Interesting story that may help a fellow gardener someday.
I’ve had these tiny blisters on my hands for some time now and I couldn’t for the life of my figure out what was causing them. They were bad only my palms, and some on the bottom of my feet (I’m barefoot a lot). I had concluded they were chiggers, but the steps I took to protect myself from the chiggers revealed the real issue. It was so bad I decided to wear nitrile gloves under my gardening gloves with different herbs and spices slathered all over me to prevent the chiggers. I kept on getting the “bites”. I put rubber bands on my wrist so no bugs could crawl in, and more blisters showed up. Mind you these nitrile gloves would be filled with sweat. It is very hot and humid here. It turns out excessive sweating inside of gloves (not just nitrile) can cause small blisters that resemble ant or chigger bites, primarily due to a condition known as prickly heat.
Prickly Heat (Miliaria Rubra) results from the clogging of sweat ducts. When sweat ducts become blocked, the trapped sweat triggers an inflammatory response. This response causes a stinging or prickling sensation, itching, and a papular or vesicular rash. A “vesicular rash” consists of small, fluid-filled blisters. This condition is most common in hot and humid weather or after exercise.
Well, there ya go! Thanks for sharing.
I don’t have to gear up in ‘hot and humid’ to prevent chigger bites; there’s a lot to be said for living North of the Mason-Dixon Line! ;)
Do you just let your skin dry out? Or does it help to apply lotion of some sort?