Need bee sting help please!!!

Trauma Columnist · Aug 31, 2004

What about ice to the site? Give him some oral benadryl? This is assuming that he is not having any trouble breathing of course.

FutureNurse2005 · Aug 31, 2004

he has his "boo boo" pack on it right now and i've given him some childrens tylenol (we dont have benadryl). He has calmed down a bit now, but he is still saying it hurts alot. He seems to be breathing fine right now, and he's not swollen anywhere else, just at the sting site.

i'll keep checking back for other replies!

thanks!

CHATSDALE · Aug 31, 2004

once when at the at gulf coast my niece was stung by jelly fish...lifeguards put household bleach on it and it stopped the hurt right away....since then i have heard that the solution should be 10% ie 90% hco and 10% bleach...i have used this on fire ant bites and even on severely itching chicken pox...it helped the healing also..on the fire ant bites i missed a couple and they were festered up the next day and the others were small dots w/o s/s of infections

best of luck to your little one

studentNY · Aug 31, 2004

2 weeks ago, my 40 pound 4 year old was stung over 11 times. She was with several other children who were also stung. There were bee's in her hair and clothing. It was CRAZZZY!!! Ambulances came and took 4 of the children to the hospital. I had already given her a chewable benadry one of the other mothers had. They watched her and I was told to give her benadryl's for 24 hours. Thank God, none of the children had reactions. I hope your child is OK. I always have benadryl on hand now.:)

BRANDY LPN · Aug 31, 2004

Make sure the stinger is not still in there, and if it is DO NOT use tweezers to remove it try to scrape it out with a credit card, if you pinch it with tweezers it will inject more venom into the wound.

veteranRN · Aug 31, 2004

As long as the reaction stays in the same part of the body (the knee or leg) I wouldn't be concerned about an allergic reaction. Just treat the symptoms. If the symptoms move to another part of the body (arms/chest/etc.) then be concerned. I've heard meat tenderizer or crushed ASA on the site helps.

Dixielee, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2004

I have also used the meat tenderizer trick. Make a paste of it and put on the wound and the enzymes in it break down the venom. This is a good time to reinforce the advice to ALWAYS, ALWAYS keep benadryl at home. Even if you are headed to an ER for an allergic reaction, take the benadryl first to let it start working. That is a first line defence against allergic reactions. You can also use it for you dogs, for you dog lovers out there. We used it on one of our pups who had a reaction to one of his vaccines. 1mg/kg. doggie weight.

Parroting other advice, as long as the reaction is only local, you need not worry. But some benadryl at your earliest convenience.

FutureNurse2005 · Aug 31, 2004

thank you all so much! I now have some benadryl in the house! He seems to be just fine (other than the sting site being red and swollen still) but at least there was no reaction.

thank you for your advice! i'm glad I didnt overreact and rush off to the hospital!

OCCHCanada · Aug 31, 2004

Might be worth a follow-up visit with the Dr in light of the family hx of reactions.

With being his first sting and reacting the way he did, his next sting could be much more severe. Your Dr may consider allergy testing etc.

smk1, LPN · Aug 31, 2004

my 3 yr old got stung out on the lake a few weeks ago (we were houseboating so out in the middle of nowhere.) we put toothpast all over it and it soothed it and stopped the itching (it probably was a baking soda based paste.) anyway that or maybe calamine lotion if you have it for comfort would help.- i am not a nurse just offering my personal experience.

enfermeraSG · Aug 31, 2004

BTW, the bleach trick does work. It takes the pain away and swelling. I even carry the mixture in my camping med/emer. tackle box. SG