Red Ant Bites

Red ants, also known as fire ants, can be a nuisance because they build their colonies in places like gardens, in farms, in backyards and other moist places. They do not bite human beings unless disturbed. If the ants feel threatened by you in some way, they will bite, leaving you with bites all over your body. Thus, they can become major troublemakers in your gardens as they build big colonies full of thousands of ants.

Red ants hold on to your skin when they bite. They do not bite for long but the venom that they inject in your skin while biting, leads to big bumps and hives. The bitten area swells up and there is a lot of itching too. After 24 hours of receiving the bite, there are white pus boils that spring up in the affected area. Like all other insect bites, these will itch for several days and have chances of spreading if they burst open due to excessive scratching.

Red ants climb up your body and start attacking it simultaneously. You might not realize it for quite some time, but when you do, the damage will be already done. These bites will have swollen tremendously and will be very painful. A step by step procedure for treatment is given below.

1. The first task to do is to get all the ants off your body. Just brush them off with a brush or a towel. Do not do this by hand as they might end up biting you there.
2. Wash the bites with the help of an antibacterial soap and cold water.
3. To reduce the swelling, elevate the area where the ants have bitten you.
4. With the help of rubbing alcohol or betadine, clean the affected area. This will also disinfect the area.
5. Apply an antiseptic cream on the skin with the ant bites to disinfect the bitten area. You can apply a topical steroid cream also. If you are bitten badly, take a dose of antihistamines (after consulting your doctor), to ease the swelling and pain.
6. Cover the bites with gauze or band-aid to prevent it from spreading, due to continuous scratching.

If you face severe symptoms like restlessness, difficulty in breathing and anxiety, you should rush to the hospital without any delay. You might be the few of the unlucky ones who has developed allergies due to the bites and need medical attention.

Few Home Remedies

• Apply an ice pack on the bites, as it will ease out the pain and make you feel better.
• Make a paste from baking soda and water and apply it on the affected skin for five minutes.
• Alternatively, you can apply a mixture of crushed aspirin or meat tenderizer and water.
• Apply aloe vera gel to the bites. Aloe vera will soothe the stinging.
• Red ant bites can be treated with tea tree oil also.
• Don't drain or puncture the pus boils by scratching as they will not only spread but will also take a lot of time to heal.
• You can consider taking a benadryl tablet if you are not allergic to them.

Red ants or fire ants are one of the various types of ants which, when bite, cause several health issues in the person. While some may recover early from fire ant bites, there may be some who would develop allergies because of the bites. Take appropriate precautions while working in areas infested by ants to prevent getting these bites. Treat the ant bites completely without neglecting them. As mentioned above, rush to the doctor if you show severe symptoms like dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Take care.