What is The Best Thing to Put on Fire Ant Bites?

Red imported fire ants plague Southwest Florida. If you live in this area, you’ll need to know two things: what is the best thing to put on fire ant bites and the contact information for Fire Ant Control, LLC. Use the second so that the first is less likely to be required.

Fire Ants and Their Bites

What is The Best Thing to Put on Fire Ant Bites?Red imported fire ants are especially aggressive, with a unique venom that causes pain when they attack and, in some cases, dangerous anaphylaxis reactions that can be deadly without medical intervention.

Red-tinged and small, the fire ant is an insect with mandibles that bite down and a stinger that injects venom. These ants attack as a group and do so at the slightest provocation. They can repeatedly sting as they move in a circle while holding on with their mandibles. The feet, ankles, and legs are the most vulnerable parts of the body to fire ant bites. A fire ant attack will continue until you physically remove the fire ants from your skin.

Physical manifestations of a fire ant bite:

Phase one – immediate stinging and burning

Phase two – bump or welt development within 60 minutes

Phase three – bump will turn into an itchy blister after a few hours

Phase four – blister will fill with pus after a day and last about a week.

For others, the reaction is much worse.

  • Local – symptoms within the same body area that last about two days – for instance, a bite on the foot that swells the entire region.
  • Systemic – symptoms may occur bodywide and include the following:
    • Stomach cramps
    • Diarrhea
    • Nausea/vomiting
    • Swollen tongue
    • Difficulty breathing
  • Anaphylactic – While rare, this reaction is life-threatening. Symptoms may include:
    • Dizziness
    • Blood pressure drop
    • Loss of consciousness
    • Cardiac arrest

Fire Ant Bites and Their Treatment

Most fire ant bites can be treated at home.

  1. Remove the fire ants. They’ll keep stinging as long as they hold on.
  2. Wash the area with cold water and soap or with an alcohol wipe. 
  3. Take an antihistamine like Claritin or Benadryl to minimize the itch.
  4. Rub on a hydrocortisone cream as directed to lessen the blister’s appearance and itchiness.
  5. Apply a cold compress to reduce pain and swelling.

For the more severe reactions to fire ant bites, treatments may include:

  1. Oral corticosteroids, i.e., prednisone;
  2. Steroid creams prescribed by a doctor;
  3. Epi-pen injection;
  4. Emergency intervention:
    1. IV-induced antihistamines
    2. Oxygen
    3. CPR
  5. Antibiotics for infected blisters

Fire Ants and Their Prevention

Prevention of fire ant bites requires prevention of fire ants. The best way to accomplish this goal is to call Fire Ant Control, LLC. We apply granular bait to all sorts of properties, with results that speak for themselves. By the end of a single fire ant life cycle, about three weeks, the properties we treat are at least 85% free of fire ants. With follow-up treatments every four months, they remain in that condition, or you’ll receive your money back.

Within your toolkit for taking care of fire ant bites, stock what is the best thing to put on them: an alcohol wipe followed by antihistamine cream. If you want to take the most effective prevention step, click here to contact Fire Ant Control, LLC, or call for a booking: (239) 312-8200.