Biten by fire ants?

Question

I was out watering my flowers and accidently stepped on a fire ant mound. This has never happened to me before....my ankle feels like it's on fire! I washed it off and applied rubbing alcohol, I didn't know what else to do. The rubbing alcohol probably made the burning worse, but does anyone know what else I should do? Thanks.

Answer 1

Use some benadryl cream, and wait for the bite marks to go away. It should take about a week or a week and a half.

If the area's REALLY swollen, you may want to take an antihystamine tablet to bring down the swelling.

Answer 2

This happens to me every time I go into the yard to water flowers or do gardening.  But I've never been bitten by more than 3-4 ants at one time.  I can tell you what makes it feel better at the time of the bite.  I turn the hose on the bite.  I use the hardest spray on the nozzle and just let it massage the skin.  The stinging goes away, but the tingle lasts for an hour or so.  Then later on, the itching begins.  After about a day the blisters come out, but then it no longer stings or itches.  The blisters hang around for a couple of weeks.

I have gotten a little better about looking out for the ants.  But as long as I wear flip flops in the yard, it's going to keep happening.

Ice would probably feel good on the bite in the early stages.

This has been my experience.  I hope it's helpful to you and I hope it never happens again, especially with an entire mound - OUCH!

Answer 3

We have those all over the place in Florida. The legend is that they crawl all over you then at some signal bite all at the same time. LOL

If its a fire-ant, you'll get a bump like a zit wherever they bit you. It will hurt like crazy.

I use Cortizone-10 on myself put it on each bite. You can take Motrin too it helps with the pain and inflammation. I can't take benadryl so I never tried that. But it sounds right.

Answer 4

I'm sorry.  That must really hurt.  Here is what you do.  I'm a nurse.  First, you should have washed the area with soap and water and disinfected with alcohol. Don't break any blisters because it can lead to infection.  Put a cool compress or ice on the site to relieve swelling.  Try calamine lotion to numb the area.  You can apply a paste of baking soda and water or meat tenderizer and water.  You can take Benadryl for allergic reactions and swelling or you can apply a cortisone cream right on the site.  I hope you will be feeling better in no time.

Answer 5

I hope you took a shower to remove the rubbing alcohol by now or you will burn, itch and have dry skin. Put on antibiotic/anti itch/cortisone cream or benadryl if you have it. The bigger bites will look like poison ivy bumps tomorrow.

They won't itch much in a day or two with treatment.

Then go over to the hardware store and get a red bag of fire ant killer called AMDRO and pour it on the mound for revenge.