Do Oak Mites Stay On Your Skin

Oak mites are making more people than usual miserable with itchy, welts and bumps on their peel. A northern Virginia allergist has good news and bad news and advice for what to do.

Oak mites are making more people than usual miserable with itchy, welts and bumps on their skin. A Northern Virginia allergist has practiced news and bad news and advice for what to do.

Oak mites are microscopic; they can't exist seen with the naked eye. They create welts and bumps with a centralized cicatrice that begin to develop eight to 12 hours later they bite yous.

The good news? They won't be effectually long. They're especially abundant this year because they've been feeding on the larvae of Brood X cicadas, but that'due south almost to alter.

"This has been a particularly troublesome yr, only with the cicada season," said Dr. Troy Baker, an allergist with Kaiser Permanente in Springfield. "So, it'south generally not this miserable."

"One time the oak mites' food source dies off, [when] those cicada larvae burrow underground, then this problem is going to go away for the states," he said.

The bad news? Victims can expect to be itchy for about ii weeks.

"They commonly will stay on your skin till they die. And by the time you observe it, information technology's kind of also late. And and then then, yous're kind of doing damage control if you lot haven't done the prevention part," Baker said.

Anyone spending time outdoors anywhere near oak trees or dry out grasses might be at risk of oak mite bites. They get blown around hands. Baker's prevention tips include wearing long sleeves when outdoors and using a bug repellent containing DEET.

What remedies piece of work? Attempt something with hydrocortisone.

"Nonprescription creams or ointments generally volition work fine," he said. "If information technology's not cutting it after two days, then I would ask your medico for a stronger topical steroid cream to assistance you be a lilliputian chip more comfortable."

Baker said long-lasting antihistamines in the morning, in addition to Benadryl at bedtime, will assist.

Other tips include using common cold cloths or ice to help soothe the surface area. Also, use a soap for sensitive skin while bathing. Once out of the shower, don't rub the towel over your skin; pat yourself dry. Cut fingernails short and filed smooth, and resist the urge to scratch.

Scratching an crawling only makes you feel itchier, Bakery said, and it can allow germs to create a skin infection.

"It also damages the peel, so you're more probable to become bruising or some hyperpigmentation, some darkening of the pare, that will final several weeks once the bite resolves," Baker said.

You can discover additional information about oak mite bite prevention and treatment on the Kaiser Permanente weblog.

Baker also had a give-and-take of warning: "If you're feeling anything like fevers or you're having articulation aches, or you feel unwell, that's probably not an oak mite, and that'd exist something you'd want to become see your physician to get looked at," he said.

Kristi King

Kristi King is a veteran reporter who has been working in the WTOP newsroom since 1990. She covers everything from breaking news to consumer concerns and the latest medical developments.

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Source: https://wtop.com/health-fitness/2021/08/microscopic-oak-mites-are-making-people-monstrously-miserably-itchy/#:~:text=%E2%80%9COnce%20the%20oak%20mites'%20food,your%20skin%20till%20they%20die.

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