Fire Ant Bites
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Fire Ant Bite Remedies

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
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Emu Oil

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Posted by Peggy (Chelsea, Al) on 06/23/2013
 ★★★★★

Emu oil is AMAZING for fire ants bites!! Make sure it's natural and pure.

Fresh Lemon Juice

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Posted by Sue (FL) on 07/23/2023
 ★★★★★

My husband was weedeating and got attacked by tiny fire ants. He was going crazy! I immediately got on Earth Clinic to look for a remedy. First thing I saw was lemon juice. I had a fresh lemon, cut it in half and told him to rub it all over where he was bitten. It stopped the itching almost instantly and now, 3 hours later he already forgot about it. I will always be keeping lemons around now!

Fresh Lemon Juice
Posted by Xmicrobiologist (Nowehere, Usa) on 09/21/2018
 ★★★★★

I was pulling weeds this morning, without gloves, -which yes, is very dumb, and I had about 20 fire ants on me before I could get them off! I think I got bit all over my hands and feet maybe 15 times, in some places more than once over and over. I immediately tried ACV, -no dice. Heat was the same. Finally I tried lemon juice and immediate relief. I've been re-applying for the past 2 hours and the bites are almost GONE!!! Thank you Earth Clinic!

Fresh Lemon Juice
Posted by Cyn ( Florida) on 04/25/2015
 ★★★★★

I was stung yesterday by 50 fire ants, all over my feet , it was horrible. It would itch, I would scratch, then it became very painful. This repeated for the next 28 hours. So severe I had blisters the size of a quarter. I went to google, brought me to earth clinic. I rubbed lemon on even the parts with the blisters. INSTANT RELIEF please REMEMBER THIS. It has been 15 minutes and still no pain, no itch unbelievable that this worked. Thank u sooo ooo much

Fresh Lemon Juice
Posted by Aeiver (New Braunfels, Tx, USA) on 04/08/2012
 ★★★★★

I learned this remedy from a lady from Panama. She advised me to rub a fresh lemon slice on fire ant bites. For me the relief is instantaneous. Also, a pustule does not form. A co-worker came to work complaining of fire ant bites she had gotten several hours earlier that were still burning. There was no lemon available, so she rubbed her bites with some orange slices. She reported the bites felt better immediately. I am guessing that lime would be equally effective.

Heat

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Posted by Miyo (Hilo, Hawaii) on 09/23/2012
 ★★★★★

little fire ants are invading the islands. I thank the person who suggested hot water--yes it works immediately and relief lasts 4-5 hours. I also found that your hair dryer does the same thing (tested it several times). At the first bite, grab your dryer right away and the heat seems to disperse the histamine that causes the pain and itch. It has to be hot enough without scalding.

Heat
Posted by Bev (Temecula, Ca) on 08/14/2012
 ★★★★★

I tried the hot water treatment. Sitting here reading your site because I was too itchy to drive to the store for benedryl, I remembered that using hot water on poison oak worked so I tried it again and .... it WORKED. Thank you for the reminder. The itching and pain are gone, the swelling in my feet and ankles is still there but now I'm going to try the vinegar bath. Thanks again!

Hot Soak

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Posted by Abigail (North Carolina) on 03/09/2018
 ★★★★★

I was bitten by a fire ant near my ankle and my foot swelled. I am a hair dresser so I am on my feet all day. By the end of the day I could barely hobble on it! The hot soak is the only thing that has helped besides an allergy pill. Works so great! Currently soaking and my foot is already feeling better!

Multiple Remedies

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Posted by Katrinika (Raleigh, NC) on 06/11/2013
 ★★★★★

Went foraging, hoping to find some wild stinging nettle, and while being ever so careful of some vigorously healthy poison ivy, I was looking closer at a pointed, jagged-edged leaf (not nettles after all) when I realized my feet were burning. Fire ants! Before I could brush them all away I had numerous stings to my feet and ankles. They hurt a lot!

I hurried for home but almost immediately stumbled into some clay quick sand in a run off area that sucked my sandals off - we just had a LOT of rain - and realized as I hurried on that it had felt soothing to the bites. So I went back and stood in the mud for a moment or two. I didn't want to waste time getting back home to treat before too much damage was done, but I do think the clay bought me some time or even was a beneficial first line of treatment!

At home twenty minutes later, I did a hasty google and ran into the debate about acid vs. Alkaline treatment. So I quickly doused my feet and ankles in white vinegar (at ten times the price I figured I save my raw organic ACV for spot treating later), dumped that out and then doused in household cleaning ammonia. Then I threw together an Epsom salts soak with the cold water on hand outside, figuring that even if it did nothing about the stings it would calm me down.

I shortly realized that the only sting that was hurting was one that was too high up my leg for the Epsom salts to reach (I may have missed it with the vinegar and ammonia, too, and the higher bite wouldn't have made it into the mud, for sure). I changed that leg to a different, higher bucket.

After about half an hour, with a headache trying to sneak in (fire ants?), I rubbed on some witch hazel/mint mouthwash/EOs mixture that helped last year with chigger bites (thank you, Earth Clinic people) and decided to try to nap and decide what other steps I'd have to take from there.

