How to deal with bee stings

Many people don’t pay much attention after being stung by a bee, which will only lead to further infection of the skin. So what is the method to deal with bee stings? First of all, don’t touch the bitten part again, and then apply some ointment. If the swelling of the bitten skin does not go down, you should think of other methods. Next, let us learn about how to deal with bee stings?

Here are some ways to deal with a bee sting:

(1) Carefully examine the wound. If there is a stinger left in the skin, remove it first.

(2) If you are stung by a bee, because bee venom is acidic, you can use soapy water or 3% ammonia water, 5% sodium bicarbonate solution, salt water, etc. to wash the wound. If you are stung by a wasp, wash and apply vinegar. You can also wash fresh purslane and squeeze the juice to apply to the wound.

(3) If you have Nantong snake medicine (Jide Du snake medicine), you can dissolve the tablets in warm water and apply it around the wound; or grind Zijinzhan or Liushenwan into powder and apply it to the affected area. It has the effect of detoxification, pain relief and swelling reduction.

(4) Folk prescriptions can be used:

① Mash garlic or ginger or apply juice to the affected area.

②Cut the fresh eggplant and apply it to the affected area; or add appropriate amount of sugar, mash it and apply it. ③ Mash fresh violet yedoensis, lobelia, dandelion, wild chrysanthemum, leek, etc. together or individually and apply to the affected area.

(5) If an allergic reaction occurs, for mild cases, you can take 1 tablet of Astemizole once a day; or 4 mg of Promethazine, 3 times a day. Those with severe symptoms should be sent to hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

After being stung by a bee, people will experience local pain, redness, swelling, and numbness, which will heal on their own after a few hours. In a few cases, blisters will appear at the sting site, which is far from symptoms of systemic poisoning. If you are stung multiple times by a swarm of bees, you will experience fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea within a very short period of time. In severe cases, hemolysis, bleeding, irritability, muscle spasms, convulsions, coma and acute renal failure may occur. People who are allergic to bee venom will rapidly develop urticaria, laryngeal edema and/or bronchial spasm, which may lead to suffocation and anaphylactic shock.

After a person is stung by a bee, in mild cases, only local redness, swelling, pain, and burning sensation may occur. There may also be blisters, ecchymosis, and local lymph node enlargement, which will disappear on their own within a few hours to 1-2 days. If a person is stung by a swarm of bees in multiple places on his body, it often causes systemic symptoms such as fever, headache, dizziness, nausea, irritability, and fainting. People who are allergic to bee venom may develop urticaria, rhinitis, swelling of the lips and eyelids, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. In severe cases, it may cause laryngeal edema, asthma, difficulty breathing, coma, and ultimately death from respiratory and circulatory failure.

There are many types of bees, such as honey bees, wasps, hornets, bumble bees, etc. Male bees do not harm people because they do not have venom glands or stingers. It is the female bees (worker bees) that sting people. The female bees have a stinger connected to the venom gland at the end of their abdomen. When the stinger enters the human body, venom is immediately injected. When a bee stings someone, it often leaves its stinger at the site of the sting; however, a wasp retracts its stinger after stinging and can continue to hurt someone. Bee venom mainly contains formic acid, neurotoxins and histamine, which can cause hemolysis and bleeding, have an inhibitory effect on the central nervous system, and may also cause allergic reactions in some victims of stings.

The above introduces methods for dealing with bee stings. We should keep these methods in mind. When a bee sting occurs, we will have better ways to solve the problem and will not get into trouble due to wrong solutions. This will only make us more negative, and our work and study efficiency will be greatly reduced.