Bee stings help me..i dont know what to do!!?

Question

ok so i got stung by a bee like almost a week ago and i dont know if the stinger is still in there. it doesnt hurt but it's still swelled up. is that bad? what can/will happen if it is still in there?

Answer 1

rub your finger along the area where you think you got stung to see if you can feel the stinger.  if it's out, take some ibuprofen... it's an anti-inflammatory.  If that doesn't help, see a doctor.

Answer 2

I have been keeping honey bees for several years now and i feel pretty confident about answering this one. Some form of benidryl or antihistamine will help with the itching and possibly the swelling if taken soon after the sting. You will receive lots of input about things like meat tendorizer, tobacco,baking soda an other topical treatments. they are all just wives tales. I have tried and none seam to work. the venom of a wasp is different than that of a honey bee. a honey bees venom is an irritant used to defend the hive while a wasps venom is used to kill its prey. My best advice is to not rub or scratch and let it run its course. it is normal for it to be sore for a coupel of days

I have had stings itch and be sore for as little as a few minuts or as long as a weak

Answer 3

You have had an allergic reaction. It may not be a bad one this time, but next time you go to your general practitioner you should tell what happened and ask if you should keep some antihistamines handy in case it should happen again - if so your doctor should be able to prescribe for you

Be very careful if a sting occurs near the thoat or mouth - it is possible to have a bad reaction and affect your breathing ability - that is why you should check with your doctor about this in case

A site for you with some good information

Answer 4

Was it a bumblebee?  Wasps don't leave stingers, and you should see it anyways.  Take some benadryl or another anti-histamine.

Answer 5

The stinger is not still in there.  If it were, you would see a little round venom sac sticking out.  Actually, be stingers fall off (with the venom sac) after all the venom is injected.  The reason people are anxious to remove the stinger is, that it takes a few minutes for all the venom to pump into the skin, so if you can get the stinger out sooner, there will be less venom injected and less pain.

Your bee sting is doing fine.  Sometimes it takes longer to heal than others, depending on the amount of venom injected and the sensitivity of the person to bee stings.  

Answer 6

I see a lot of interesting answers. First off, I think you can relax... there is no evidence here that you are allergic to bee stings. Swelling is something that does and should happen to anyone that doesn't get stung all the time. Bee venom contains histamine along with a mixture of acids and proteins which are supposed to cause pain and swelling. This is to ensure that the intruder to the hive isn't quick to repeat the mistake. When I started working with bees I used to react quickly to venom and had instances of my arm or entire leg swelling up like a balloon. I no longer react to bee stings at all, other than the initial pinch.

Severe allergic reaction happens to less than 1% of the population, yet everyone seems to think they are allergic. My brother was told by his doctor (pediatrician) when he was younger that he was probably allergic since he swelled up after a sting. He finally (in his late 20s) had himself tested and it turns out he's just normal. A good rule of thumb - if you are stung in the hand and your neck swells up, then you will want to see a doctor. If you are stung in the hand and you get physically sick, then again you will want to see the doctor. However, if you are stung in the hand and your hand swells up for a few days - this is what is supposed to happen to your hand.

Take a benedryl or other histamine blocker (allergy medicine) to reduce the swelling and possibly a pain reliever like advil/tylenol. But other than that it is merely a waiting game.

Should you find you are actually allergic to bee venoms, then you really should get treated to reduce the effects of bee/wasp stings. Your doctor can set you up with a program of injections containing minute traces of venom to desensitize you to future stings.

As far as the stinger still in there? Honey bee stingers are small and incredibly easy to remove. Anything larger might be a bumble bee sting, maybe a carpenter bee. Anyone of these are very docile and are not too interested in stinging. Wasps (including yellow jackets and hornets) are much more aggressive and can sting repeatedly without leaving a stinger. Either way, chances are if you don't see a stinger, then it is probably not in there anymore.

When removing bee stings, I was originally taught you need to scrape the bee stinger out. I still find myself removing them this way, but research done by UC Riverside physically tested this method against simply pulling the stinger out and found that there was not difference in method, only a difference in the time it was left in the skin. Remove the stinger as fast as you can greatly reduces the amount of venom that gets pumped into your tissue, and thus reduces your overall reaction to a sting.