Horse fly bites? Photo

[FattypuffToThinnifer]

I have about a dozen of these bites on one leg and a few others on my arms; I think I’ve picked them up gardening in the evening. I did see a black fly buzzing round my knee (but it was only small) but I didn’t feel bites at the time

Are they from horse flies? They itch like hell!

They are 48 hours old, the ones in the pic are on the inside of my knee but the ones on my arm and chest are bigger. I admit I have scratched them but they were driving me mad in the night. I’ve taken cetirizine and ibuprofen but is anything else recommended? I got similar a couple of weeks ago and I think they are going to scar

Could be Blandford Flies! Not many people have heard of them but they're common in certain areas including Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire

They couldn't be horsefly bites, as they hurt like hell the moment they bite.

I'm not sure they look bad enough for horseflies IME. Plus, with horseflies you can usually see a distinct and raggedy skin tear in the middle as they are not tidy biters.

They look like horsefly bites to me. Although I have felt them nipping at the time, at other times I haven’t noticed until later. I react badly. They look like your’s. They tend to take a long time to go away for sure. No real advice apart from sympathy. Horribly itchy and uncomfortable to deal with.

This beauty was my horsefly bite from camping a few years back. It happened overnight so I didn't even get to see the bugger!

Look like mosquito bites to me. That's how I react and was shocked when I first realised they existed in the north of England and not just on holidays abroad 😭

I don't think they are horsefly - they look just like the six I have (three on each ankle).

I think mine are flea bites 🙁 my ankles feel like they have a ring of fire round them and I'm desperately trying not to scratch them (failing at that!).

As pp say horsefly bites hurt as they bite and often you get gross weepy yellow blisters. They apparently “macerate” the skin rather than stick a thin proboscis in like mosquitoes.

Oh god, sorry about the manky toe in my pic!!

We had mozzies a few years back caused by our water butt below the sitting room window. I'd never seen them before. Mumsnetters then put me straight.

They could be any kind of biting insect really (though I agree horsefly bites usually have an actual cut in the middle), it depends on how you react to them. My stepmum got the worst reaction to midge bites in the Blasket islands, they were huge lumpy angry things. I get skeeter syndrome after a certain number of bites most years and end up with whole limbs swollen and yellow blisters, fever and sickness. Whereas DH can get bitten by horseflies and they barely even itch 😡

It's a bit hard to tell from the photos but I do agree with pp , you can normally feel the little bastards bite.
They are quite clumsy and slow to compared to most flies.
I have been chomped on a few times and by hell it itchs like nothing else . Much worse than fleas and mozzies.
It gets very hot and looked like someone shoved half a ping pong ball under my skin with area about 5 inches around it been tight and tender.

My advice, keep it cool , take antihistamines, and don't scratch it ( yeah right ! )

Thank you all! The bites do all have a hole in the middle and the fresh ones are weeping yellow and blistering but I have scratched them quite a lot so it could be from that.

I have about 20 now at varying stages and even the old ones (about 2 weeks old) are really sore ti the touch - they feel quite bruised. They are much bigger than flea bites and very hot. One actually has its own pulse, which I might add a video of, if I can (Edited to say - I can’t upload a video but it’s very funny, like there’s a little alien in there)

@ReallyNotTheBestDayEver that is interesting as I’ve googled and I am in a Blandford fly area and live by a river. It could easily have been one of those. They sound awful

I never feel them until later? They inject anaesthetic in their saliva as they slice through the skin.

OP, they look like horsefly bites to me. Bastarding itching, burning things - use some antihistamine (as you're doing), clean them well and then use a dab of E45 Hydrocortisone, along with ice packs wrapped in a teatowel to try to keep from scratching them.

Next time, wear trousers.

They look more like mosquito bites to me. Antihistamines and hydrocortisone cream (1%) help. Ibuprofen if there's swelling.

If you can stand it, put a metal spoon in boiling water and hold it against the bite. This kills the protein that makes it itchy and sore. A hair dryer could work, too.

If you've already been scratching the bites, watch out for infection. Lavender and tea tree oil dabbed on will keep infection away.

OP, the bite that "has a pulse" may well be infected. Throbbing is usually a sign of infection. You may need antibiotics. I've treated infected bites by soaking a cotton wool ball in lavender/tea tree oil and taping over the bite. You could try that overnight maybe. But if it doesn't clear it up, antibiotics.

Thank you @taylorswift1989 I will definitely keep an eye on it. I have been putting sudocrem on the ones I scratched but have made quite a mess of a couple of them so I’ll have to somehow resist

That hot spoon trick is surprisingly effective! I can’t do it on the ones behind my knee and in the crook of my arm as it’s too sensitive but it’s really helping with some of the others. Painful, but a good pain iyswim

Hot hairdryer will take the itch away (yes, really, I didn't believe it either). Put the hairdryer on max heat and hold it as close as you can for 20 seconds - try it on unbitten skin first to see how close you need to be.

Then do it over the bite. It will burn like a bugger, but when you stop, the itchy vanishes like magic.

Glad it's helping! Learned that in Croatia when I was bitten to pieces. The fresher the bite, the more effective it is, but still works on older bites.

I've not had the same success with hairdryer but maybe I can't get close enough or localised enough.

I love doing this with mozzie bites. The relief from itching is unreal!!

I honestly can’t believe I didn’t know about this application of heat thing @ChangeEmailAddress I’m 54 and always in my garden. It’s like a miracle; I actually think I might sleep tonight 😴

Was a game changer for me. There's a you tube video someone put up on here years ago. OH the relief.

That is exactly what Cleg bites look like on me. I don’t always feel them bite, it’s about 50/50. I don’t blister but the swelling and redness is the same. Clegs love me. Mosquitoes and midges don’t. I also know for definite they are Clegs as I see them (slow useless buggers) and I walk in horse and deer land frequently. I got 9 bites on my legs walking on Dartmoor because I was stupid enough to wear leggings.

My daughter was bitten this evening, she felt the bite, but is now saying that her leg is very painful all the way up to her thigh. God knows what that is