Well, I must have done something right because two hours later all I see where I know ants stung is little dark sting spots. No blister, redness, burning, etc. It itches a little but the chigger mixture takes care of that.

I had been anticipating having to hunt up more remedies... Things like plantain, etc. , to deal with the aftermath. I'll know better tomorrow, but at the moment it looks like there is no aftermath! In the past, without immediate treatment, those stings have resulted in terrible misery and open, running sores that went on for weeks.

Thank You, God... Your natural pharmacy rules!

Replied by Katrinika
(Raleigh, Nc)
06/12/2013

I wrote too soon! As the day progressed, my feet swelled and some itching began. I soaked in Epsom salts again before bed and used the chigger mixture and comfrey salve. During the night I had to use my chigger mixture to quell itching and this morning I have little blisters. Not waiting for them to fester, but lancing them and rubbing on raw ACV with much relief. Will post to see how long it takes to recover completely. (Sorry for posting too soon... lesson learned! ).

Oil of Oregano

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Posted by Greg (Fort Worth, Texas) on 11/15/2010
 ★★★★★

Oil of Oregano!!! I discovered this amazing essential oil about a year ago and I'm constantly amazed at the ailments it cures! I got about 10 fire ant bites a few years ago and they lingered with white centers for about 2 weeks, then took another month to heal, leaving a small scar. I got 7 bites 3 days ago out on a job. I came home 3 hours later and put oil of oregano on them. The itching disappeared immediately. The bites turned white in the center by the next day, but I kept applying the oil morning and night. By evening of day 3, white centers were gone! I'm anticipating total healing within days, not weeks! Maybe even less or no scar! There's many other uses for this natural antibiotic also!

Papaya

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Posted by Apollo (West Palm Beach, Florida) on 09/28/2012
 ★★★★★

Papaya placed on the fire ant bite takes the sting and itching away and if done within minutes of getting bit, the bite will not blister. You can buy a papaya fruit and cut it into cubes and freeze it. This way it is always on hand to put on a bite.

Salt

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Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 05/12/2014
 ★★★★★

For fire ant bites, you can make a table salt poultice, which we have found very effective in reducing pain and swelling from bites. (We mix it with water and put in a paper towel and wrap to the area with Cling Wrap.) Also, if there is swelling, elevating the foot would be great if that is possible. A baking soda poultice can work well too.

~Mama to Many~

Replied by Francis
(Oxford MS.)
09/03/2022

Ant Bites:

What oil do I use on my 3 year old?

Tansy (Plant)

Posted by Michael (New Zealand) on 07/21/2016

"Tansy" was recommended to me as an ant-repellant many years ago. I only remembered it because it is an anogram of ants!!

Maybe you need to grow the plant near the ants or move a potted plant to wherever the ants are gathering. Anyway, there you go.....another weapon in the war on ants!

Tiger Balm

2 User Reviews
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Posted by Deirdre (Atlanta, Georgia) on 07/01/2009
 ★★★★★

On the subject of fire ant bite remedies, a few weeks ago I was in the garden weeding and pulled out an enormous weed and with it, hundreds of fire ants. They bit me all over my hand and wrist in less than an instant. I went in and tried rubbing soap on the bites after reading the few cures we have for fire ant bites on Earth Clinic, but it didn't work. After that I decided to try tiger balm, my favorite remedy for mosquito bite itch. 10 minutes after applying the balm, the bites stopped stinging. I forgot all about them and a few hours later when I checked my hand, there were no signs whatsoever that I had ever been bitten!

Replied by Michael
(Fort Pierce, Florida, Usa)
12/09/2011
★★★★☆

I was bitten in eleven places on the top of my foot and ankle. It is now some 10 days to two weeks later and 2 days ago I still had pustules and the itching began to increase. Sites I looked at said they should go away in 72 hours. I had no other allergic reactions. I used a sterilized pin to lance the pustules. I put on antibiotic ointments, sprayed it with Bactine, soaked my feet with bath salts. Nothing worked. I had thought about Tiger Balm, but thought it was somehow counterintuitive, you know, it has menthol & gives off heat. I never gave vinegar of either kind a thought. Today, frustrated with the lack of any healing response, I googled the issue and when I saw the one about Tiger Balm, something clicked. So I put some on. It worked almost immediately to relieve the burning and itching. The swelling has gone down too. The red spots haven't gone away yet, but there's hope. I may use Apple Cider Vinegar tomorrow in conjunction (intermittently) with Tiger Balm. At least it reduced the symptoms.

White Vinegar

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Posted by Aileen (Victoria, Texas) on 08/19/2008
 ★★★★★

I agree with Ann, white vinegar for ant bites works wonderfully. I am allergic to ant bites too and also mosquito bites and everytime I get bit I apply white vinegar or apple cider vinegar immediately. I can feel the relief right away. I have used shaving cream, calamine lotion and hidrocortisone but the vinegar seems to neutralize the venom right away and the itching and swelling is gone faster.


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