How to Tell if it is Chicken Pox or Chigger Bites
Although the blisters may look similar, it's fairly easy to tell if you have chickenpox or chigger bites. Chickenpox has generally been a childhood disease and is caused by the virus varicella-zoster. It produces hundreds of itchy blisters that burst all over the body. If you get chigger bites, on the other hand, it means you've been bitten by an insect. Chiggers are the larva form of a type of mite and are usually found on plants in forests and grassy areas. According to Dr. Melissa Conrad Stoppler, they infest human skin by inserting their feeding structures and injecting enzymes that destroy the human tissue.
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Instructions
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Notice whether you have symptoms of a virus before a rash occurs. With chickenpox, most children who are infected have a fever, headache or stomachache for two to four days before breaking out in a rash, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). If so, you definitely have chickenpox, not chigger bites.
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See what the lesions look like. Chickenpox blisters are very itchy and filled with fluid. They burst, and, after a couple days, they start to scab. Meanwhile, more blisters will appear. They sometimes leave scars if they become infected from scratching. With chigger bites, the actual bite is not identifiable. Itchiness begins after a few hours. A red bump forms and sometimes looks like a blister that can last for a few days or a couple of weeks, according to kidshealth.org.
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Take note of the number of blisters you have and where they are on the body. Someone with chickenpox typically develops 250 to 500 small blisters, according to NIH. A chigger bite blister will only occur where you were bitten. You may have multiple spots, but not even close to as many as you would have with chickenpox. Kidshealth.org says that chigger bites tend to be on thin skin, such as that on the ankle, groin area, back of the knees and in the armpits. Chickenpox blisters are all over and usually first appear on the face, trunk or scalp. They spread to the rest of the body from there.
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Notice your environment. Chickenpox is very contagious. The rash will appear one to three weeks after you get infected. Remember if you were near someone else who had the virus. It can be spread through fluids of the blister, as well as coughing and sneezing. A person becomes contagious a couple days before the pox begins, the NIH says. With chigger bites, it's likely you were outdoors when you were bitten. Chiggers require a high level of humidity to survive, so they live in moist areas near water. Most are found on plants close to the ground.
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Tips & Warnings
If it is chickenpox, do everything you can to stay comfortable while you heal. You can use oatmeal baths, antihistamines and topical creams to prevent yourself from scratching.
Treat chigger bites with calamine lotion or other topical creams as well as oral antihistamines to stop the itching.
NIH reports that chickenpox can be worse for children with skin problems such as eczema; they can get more than 1,500 pox blisters.
