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aoutes

October 17, 2007

So I have aoutes. This afternoon, at the prompting of my friend Susie - and driven to driven to distraction by over a week of scratching at those insect bites and marinading my skin in calamine lotion - I took myself to the local pharmacy to seek a more hardcore solution. Chemicals? Pills? Bombes? Bring it all on!

Gratifyingly, three women in white coats gathered to exclaim in horror as I rolled up my jeans to reveal my lower legs and backs of knees. 'Oh la la,' said one, before recommending pills and a hydrocortisone cream, 'it's not very pretty.'

But at least I now know the cause of my affliction: aoutes or harvest mite larvae. The horrible itching is apparently caused by the powerful cocktail of digestive enzymes that they inject into your skin to liquify the tissues before sucking them up. Et voila. Fleas sound almost desirable by comparison.


comments (5)

1. Posted by Sylvie on October 18, 2007 11:32 AM

Ouch! I hope the cream works, poor thing...


2. Posted by Markyj on October 18, 2007 1:53 PM

Eeeeeewwwwwww! Yuk!


3. Posted by pierre l on October 20, 2007 11:04 AM

It's been a few days, so I too hope the cream is working for you. The whole thing does sound very unpleasant.
Although I was born in Quebec, I spent a few years in Paris, in the 70s; I had forgotten the phrase 'Oh la la', and that made me smile.


4. Posted by mimipompom on October 20, 2007 1:22 PM

At last ....some sympathy! Thank you Sylvie and Pierre.

Mimixx


5. Posted by WOLFIE on October 27, 2007 3:23 PM

Well, if that can reassure you, I too had 'Aoutats' when I was last in France. According to the vet, I spent too much time running after rabbits in the long grass. That's where I got biten. Those nasty little things really aren't pleasant, I agree with you.
Hope you are feeling better now.
xxxx
W.


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