A not-so-simple bee sting...

[zoom-zoom]

3 days ago I was stung by a honey bee during a ride. Yesterday I had a pretty sizable area of redness surrounding the sting. Today the area was even bigger. I posted this photo on FB and an MD friend of mine suggested cellulitis. I hit the med center...and Mark's diagnosis was confirmed.


I had figured yesterday that I must be having a delayed allergic reaction, so this AM I scheduled allergy testing for next month (since I definitely have some seasonal allergies and possibly shrimp, as well). Glad I didn't give it another day to get diagnosis and antibiotics. Cellulitis can be deadly.

[DebSP]

Ow Kirsten, that looks sore! Is it painful? Thank goodness you posted on FB! Hope you heal up soon.

[OakLeaf]

Oh, man. Heal up quick! Do you have to take nasty antibiotics?

[zoom-zoom]

I have to take Septra DS 2/day for 10 days...which is funny, since that's the same med my PCP always prescribes for sinus infections, so I know I can expect maybe a mildly achy tummy. I don't have a lot of pain, surprisingly. I had shingles years ago and didn't have much pain with that, either...so maybe I'm a bit of a freak...?

[indysteel]

((((Zoom)))). Oh my, that looks painful. Heal quick!!!

[ny biker]

Good for you for getting it checked out. I hope it heals quickly. Make sure you take some probiotics too.

I had cellulitis from an insect bite some years ago. The red area on my leg wasn't as big as yours, but it was up on my thigh close to lymph nodes which is not a good thing. A guy I worked with got it from a cat bite and needed to use IV antibiotics for it. It is definitely not something to be messed with.

[thekarens]

Cellulitis never a good thing

I discovered a few years ago that I was allergic to wasps when they decided to nest in front of our house.

Hope it gets better very quickly!

[VeganBikeChick]

Owie! Heal soon!

[emily_in_nc]

Yikes! That looks awful.

My elderly father-in-law got cellulitis in his middle finger a couple of years ago. The finger swelled up like a sausage, and he had to be hospitalized. I guess they are more careful with the elderly. He was on IV antibiotics for awhile, then very high-dose antibiotics after going home. It just wouldn't get better, so finally they had to do some surgery, requiring a second hospitalization. We were petrified the infection would get into his bloodstream and turn deadly or that he'd lose the finger. Fortunately, he finally responded to the antibiotics and is fine now, but it was scary. Definitely not something to mess with.

We aren't sure but assume he got the infection from gardening, some sort of bacteria in the soil. Did not know that insect bites could cause this condition -- is the bacteria from the insect itself, or from scratching the bite (bacteria from your hands?)

GOOD LUCK!

[Crankin]

I never even heard of cellulitis until my son got it from camping out in a foxhole during military training. What is it about insect bites that cause it? I get the dirt connection.

[zoom-zoom]

We aren't sure but assume he got the infection from gardening, some sort of bacteria in the soil. Did not know that insect bites could cause this condition -- is the bacteria from the insect itself, or from scratching the bite (bacteria from your hands?)

GOOD LUCK!

Glad your FIL was OK in the end...it's really scary stuff if not caught early or in people with compromised immune systems.

I never scratched the bite to the point of breaking skin...it wasn't even terribly itchy, since I started taking Benadryl and applying cortisone cream as soon as I got home. What I think got the bacteria in there was wiping out the stinger mid-ride, then rinsing the spot with water from my bottle...and riding another 12 miles home. My guess is the bacteria was already on my sweaty leg or kicked-off the road post-sting. Any spot of broken skin (paper cut, crack from dry skin, insect bite) can allow nasty stuff in.

Today my leg is looking maybe slightly better and the spreading has not increased. I still have some swelling, but no worse than yesterday. I also feel good. Never did have fever or severe pain.

[indysteel]

I had a less severe infection from a bee sting on my face in 2007. I was riding ang stung mid-ride. From what I understand, the stingers themselves can harbor lots of bacteria.

[zoom-zoom]

I had a less severe infection from a bee sting on my face in 2007. I was riding ang stung mid-ride. From what I understand, the stingers themselves can harbor lots of bacteria.

Plus a lot of nasty bacteria hang out on our skin 24/7, but don't become an issue until they are able to enter our blood stream. I believe both strep and staph are on our bodies under normal circumstances.

[Owlie]

Yep, Staph aureus is pretty normal skin flora. All sorts of interesting stuff.

Also, that looks rather nasty. I'm glad you got it treated!

[AppleTree]

Glad you caught it early, gosh that looks scary.