Avera primary care provider Benjamin Meyerink, MD, family medicine physician at Avera Medical Group 69th & Cliff in Sioux Falls, offers expert insight on summer rashes and insect bites, looking at the six most common ones you and your loved ones might experience.
Insect Bites
- Mosquito - Most bites do not need to be seen in the clinic. Over-the-counter topical treatments help with swelling and irritation. If your bite seems to get redder or keeps itching, you might want to come in.
- Chiggers - You may see these bites on the lower extremities. Easy approaches like calamine lotion, cortisone cream and antihistamines can help; most often, you do not need clinic care for chigger bites.
- Tick - The biggest thing with any tick exposure or bite is to get the full tick removed. If you feel like you didn’t get it all out, come in and we can help. Any bite that becomes a rash, especially if it looks like a target or bullseye, should be seen in the clinic. Prevention is the key to stopping bites.
Summer Rashes
- Heat Rash - Rashes around the neck, arms or face are most often heat rash. Use ice packs or Ibuprofen, along with hydrocortisone and antihistamines at home. It should resolve itself in a few days.
- Swimmer’s Itch - This one comes from swimming in lakes and rivers, especially in northern Minnesota and South Dakota, where you are exposed to a parasite that affects waterfowl and snails. It’s irritating, but you can take care of it on your own with antihistamine lotion or oral medication. Lotions and petroleum jelly can also help to calm it down.
- Poison Ivy/Oak - Your skin can blister when exposed to the oil of these plants, and it can be really bothersome. You can try hydrocortisone cream and antihistamines at home, but come in to the clinic if they don’t seem to help. We can prescribe an oral steroid or make sure there’s not overall infection.
- Overlying orange crusting or red orbs around the area of exposure can signal an infection. It’s also smart to right away wash your hands or any part of your body that might come into contact with these plants.
Get Help
Call your primary care provider or check in via AveraChart. You can also visit an urgent care clinic for after-hours care.
