What to do if a wasp sting is very itchy

A wasp sting itches almost always and for everyone. Even experienced beekeepers, who can boast of high resistance to bee venom and the absence of a characteristic “bump”, wasp and hornet stings also do not always go away without unpleasant symptoms.

What can we say about an ordinary person, for whom the attack of these insects is not commonplace? He has itching from a wasp sting can be very strong and persist for several days - depending on the individual characteristics of the organism.

If a wasp has bitten, it itches, as a rule, the entire edema, no matter how impressive it may be. In particular, the bite of a hornet, the closest relative of a wasp, is famous for such a reaction: after its bite, the tumor can spread to very large areas of the body (for example, if an insect has stung in the foot, it can blow the whole leg).

In addition, itching after a wasp sting may be one of the symptoms of a developing allergy. In this case, a urticaria appears on the body of the victim, which does not have any specific localization and, moreover, often also itches a lot.

Review

“We recently had a similar situation.Dimka was bitten by a wasp in kindergarten, where they immediately smeared it with whatever was needed, but the place of the wasp sting still itchs in the child. The doctor said it was normal. But at home, a neighbor advised me to spread Gardex balm for children. She has a small one with her husband who constantly goes fishing, and everyone who is not lazy gnaws at him there. I bought this Gardex in a pharmacy, and it really helps, Dima stopped itching. His bump lasted for a long time, about a week, probably, and the red spot even longer. But there was no itching, we smeared the bite every day.

Oksana, Mogilev-Podolsky

By and large, there is nothing wrong with the fact that a wasp sting itches. Doing something specific to prevent itching should be done only if it greatly interferes with leading a full life, or if the child is injured (so as not to comb with the risk of infecting the wound). But even when you just don’t want to endure, in some ways you can simply remove the itch from a wasp sting.

On a note

Immediately after the bite, you need to try to see the offender and make sure that it is really a wasp. The fact is that the fight against the consequences of wasp and bee stings differs in details, and therefore incorrect identification of an insect can lead to the fact that the measures taken will not give the expected effect.

 

What not to do: 5 main mistakes in the fight against itching

After the wasp has already bitten, many victims begin to perform absolutely unnecessary or even harmful actions, which in the future will only increase the itching. Let's define what is strictly forbidden to do, even if the wasp sting itches with incredible force.

1. You can not comb the affected area. Obviously, the longer you begin to disturb the already irritated nerve endings, the more the wasp sting will itch.In addition, there is a possibility of scratching the wound and introducing an infection into it, followed by suppuration.
2. It is forbidden to pick at the bite site in search of a sting. Wasps, unlike bees, never leave their stinger in a wound.
3. You can not try to squeeze out the poison from the affected area: it still will not leak out. It is also impossible to do this because pressure on the bite leads to increased blood flow and, as a result, more rapid spread of the poison into the surrounding tissues.
4. The bite should not be ignored. In principle, if there are no manifestations of an allergic reaction, then you can try to ignore it. However, a few simple actions taken on time will help you forget that the bite itches after a couple of hours.

Often, immediately after a wasp sting, only folk remedies are available (for example, during a picnic in nature), and much later it becomes possible to treat the affected area with special preparations. Therefore, let's take a closer look at the first "helpers" of the victim - folk recipes.

 

Folk recipes for dealing with an itchy bite

After being bitten by a wasp, many people are lost and do not know what to do next. You need to remember: the first thing to do immediately after a bite, even if it doesn’t itch yet, but only hurts, is to suck out the poison and attach any product containing a weak acid to the wound. It can be:

• a piece of apple, orange, lemon or tomato;
• chopped parsley stalk;
• swab dipped in table vinegar (9%);
• soaked citric acid.

Important!

It is necessary to suck out the poison from the wound and use acid immediately after a wasp sting, otherwise the skin in the damaged area will quickly tighten, and all actions will be in vain.

As you know from the school chemistry course, an acid always neutralizes an alkali. It is this principle that underlies the first stage of helping a victim of a wasp sting: after penetrating the poison under the skin, the acid contained in these products partially neutralizes the insect toxin, and therefore the bite site will no longer itch so much.

