How To Treat A Bee Sting: For most people, a bee sting will result in mild, short-term symptoms that often require straightforward treatment. However, there are instances where you will experience a more serious anaphylactic reaction that can affect the whole body. In severe cases, it may be life-threatening.
With quick and efficient first aid treatment, you can go back to spending time outdoors in no time at all. Read on to better understand bee stings, what first aid steps can help, and when to worry about allergic reactions.
Understanding Bee Stings
Bees are known for their wiggle dance and honey, but along with those characteristics, they are also notorious for inflicting painful stings.
To sting, a bee jab a barbed stinger into your skin, releasing a venom that destroys the red blood cells and skin mast cells. The body’s reaction to the sting may activate the pain receptor cells and produce histamines, resulting in pain, itching, and swelling.
Although it can be very painful, bee stings tend to heal without health complications. Provided that the symptoms are mild to moderate, bee stings rarely require a visit to the emergency room.
Bee Sting: Symptoms
The body’s reaction to a bee sting can range from mild, temporary to something more severe, such as anaphylaxis. However, it is worth noting that no bee sting reaction is the same. The next stung by a bee, the symptoms mild be mild or necessarily be more severe.
The body can react in one or four ways following a bee sting:
- Local reactions are the most common, where the sting appears like a bad mosquito bite. The bite site may be red, with the centre being white. There may also be a small brown stinger left in the skin.
- Large local reactions are similar to local ones, except the bite site tends to be bigger.
- Toxic reactions occur body develops a rare response to the venom found in the singer. You may feel nauseous or lightheaded at this point.
- Allergic or anaphylaxis reactions occur when the body has a severe allergic response to the sting. Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency that requires medical attention.
Bee Sting Allergy Symptoms
Pay attention to any allergic reaction that may develop minutes or hours after a bee sting. An anaphylactic shock can develop in less than hours. If any of these symptoms occur, seek medical treatment immediately.
- Red, itchy welts (hives)
- Dizziness
- Rapid heart rate
- Difficulty breathing
- Facial swelling
- Tightness in the throat
First Aid For Bee Stings: What To Do In Case Of Emergency
Here are recommended first-aid steps for bee stings:
Stay Calm
Try not to panic after a bee sting. Get as far as possible to where you got stung, whether near a beehive or a colony of bees somewhere. Staying calm and removing yourself away from the site will prevent other bees from attacking you.
A bee can only sting once because its stinger does not separate or regrow. However, other insects, like wasps, can sting multiple times without dying.
Remove The Stinger
If the stinger remains in the skin, try to remove it by scraping it over using your fingernail or a bluntobject like a credit card, driver’s license, or similar item credit card, driver’s license, or similar item is readily available that is readily available.
Clean The Area
Because the stinger often creates an opening in the skin, it is best to wash the area and clean it with water and mild soap.
Running cold water on the skin can help reduce pain and swelling. It is not recommended to rub alcohol in the bite site as it can cause more pain. Additionally, avoid scratching the area, as this can only make the symptoms worse and introduce bacteria to the wound.
Apply Cold Packs
Bee stings tend to produce mild to moderate symptoms, but the venom often causes swelling and inflammation.
Applying a cold compress or ice to the skin will help lessen the pain and reduce inflammation. Do not apply ice directly to the skin, as it can cause more complications, such as frostbite. Instead, wrap the ice in a plastic bag or a piece of clothing before applying it to the skin. This helps prevent water leakage and damage to the skin.
However, if the swelling moves to other parts of your body (e.g., face, neck, etc.), seek help immediately, as you might have an allergic reaction.
Consider Taking Over-the-counter (OTC) Medications
Bee stings tend to be painful. It helps to take pain medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen to help relieve the pain.
When taking over-the-counter painkillers, always follow the directions on the label and use the correct dose.
Preventing Bee Stings
To prevent bee stings:
- Stay away from flowering plants, gardens, and trees with ripe fruits where bees mostly spend their time.
- Avoid using perfumes, scented soaps, or suntan lotion that might attract bees.
- Avoid wearing bright-coloured shirts, flowered prints, or rough textured fabrics (such as wool), all of which attract bees.
- Never swat a bee or throw any object in its direction. Most bees are likely to attack if they feel threatened.
- Never disturb hives or insect nests.
- Move away in slow, deliberate movements if caught in or near a swarm of bees or wasps.
- Keep your surrounding area clean.
Learn First Aid
Bee stings can happen fast. One minute you are having a great time outdoors, and the next minute, you are screaming in pain after being stung by a bee. To help alleviate pain (and panic!), it is important to know what to do – and not do – following a bee sting.
Although in most instances, a bee sting does not result in severe reactions, it is always a good idea to keep an eye on anyone who has been stung by a bee in case they develop more serious symptoms.
If you spot any signs of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or if someone has been stung multiple times, seek medical attention immediately.
To read more helpful information on bee stings and other emergencies, visit First Aid Courses Darwin and enrol in a first aid course.
