Unknown Bite

Hi. I was wondering if I could get any info regarding what was potentially an insect bite I got while I was in Nepal. I was on my way from Nagarkot to Bhaktapur. We stopped on the way to eat at a place beside the jungle, with no running water. I felt something trickling on my leg, and looked down to see my jeans soaked in blood on one leg. I rolled up my jeans and saw a steady stream of blood pouring out of my shin.

The wound was maybe 2mm in diameter, but wouldn%26#39;t stop bleeding for twelve hours straight. The blood wouldn%26#39;t coagulate. I%26#39;m not talking about a little bead of blood. It was flowing. Band-aids were pointless because they got soaked within a minute. I taped folded tissue to my leg. That too was getting soaked withing fifteen minutes.

Was I bitten by a leech%26gt; I felt no pain at all. No itching. Nothing.

Unknown Bite

you were bitten by a leach ! Often these bites can start itching a few days later and sometimes the itch can lastt for several weeks. Also they can sometimes become infected so its best to put some antiseptic cream on the bite.

Unknown Bite

Thanks! My bite indeed started itching a week or so after the fact, and is still itchy, two weeks later!

how do u stop leaches biting u - we are hoping to go rafting - chitwan next fed and do not wanna find a leech if poss ( but sounds like we may) saying that we went smimming in the ( croc river !!!!!) in Chitwan last time and didnt get any leech friends - thanks god!!!!!!- any leech advice would be greatfulll

Oh yeah. . . the leeches. hahaha. We just got back from a Nepal trek 2 weeks ago and had fun with the leeches. They are little guys, so no worry. My kids were concerned with leeches before we went, but after actually dealing with them, they weren%26#39;t that big of a deal. I got 9 leech bites in 5 days. They leave little marks, and drop off when they%26#39;re ';full.'; There is a bottle of stuff that our guide gave us that helped a lot. It%26#39;s called Sparsh. It%26#39;s a liquid and when you put it on the leech, it falls off. You can put it around your shoes, or socks, or whatever, and they seem to be deterred by that. Also he gave my kids little cloth bags of salt, and they would rub the leech with the bag and it would fall off. I didn%26#39;t notice them bite while I was walking - only when I sat still. It wasn%26#39;t even as bad as a mosquito bite though. Now the bed bugs - that%26#39;s another story, hehehe