Various bug bites and stings

[Kano]

That After Bite is cool stuff!

Benadryl makes a "direct application stick" type thing too -- similar to the After Bite, but Benadryl -- well, I shouldn't say for sure that they still do, but in the last couple of years we bought one or two of those.

Last bug bite I got was from a "Lady" bug -- certainly not very lady-like of her to bite me!

Karen in Boise

[indysteel]

Boy, do I wish this thread had been started a few weeks ago. A wasp got into my helmet during a ride a couple weeks' back and stung me on my temple. It hurt quite a bit when it first happened but I didn't have a whole lot of swelling and redness for the first 24 hours. After that, however, it got much worse. The whole left side of my face was swollen, red and hot to the touch. I went to the doctor and she thought I had an infection from the sting and not just an allergie reaction. She gave me antibiotics for it, but it still took the rest of the week to get better. Five days into it, I looked like I'd had a black eye because the swelling had extended to under my eye. It was nuts.

Are the products mentioned in this thread readily available at a pharmacy or do I need to order them online?

[meridian]

Cheap solutions that can be carried in a little sprayer / baggie:

Vinegar / lemon juice on wasp and hornet stings – the acid neutralizes the alkali in the venom

Baking soda for bee stings – since bee stings are acidic, the alkali in the baking soda neutralizes the acid

I was attacked by a wasp community was I was younger, trying to get some newborn puppies out from under a trailer where the wasps had setup their nest (unknown at the time). Let's just say, ouch! I had about 15 stings and everything swelled up like I was a human balloon.
A friend’s mom put vinegar on the areas with a cotton swab and the pain went away immediately. It didn’t smell too great, but that was the least of my concern at the time =)

[margo49]

Had a lovely ride yesterday . I knew I had been bitten by horse flies on my legs, but I find today that I have a couple of other ones on my thigh which I dint know about. They are totally different so it may have been insects when I was sitting under a tree watching my bee-eater nesting colony. I had been putting aloe vera on them but I will try the vinegar and the soda which one of them should work (I have a 50-50 chance of getting it right, lol)
Great timing, teigyr!

[margo49]

Cheap solutions that can be carried in a little sprayer / baggie:

Vinegar / lemon juice on wasp and hornet stings – the acid neutralizes the alkali in the venom

Baking soda for bee stings – since bee stings are acidic, the alkali in the baking soda neutralizes the acid

Thank you, meridian.
The vinegar is working.
I am sure you were all worried sick for me and that my pm inbox is overflowing with all your good wishes .
Now I just have to recall how the little fokkers looked for next time I do that route

[ margo49 obviously has Intuitive Powers guessing the right one to try first. Anyone need football pools? ]

[meridian]

Wonderful news margo! I'm glad you picked the right one to try first. I have no idea what would have happened if you had decided to try the baking soda instead..hopefully it wouldn't have made it worse