I need all your "sting be gone" tips and secrets

[thomashton]

Last night I got stung on the upper lid of my left eye. I removed the stinger, took some allergy medicine and iced it.

I woke up this morning and my eye was swollen shut. I have an important job interview tomorrow morning and then I have to report for 2 weeks of duty with the Army tomorrow afternoon.

How can I get the swelling down? I have continued to take anti-histimines, and ice it. Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks.

[thegolfpsycho]

I'm assuming the job is not for a position as a TV spokesperson or fashion model.  Wear it proudly like another combat ribbon.  When we hire, we do it on the basis of performance and attitude.  A swollen eye from an insect sting is not a factor.  A swollen eye from a brawl at an after hours club would be, as would missing or postponing the interview because of something as insignificant as an insect sting or bite.  (before this gets a bunch of what ifs or what evers, I realize not all stings or bites are insignificant)

[thomashton]

No, I am a wildlife biologist and it is for a positiion with the state DWR that I would really like. I guess in that case it isn't as bad, but still, I can barely even walk around without bumping into walls. I have no depth perception and it is quite annoying.

[thegolfpsycho]

I think your brain will adjust to the depth perception problem pretty quickly.  Unfortunately, the swelling usually seemed worse the second day when I first started.  I don't know how you can minimize it beyond what you are already doing to reduce the inflamation.  DWR are outdoors people.  I'm sure they get stings, tick bites, etc etc.  Broach the subject early in the interview if you think it will be a factor.  My own take would be that if something like an insect sting and a little swelling is a major problem, how will this person deal with the wolf pack moving in from Idaho, the moose in the Bountiful swimming pool or the mountain lion population in Carbon County?  Sorry... started rambling there.  Good luck with the job.

[KONASDAD]

Moist tea bags have helped me w/ other kinds of bites. Reduces swelling usually. Good luck w/ interview.

[Mici]

it's a bit late now, but i think that heating it would help. what causes swelling? the toxin, when does the swell disappear? when all the toxin is removed. how is it removed? it disentegrades-falls apart, and what is the major factor in most chemical reaction? warmth-heat. so when you cool it, you don't stop the swelling process, you just postpone it, increase the lenght,well you do ease it, but you don't stop it,  the swelling is different from person to person, from one body part to another.

This is just my logical thinking, well i did read something like this before, and it does make sense, you do whatever you like. there's at least a hundred ways (my grandma thinks that hone has something in it to take away the toxins :lol:  :roll:  go figure.

[Brian D. Bray]

I have Menier's disease, a problem of the inner ear that affects balance and creates nausea, blurred vision, etc.  I find that under conditions of impaired/defective organs that the body doesn't compensate for their misfunction.  To reduce the swelling the most succesful course, other than time, has been to use a poltice to draw the venom.  My Grandmother used to use an old kitchen remedy of Baking Soda, Wood Ashes, and a touch of trrpentine.  The turpentine acted as an antiseptic.  For more severe puncture wounds she increased the turpentine.  I stepped on a number of nails as a child and never got tetinus (aka lockjaw) with my Grandmother's poltice applied.

The Baking Soda and Wood Ashes pulled the toxins from the wound.

[Zoot]

No solutions here, sorry. I have never had reactions to stings until recently.

I'm curious as to whether anyone else has eperienced these symptoms.
I've been stung a lot this August, mostly from carelessness and indifference. Initially I merely feel a burning sting and then that's it, nothing beyond a small pale bump that goes away in an hour or 2. This season I am now experiencing incredibly severe itching at the sting site anywhere from 1 to 3 days AFTER the sting which then seems to last for a few days. The delay is long enough that I have usually forgotten at first that was even stung at that spot. Odd.

[thomashton]

Well, thanks for any advice you gave.

I had the interview this morning and it went really well. The biologist I would be working with told me that he used to help his grandpa with his hives until he got stung one time then quit. Perhaps I looked fearless to him. Either that or idiotic.

Anyway, thanks.

[Kathyp]

another thing for the future.....take something like motrin.  you can take up to 800mg of motrin and it is my drug of choice.  it is a great anti-inflammatory.  it also seems to help with the inevitable itching and can be taken with benadryl.  

one other old remedy is meat tenderizer.  i have used it for years on hornet and yellow jacket stings.  make sure you buy the real stuff that is made to break down protein.  the meat tenderizer is supposed to help break down some of the protein based toxins in the sting.  can't swear that it works, but i doesn't hurt  :) ......i wouldn't use it on an eye sting..... :!:

[randydrivesabus]

you coulda worn an eye patch...maybe the interviewer is into pirates.

[Mici]

you coulda worn an eye patch...maybe the interviewer is into pirates.

LOL?

[Bigeddie]

bleach works great on wasp stings.Takes the pain and swelling away fast. When my son was about 2 yrs. old he got into a nest of wasps that were in the ground. He only had a diaper on and got nailed about 20 times. I saw what was happning ,grabbed him and ran to the house. My wife ran water in the tub while I pulled off the wasps. We dumped alot of bleach in the water and washed him down. To our surprise in just  a few minutes he was all smiles and no swelling,no pain. I never used it on bee stings as they don't bother me.

[Michael Bush]

Plantain.

Try a goggle search on "Plantain" and "stings".  Try a search on here for "Plantain".

Nothing else comes close.

http://weeds.cropsci.uiuc.edu/images/Broadleafplantain/images/broadleaf%20plantain.jpg

[Mici]

probably you could get an anti-swll gel or something at the local drug store.

[tereads]

While this doesn't help for a swelling problem, you all might be interested in my grandmother's remedy for the pain of a sting:  a paste of vinegar and sugar applied to the site of the sting immediately will make it a lot less painful (for me it takes the pain away immediately).  After that I just take benadryl and anti=inflammatories.
TE

[Michael Bush]

If you're too stubborn, foolish or silly to use the plantain (which is light years ahead of anything else), there are poltices of crushed asprin, tobacco, or meat tenderizer.

[qa33010]

Tried the plantain the last time I was stung.  Beat the snot out of tobacco/snuff what ever it was that was slapped on me.  I didn't have to wet it either.

    Problem is it's not surviving the drought.

[Brian D. Bray]

As a kid we use to call plantain "Indian Tobacco."  From the Indians my father learned that braken fern juice is a good antidote for nettle stings so I am not surprized that plantain would work for bee stings.

[tillie]

I have great sympathy.  I got stung just under the eyebrow about two weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon.  It was fine that night - just could feel that I had gotten stung.  I woke up the next morning with my eye swollen shut and swelling in my face down to the level of my mouth.  The swelling gradually diminished and was finally gone on Thursday.

Worse is that on Monday - the day that I looked the worst - I had to be in seven video tapings with Emory grad students - it was really embarrassing.  However, they quit making fun of me when I gave them all jars of honey as they turned in their final exams!

Linda T in Atlanta.