# Bee sting advice please



## KimM (Jun 17, 2005)

Today I was walking in the yard and must have stepped on a bee cuz it stung the bottom of my foot,  right in the tender middle part. I got the stinger out immediately. I'm not allergic to bees but oh man, the bottom of my foot is really swelled and it *HURTS* like crazy!! I can't even put my foot down now let alone walk. ANY helpful suggestions would be appreciated very muchly.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Motrin and antihystamine. 

Yes, I KNOW you are not allergic to the stings and neither am I, but, the antihystamine helps me ANYWAYS!

The Motrin is better than tylenol because Motrin decreases swelling as well as decreasing pain.


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## KimM (Jun 17, 2005)

Terri said:


> Motrin and antihystamine.
> 
> Yes, I KNOW you are not allergic to the stings and neither am I, but, the antihystamine helps me ANYWAYS!
> 
> The Motrin is better than tylenol because Motrin decreases swelling as well as decreasing pain.


Thank you!! I already took Advil (same as Motrin) but I don't have any Benedryl or anything. Maybe ice and elevation? *Wow, this is VERY painful.*


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## shellbug (Jul 3, 2005)

lots of stuff is good right after the sting:

vinegar and baking soda
damp meat tenderizer
damp chewing tobacco
crushed or chewed plantain leaves

BUT
since it is later, i would go with the meat tenderizer to take out the pain, elevation, ice pack and a dose of benedryl (and maybe an ibuprofen to help reduce pain and inflamation....)

good luck!!!!!
shelly


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

Well, you did the best thing which is get the stinger out quickly. There was a study published in the Lancet (Highly regarded medical journal) a few years back. I'm sure you could find it if you google "lancet bee sting".

A folk remedy which does appear to work based on my experience is to gently rub some honey on the area of the sting. At first I wasn't a believer but DW and I agree that it works based on our personal experiences. I don't know if it will be as effective if you wait. There are enzymes in the honey which interact with the proteins in the bee sting toxin.

DW also uses (plain) Ban Rollon. DW also uses this on poison ivy.

Hope this helps.

Mike


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## 3carfan4ever (Mar 2, 2005)

For next time, buy some vitamin E. If you get stung get a capsule and break it open, (the stuff inside is like a gel). Apply the gel to the sting and it really seems to help the pain.

-Dan


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## kesoaps (Dec 18, 2004)

*Toothpaste!*

Toothpaste works wonders on bee stings, bug bites, and minor burns. Used to work at one of those corndog places, actually dipped my knuckle down into the hot oil while attaching the stick of the dog to a clip. Should have had a major burn, but put toothpaste on it and never had a blister. Works better than windex, lol! (I know, bee sting, not burn, but it works for both!)


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

If it is still hurting this morning, there are three things you might try.

1) a potato, take the potato and slice if very thin. Put the slices on the affected area and cover with a warm, damp cloth. Leave on for about 30 minutes changing if you feel it stops working. I am allergic to bees. Once while I was pregnant I stepped on a bee and couldn't take my meds. My aunt (an old southern gal) told me this one and it WORKED! I couldn't believe how quickly the pain and inflamation went away.

2) you can also put wet mud on the sting immediately after the sting. That helps right away. I don't know if it works later on.

3) take some homeopathic Apis. This rememdy should help a lot.

Cheryl


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

I have been stung many times and the thing that works real fast is the crushed plantain leaves. Just a little while later, you can't even see where you were stung. But as soon as you put it on the sting, it soothes it.

A friend of ours lives on a homestead that has no telephone and they don't use motor vehicles. So one of their children was stung many times and was covered with stings. She had to act fast, so the other children gathered the plantain leaves and she applied that to the stings. The next day, he was all better and you couldn't even tell he had been stung.

They teach classes on homesteading and this was a class I went to. Since then, every time I have been stung, I just pick the plantain. It's always around so I can just grab it real fast and use it.


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## trappmountain (Jun 22, 2005)

I just had a similar sting about 2 weeks ago. A yellow jacket somehow got stuck underthe tongue of my sneakers and my ankel socks. Right where the top of the ankle bends. I was in the feild working so I didn't want to stop. That was a mistake it was swelled for over a week. The swelling dropping little by little, while the itching increased a lot by a lot. Now it only itches from time to time. the swelling is gone and there is just a shadow of where it was. Always act fast. It isn't worth the little more work I finished for a weeks worht of discomfort.

