Bee sting is a wound that is caused by a stinger that is present in the honey bee, sweat bee or bumblebee, etc. These stings can cause a lot of pain once it is injected into a human’s flesh. People feel pain as the venom is injected in the human body by the stinger from a bee. When a honeybee releases its stinger completely into your body, it will ultimately result in the death of a honeybee. Because it will be difficult for the honeybees to survive in their life without the stinger.
Hives, loss of consciousness, urge to itch skin, feeling off-balance, very fast pulse rate, difficulty in breathing, loss of color from the skin, and swelling of the tongue and throat are considered as a severe allergic reaction when a bee stings you.
Treatment for bee string
There are lots of treatment options available for the people in order to get rid of a bee sting. Numerous home remedies are available for bee stings unless you are allergic to bees. Never forget to remove the stinger in your skin when a honeybee stings you. You can remove the stinger in your skin with the help of fingernail or the edge of a credit card.
The following are the home remedies in order to inspect the sting site and relieve the pain and swelling.
Apply Ice
To reduce the pain and swelling, we would advise you to apply ice on the affected area after washing it thoroughly. Also, make sure that you removed the bee venom completely from the skin.
After washing the area thoroughly, take an ice pack from your refrigerator or frozen vegetables in a cloth and place that ice pack on the affected area of your skin and hold the ice pack in that particular area for several minutes. If you didn’t get relief, do it again. sometimes, it may take time to reduce your pain and swelling even though you applied it several times.
Also, we would advise you to use a cloth to protect your skin from the ice. As you know, Ice has the capability of damaging your skin if you applied it directly to your skin.
Oils
If you are looking for a home remedy to get rid of a bee sting, then we would advise you to use essential oils that have the properties of antiseptic, and antifungal or antibacterial. It has been observed that the essential oils have the capability of reducing the intensity of pain caused due to a bee sting or it also results in reducing the swelling of a bee sting.
Rosemary oil, tea tree oil, thyme oil, witch oil, and lavender oil are the different types of oils that are available in the market that can be used as a home remedy to get relief from swelling and pain.
We suggest you mix your essential oil with a neutral carrier oil such as Moringa oil, coconut oil, Grapeseed oil, Olive oil, Avocado oil, Jojoba Oil, Argan Oil, and Sweet Almond oil, etc. before applying it to your skin directly. Before using this essential oil, people should be aware of the fact that essential oils can cause an allergic reaction such as irritation, Contact urticaria, and allergic contact dermatitis.
Plant-Based Gel
Aloe Vera is considered as a plant-based gel that has the capability of soothing your skin naturally and moisturizes it. It has been observed in a 2015 study that the extract of aloe vera has the properties of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory.
If you apply the aloe vera gel on the affected area, it will reduce the swelling and also prevents the affected area from becoming infected. This anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties gel is available in all the health stores.
Calamine Lotion
Calamine lotion is designed to give relief to the people from the itchy skin, and with the help of this lotion, you can also reduce the intensity of your pain and itching due to a stinger from a bee or wasp.
If the affected area of the sting urges you to scratch more, then rub it with a little calamine lotion. Calamine is available for the people in all the health stores or you can buy it online.
Honey
Honey has all the properties to fight against inflammation and it has the capability to reduce your pain and swelling due to its medicinal properties. It readies your body for speed healing and can prevent infection as the natural antibacterial agents present in the honey. Health care professionals use honey extracts in wound dressings due to this reason.
Pour Honey around the affected area and you will observe the result in a few minutes. We would advise you to apply honey onto the sting in your home or at any place which takes you far away from honey bees. As there are chances of honey can attract more bees due to its smell.
Toothpaste
Applying alkaline toothpaste on the affected area can neutralize the venom. It is one of the unconventional home remedies and more research has to be done to prove that alkaline toothpaste can reduce swelling and pain of the sting from a bee or wasp and also heals blisters.
If you would like to give it a try, then we would advise you to spread a little quantity of alkaline toothpaste on the affected area and see whether it reduced your pain or not. If you are experiencing any difficulties after applying the toothpaste, then consult your physician and tell him what happened. We would advise you to rinse off the toothpaste immediately at any sign of a reaction.
OTC creams and Oral Medications
If you don’t see any improvements and the home remedies have failed to reduce the severeness of the symptoms, then we would advise you to have a word with your health care provider. There are many over the counter creams and oral medications are available for you to reduce the severeness of your condition. These include
- Hydrocortisone creams such as Ala-cort cream, Hytone cream, Anusol HC cream, Gly-cort cream, Corticool Maximum Strength cream, Delacort cream, Ivy state cream, Pandel cream, etc. These creams are able to reduce swelling and pain.
- Oral antihistamines include Azelastine eyedrops (Optivar), Levocabastine oral (Xyzal), Azelastine nasal sprays (Astelin, Astepro), Levocabastine eyedrops (Livostin), Carbinoxamine (Pelagic), Hydroxyzine (Atarax, Vistaril), Cyproheptadine, Emedastine eyedrops (Emadine), and Desloratadine (Clarinex). Using these drugs will result in reducing pain and swelling.
- There are also pain relievers and anti-inflammatories are available in the health stores for the people who are suffering from pain and swelling due to a bee sting.
Wet Aspirin Tablet
It is considered as one of the popular home remedies to reduce the pain and swelling caused by a stinger from a bee or wasp. Getting relief from a bee sting is very easy by using aspirin taste. All you need to do is apply the aspirin paste or wet aspirin on the affected area of the body.
It has been observed in a study that applying aspirin paste or wet aspirin resulted in increased redness and failed to reduce swelling and pain in the people who are affected by a bee sting. Apply Ice on the affected area can reduce the swelling and pain better than the wet aspirin or aspirin taste.
When to Visit a Doctor
Taking a physician’s help is not necessary for treating bee sting in the majority of the cases. But we would advise you to have a word with your physician after trying all the home remedies. If there are no improvements in your condition after going through all the home remedies, then it is time for you to consult your physician.
Call 911 or local emergency services immediately if you are experiencing the following symptoms of a serious allergic reaction including
- Breathing difficulties or unable to breathe
- Dizziness
- Hives
- Uncontrollable sensation to scratch the skin
- Pale skin or color loss from the skin
- Very fast heart rate
- Vomiting sensations
- Unable to recognize the things
Applying Ice, Over the counter medications, and the different types of home remedies can give relief to the people from the discomfort caused by a stinger from a bee. Most people don’t experience severe reactions when they are affected by the honey bees for the first time. We would advise people to recognize the indicators of a severe allergic reaction and have a word with their doctor regarding the problem. The person needs to admit in an Emergency Care if he/she is experiencing the above symptoms.
Conclusion
We would advise you to stay calm when you are experiencing a wound from the sting of a bee and remove the stinger by using a fingernail or a piece of gauze. Also, don’t use tweezers, as there are chances of it may squeeze more venom into your skin. Wash the sting and apply ice to reduce the swelling. If you are experiencing pain even after doing all this, we would advise you to take pain killers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
Sirisha B 
Raju Ch