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Post by hikerjer on Jul 13, 2018 14:05:01 GMT -8
Wow, I was mowing my mother’s lawn today and somehow disturbed a wasp nest. I must have over 20 stings on my legs and they are miserable. Know of any home remedies for this?
Thanks.
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Post by trinity on Jul 13, 2018 14:36:38 GMT -8
Wow, that's terrible! The only thing I know to do is take some benadryl. I wonder if an anti-inflammatory might help as well. You can also make a paste of baking soda and water and put it on the stings.
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Post by hikerjer on Jul 13, 2018 14:40:37 GMT -8
You can also make a paste of baking soda and water and put it on the stings. Tried the baking soda trick. The effect was minimal. If it's not better in an hour,I'm heading to the drug store for some benadryl.
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Post by trinity on Jul 13, 2018 15:02:03 GMT -8
Do you have any ibuprofen? One website also suggests washing the area with soap and water to remove venom, and applying ice to reduce swelling and pain.
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Post by trinity on Jul 14, 2018 4:02:24 GMT -8
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Post by hikerjer on Jul 14, 2018 11:26:28 GMT -8
I'm OK but the itching is driving me crazy. Tried everything but I guess it'l just take time. Those are nasty little buggers. This is worst than poison ivy.
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Post by trinity on Jul 14, 2018 12:39:06 GMT -8
Sounds miserable, but glad you're okay. I became sensitized to wasp stings some years back, and started having an allergic reaction. If I were to go through what you experienced, I'd likely be dead. Hope the itching goes away soon.
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Post by autumnmist on Jul 15, 2018 5:40:27 GMT -8
Sorry to read about this unfortunate encounter. I've only been stung by bees and yellow jackets, but not recently. Typically I accidentally disturbed a nest when pulling out weeds or digging to turn the soil. The worst was when I got 26 (I counted them) yellow jacket stings, in an arrow formation. That's when I began to suspect that attacks were coordinated and that the area being stung and the pattern of stings wasn't just random.
I don't recall what I used; typically I'd try something herbal first. Sometimes a mint salve (purchased from my supplier) helped, but it's been so many years I couldn't say for sure. Lately I've used a honey almond or coconut lime body butters, But I always do a test spot first, as sometimes the honey almond can accelerate the pain intensity for just a few seconds.
My mother used calamine lotion, but I think that was for mosquito bites. Did some research when I burnt my hands from cooking a few years ago, then bought some honey ointment. But the burn wasn't as intense by the time I got the ointment from the pharmacy (had to be specially ordered). A baking soda and water paste was also one of Mom's remedies.
sarbar is an herbalist; she might have some better suggestions.
You also might want to consider anti-inflammatory foods, as a systemic treatment. www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation. And on a more scholarly level, with explanations on "pathways" and more and only a few recommendations: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3011108/.
I wasn't surprised to read that peppers. turmeric, green tea and resveratrol are recommended; that's consistent with what I've read in herbal magazines. Resveratrol is food based, so that would be another dietary anti-inflammatory approach. Sources: grapes, wine (which might help in ways other than anti-inflammatory relief!), blueberries and cranberries. I'm not sure about strawberries or blackberries. This is a fairly good article if you want to read more on resveratrols: lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals/resveratrol
Hope some of these ideas help.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jul 15, 2018 18:22:18 GMT -8
I'm OK but the itching is driving me crazy. I forgot how much wasp stings itch afterward. As many as you got must be horrible. I hope it passes soon.
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sarbar
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Post by sarbar on Jul 16, 2018 8:21:45 GMT -8
Benadryl gel helps. So does lavender essential oil. So does ice packs. Sadly, times is what truly helps the most. Stay hydrated, get your legs up as often as you can, and don't wear pants. I'm a beekeeper...I have had to treat my husband a few times. Oy!
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Jul 17, 2018 6:15:11 GMT -8
Ha! Same thing happened to me this weekend. About 10 stings all around my ankles. I get stung multiple times per year, every year. I'm kinda a connoisseur of stings. I've come to realize that stings vary from species to species. Even different types of yellow jackets have different stings. What got me this past weekend were a small type of yellow jacket. I've been stung by this species before... their sting is an especially searing type of pain, and they may have had the longest-lingering symptoms. It feels as if they inject fiberglass under my skin. Swollen areas get "hard" and take several days to resolve. The itching is driving me crazy this morning. A few years ago I got stung somewhere between 30-50 times by eastern yellow jackets. They leave good welts with a searing pain response but the pain and welts go away within a few hours to a day. Some residual swelling and itchiness for a day or two. Last year I got stung by what I think was a cicada killer or european hornet. I never actually saw it, but it was HUGE! It felt like I swatted a small bird. It got caught between my cheek and helmet strap while I was riding my bike. Wow, the pain! Then the whole side of my face swelled up. But the symptoms were subsiding 10 minutes later. And within about 2 hours only a smallish welt remained. By the following day, you couldn't tell I was even stung. There was no residual itchiness. Hornet stings almost seem to have momentum. The pain lasts awhile, and tend to ebb and flow. People generally think you're whining since the swelling is of short duration and minor in comparison to the pain. Sweat bee stings are just annoying. An AK-47 variation of a deer fly bite as they try to escape from the back of your shirt. I've actually seen these bastards lick the sweat from my forearm, then sting as they fly off as a "thank you". Mud wasp stings get your attention, but really no different than a rose thorn in the top of your head. Paper wasps have a very sharp pain response, but leave almost no welt or residual itchiness. Honeybee stings are almost pleasant by comparison. A sharp but short pain response followed by a few minutes of reasonable itchiness. Schmidt Sting Pain Index: Many years ago, while hiking up Mt. Madison (White Mts, NH), I was stung by a yellow jacket right in a vein on the back of my hand. An immediate nausea was soon followed by an enormous flow of adrenaline. I practically ran up the remainder of the mountain. I always wondered what exactly triggered that response. Given the statement below, it makes sense (cardiac stimulant). While all of these insects share a common ability to inflict pain, they all have a unique chemical formula for their venom, Schmidt says. They’re convergent on the same effect — they really hurt — but they’ve gotten there by different routes.
“It’s really almost eerie,” he says. “Honeybees have a peptide called melatin, which is an entirely different chemical structure from wasps. Wasps have kinins, similar to the cardiac stimulant our body naturally makes. Harvester Ants have another totally unrelated peptide. The Bullet Ant is completely unique to science: it has a poneratoxin. So, all these venoms are not related at all chemically, yet they converged on the same solution of making pain.”www.compoundchem.com/2014/08/28/insectvenoms/
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Post by hikerjer on Jul 17, 2018 8:42:58 GMT -8
Well, after about three days the itching has subsided considerably and I think I'll survive. I've got to say that I've never had itching as intense as this. Worse than poison ivy, IMO. I hope never to experience it again.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Jul 18, 2018 8:20:05 GMT -8
The itching has pretty much subsided, and the swelling is going down. But one of my sting sites has a localized infection. I'll have to keep an eye on it.
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Post by hikingtiger on Jul 18, 2018 9:39:54 GMT -8
Know of any home remedies for this? A liberal application of gasoline onto the nest and then a match. Oh, you meant the itching. Sorry about the stings...glad the itching is going away. Had that once when mowing...ran over a yellow jacket nest. Felt something on my neck and when I reached to brush it off I got the first sting. Several more came in quick succession and I jumped off the mower leaving it and the wasps behind.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Jul 18, 2018 9:57:07 GMT -8
A liberal application of gasoline onto the nest and then a match. Oh, you meant the itching. Actually, that DOES help with the pain and itching!
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