I use baking soda and water mixed into a thick paste. It works really well.


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## beaglady (Oct 7, 2002)

On the Organic beekeeping list I belong too, there has been quite a bit of discusison on Tylenol and other pain relievers actually increasing the severity of the reaction to a sting, due to an interaction between the bee venom and the pain reilever. I don't remember if there has been any research on this or if its all anecdotal, but its something to consider.

Diane W


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## mysticokra (Feb 5, 2003)

For lack of anything else, MSG works on bee stings. You will find it in meat tenderizer. My wife carries and EPI pen and prozac. THe hospital said they act together to lower the histamine response.


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## MarleneS (Aug 21, 2003)

A couple of weeks ago, I went with my neice to pick up some bees from a man who raises bees for a living -- acres and acres of hives. The only meds he carried on his motorized cart was "SeaBeeze" - He got stung while we were there and he just put a little dab on with his finger and went right on working. 

Marlene


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## labrat (Jun 3, 2005)

I know this sound strange, but when I was a young pup my granny used to put mud pies on my stings. I don't know the logic but it worked. I don't know if the mud pulled the stinger out, but the swelling stopped and no more pain. Also another thing you could try, that is if you have some around is Bee Balm is know to be an antiseptic that works quite well.


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## okgoatgal2 (May 28, 2002)

another vote for toothpaste, which i've touted before-plain cheap toothpaste, not the gel.


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## nicholascovey (May 17, 2005)

I did that a couple of weeks ago. I just kept walking around in the garden (it was a little muddy) and in an hour, the pain was gone and I just had a small welt instead of a "goose egg." I always heard smearing mud on a sting helps... I do watch where I step now though.


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## nodak3 (Feb 5, 2003)

Got stung several times around one eye a few years back (bumble bee). The nurses at the clinic told me 1. onion juice dabbed on the stings 2 benedryl til the swelling and itch went away. 3 ibuprofen for pain, as it reduces inflammation. Hope you feel better soon.


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## KimM (Jun 17, 2005)

Thank you all very much for the suggestions. I've made a list and put it in the first aid basket. I do feel better today but last night it swelled up terrible and oh man it hurt so bad. Not knowing what to do then I did nothing put a cold cloth on it. Today it's just a little sore and ITCHES and my feet are very ticklish. Thanks again!!


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## Cosmic (Jan 19, 2005)

Yup most of the things mentioned works. 

The one we always used as kids was mud packs. Cheap and always available.

Pull the stinger if still embedded. Slap on the mud. Might still swell a bit but it takes away the pain and everything goes back to normal quick.

Same for stinging nettles plants, nasty critters for a kid to get into. Always near water. Again slap on the mud, cures it quick. You can get many stings over a large area.


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## ttryin (Apr 10, 2005)

Hi,

For bee stings, and many other things, urine works. Put some on your hand and put it on the sting right away. Then put some on a clean bandaid or gauze or cloth and leave it on there, refreshing it if it starts to dry out. I've done it and it works. No smell! Google "urine therapy" for information about a great cure-all. One day, while hand sanding, I drove a chunk splinter more than half way under a nail that immediately started to swell and turn blue. I put urine in a paper cup and let the finger soak in it while I finished other work for the rest of the day. It hurt for a little while but the swelling went down and the blue went away and I did not loose the nail. I was amazed and convinced. It's my first choice for first aid.

T


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## Cosmic (Jan 19, 2005)

ttryin said:


> Hi,
> 
> For bee stings, and many other things, urine works.
> 
> T


 Ah, that urine treatment has to be a winner. Everybody has some, if not available your friends surely can help. :help: 

Better yet p*ss on the ground and use the resulting mud. A twofer for the price of one. :rock: 

I have also heard you can use urine to toughen your hands and put on your face as a beauty treatment. But do you want to use someone else's or would they even give it away? At Great Lakes in the Navy, in the morning all hands were forced to pee into large plastic bags in buckets. Some company was using it to make some sort of drug. Even had a guard posted to ensure a wayward soul did not cheat the Pharma-Giant out of his precious essence.

Just think next time you visit the bath room. You are really throwing away a valuable commodity. Back in the olde days, night soil buckets were saved to make gunpowder. Many places had laws requiring they be dumped in a particular container for the use of the local government.


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## mtman (Sep 2, 2004)

out of all the things you can do i se it was mantiond about mud when you put mud on a sting while it is drying it causes a vacume type that sucks out the poison mud is the best


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