Many people undermine the threat posed by bee sting, when in fact, it can ruin your fun-filled day out in the sun and turn it into one of the worst nightmares you’ve ever had. Fortunately, there is something you can do to keep this from happening. Read on to find out how.
Bee sting is a common nuisance especially during summer time. A simple home treatment is all you need to relieve the pain. But if you are allergic to it and get stung several times, you need emergency treatment to avoid potentially deadly allergic reaction. This is because a bee releases venom that contains histamines and several biogenic amines causing pain and swellings. Your body’s immune system works even harder to fight the venom and allergens by increasing histamine production. This leads to the lowering of blood pressure, tightening of bronchial area, dizziness, breathing difficulties and eventually death.
What are the Symptoms of Bee Sting?
People have different reactions to bee stings ranging from mild pain to acute allergic reaction. If you are not allergic to bee sting, you will only notice redness, itchiness and swelling on the stung area. The pain may linger for one week. If you have allergic reactions to a stung of a bee, severe symptoms include increased pain, redness and hives throughout the body. You will also experience dizziness, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, imbalance and difficulty in breathing. If treatment is delayed, blood pressure will drop dramatically leading to shock and death.
Bee sting swelling
A bee sting swelling may develop into local swelling with a white wound-like impression around the place where the bee stung. The swelling increases quickly after the sting. After 3 or 4 hours, the swelling can increase even more dramatically, making the area tender, sore and itchy. Bee sting swelling continues for another twelve hours or so and does not reduce for two or three days. Also sometimes, the sting can result in swelling to a large amount of body area. For instance, if there is a bee string on the low leg, it can cause the entire leg to be swollen to a large extent
Bee sting treatment
These are the things you should do when you are stung by a bee.
• Remove the stinger
Removing the stinger is the first thing you should do when you are stung by a bee. The bee stinger can be identified as the black dot on the core of the wound. The finest way to take it out is by scraping it off with a blunted object like a credit card or the dull end of a kitchen knife. This is because the venom is attached to the stinger and pushing or pulling it off might initiate the release of more venom.
• Wash the stung area
Once you have removed the stinger, wash the affected area with antiseptic soap and water repeatedly until you feel that the pain and itching have subsided.
• Put ice pack on the affected area
Applying cold compress on the affected area helps reduce the pain and swelling due to bee sting. It also helps in reducing the severity of allergic reaction.
• Apply or ingest painkillers to relieve further pain
Pain may linger for a few hours and taking pain relievers is very helpful in dealing with it. Furthermore, applying calamine lotion or baking soda paste on the affected area also help in relieving itching and pain.
• Call emergency medical service
If you or a friend of yours shows signs of severe allergic reaction to the bee sting, seek medical treatment right away to avoid life-threatening complications.
How to prevent Bee Sting?
Stay away from areas near bee hives. Bees attack humans when they are threatened and stinging is their way to protect their colony. Bees release pheromones whenever they feel any threat close to their colony and this serves as a signal for other bees to help defend the colony. The swarm doesn’t leave until the threat is alleviated. Once you notice bees flying around, don’t panic. Instead, stay calm and slowly leave the area. Squashing them force the bees to sting. If a bee has stung you, cover your nose and mouth and leave the area immediately to avoid attracting other bees to swarm you.
Bee sting is something you should be concerned about whenever you plan to stay outdoors during a hot summer day. But don’t let this impede your plans for fun-filled time out in the sun; just take the necessary precautions and be armed with the know-how on what to do in case of a bee sting.
