Tiger Balm for Fire Ant Bites
Michael (Fort Pierce, Florida, Usa) on 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. View Entire Thread
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!
