing happens to me, when the rest of my family is not affected. Chiggers for whatever reason, some people are more vulnerable than others. What you can do is use some insect repellent.... even the non-Deet stuff works. trust me I know exactly what you're talking about itching and takes forever to heal. I actually thought they were going to leave scars but they finally cleared up. Miserable.


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[SusanC]

Oh thank God someone knew what I was talking about because I started to think I was going crazy!
I started wondering if something laid eggs in a couple of the spots!

Silly question, but being that I get bit in a pool, wont bug repellent just wash off?

 

[SusanC]

Follow up thought.... I looked these suckers up.. nasty, seriously nasty.
But.. they dont say they live in water, and Im in the pool when Im there except for brief
trips from the pool to the house on a concrete walkway so... how are they latching on to me then?
I get that they go for some people and not others... Im the only one out of 5 of us and there are 3 dogs unaffected too!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Any carpet in the house that may be harboring fleas?

Are you in sandals or shoes/socks? Some nasty things like scabies are common at the sock line, waistline and wrist. They itch like crazy. Often seen in "tracks" as they're burrowed under the skin.

I can't imagine it has anything to do with the pool itself, or being a SWG pool.... ? Weird, though.

 

[pooldv]

Dogs don't seem to care about chiggers. They will jump on you in a second. A short walk down a path will give them plenty of time. There isn't anything I am aware of that could be in the pool. Nothing itches like chigger bites.

 

[Lykly]

Yeah, you're not getting bit in the pool. You may not feel the bite until you get in the pool, but those bites are coming while you're around the pool. Repellant works for me, much like suntan lotion it will come off in the pool eventually. I only put it on when I'm planning on hanging out by the pool, not so much when I'm in the pool.



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[pooldv]

Spraying Off on your flip flops will help.