The second point of help with folk remedies will be wiping the affected area with strong tea leaves or a mixture of three parts of water and one part of ethyl alcohol (you can just use vodka). As soon as the alcohol dries, a special ointment is applied to the bite site, which has an anti-allergenic effect.

 

Preparations for eliminating itching from a wasp sting

Now let's talk about drugs that have a calming effect on the skin with insect bites. It can be either ointments or creams or sprays.

From the huge number of such funds, we single out those that have already successfully proven themselves as worthy drugs after wasp stings.

1. Fenistil-gel is a universal drug that can be used for any insect bites to reduce itching and prevent the spread of edema. Its use is allowed in children older than 1 month. The price for one tube fluctuates around 350 rubles.
2. Menovazan is a very effective analgesic drug, which is optimal for wasp stings and other stinging insects. A 40-gram tube costs about 30 rubles in pharmacies.
3. Soventol is a gel designed to eliminate itching from an insect bite and treat hives in small areas of the skin. It is made on the basis of propylene glycol and therefore is contraindicated in people with intolerance to this component.
4. Hydrocortisone ointment is a drug that is also excellent for both relieving itching from a wasp sting, and for eliminating a rash in case of hives that have begun. The use of hydrocortisone ointment in children and adolescents is not recommended. The price is about 70 rubles per tube of 10 grams.

Review

“I noticed that after being bitten by a bee, a wasp or some large fly, it’s not the bite itself that itches, but almost the whole body. In the summer I visited my parents, so I constantly itched, especially on the river, where there are a lot of such flies. And once I was bitten by a wasp, so I had to drink Diphenhydramine so as not to go crazy from this scabies. Moreover, the pain itself at the site of the bite is not so strong. As the doctor explained to me, I have an allergy, and with such a bite I need to drink Loratadine.

Xenia, Semipalatinsk

 

Imported products: effective, delicate and expensive

In addition to the above medicines, which are sold only in pharmacies, there are a number of affordable imported products, which can sometimes be bought even in ordinary departments of household chemicals. However, this does not mean that these remedies are useless - quite the contrary, they are quite effective in relieving itching, regardless of whether a mosquito has bitten you or a wasp.

Such remedies can be successfully used in the case when the usual wasp sting itches, as well as when an allergy has begun, accompanied by urticaria.

Examples of such drugs include:

• Gardex Family is an effective balm with echinacea extract, designed to relieve itching of any origin, including after bites of wasps, bees, mosquitoes. Designed for adults and children over 1 year old. The approximate price of a 7 ml bottle is 80 rubles.
• Gardex Baby is a special children's balm, the development of which took into account the sensitivity of the skin of babies to various components, so it can be safely used to treat wasp stings even in infants. The price of a 7-ml bottle is about 150 rubles.
• Balms Mosquitall. The line includes a spray-balm, foam-balm and gel-balm, which are also suitable for children. These products quickly relieve itching and reduce pain, disinfect scratches. A tube of gel-balm for 10 ml costs around 100 rubles.
• Insectline balm is a fairly effective tool that quickly cools the bite site, soothes and relieves itching. The price starts from about 150 rubles for a 100 ml tube.
• Balm Picnic Family based on extracts of chamomile, aloe and calendula, which also has a pronounced analgesic effect. 30 ml of it cost about 50 rubles.

After applying any of these remedies, a cold compress should be applied to the bite site. Generally speaking, cold is a universal and, perhaps, the simplest remedy in case a wasp sting itches very badly. In addition, the colder the compress is and the longer it stays on the damaged area of ​​the skin, the less pronounced the possible swelling after the bite will be.

As you can see, there are a lot of options for alleviating the condition of the victim after a wasp sting, so each person can choose the means that are right for him.

When traveling to the country, picnics or excursions (especially in other countries), it is advisable to put two wasp sting remedies in your first aid kit: one of them should have an analgesic effect (this can be Menovazin, Insectline, Soventol), and the second anti-allergic, so as not to let the rash spread throughout the body (for example, Advantan, hydrocortisone ointment, Fenistil).

Having a combination of two such drugs in your arsenal, you can be sure that in the event of an accidental attack by a wasp or other insect, itching and pain will be removed quickly and effectively.

 

Useful video: insect sting allergy

 

An example of an effective remedy after insect bites - Mosquitall