What You Need To Know About Caring For A Bee Sting

Many people have allergies to bee stings, but don't even know how allergic and how serious it is until they get stung. If you go throughout your childhood without having a sting, then all the sudden are stung in adulthood, you may not know what to expect. Whether you are a child or an adult, it is important that you prepare yourself to know what to do in the case that you get stung by an insect and are allergic. Here are some tips.

1. Get The Stinger Out

The stinger usually has a good deal of allergens on it. Thus, you need to try and get the stinger out. There are many ways you can do this. One of the most common ways is to take mud and put it on the site that was stung. Let the mud dry for a moment, it will make a crust around the stinger, and the pull the mud off. This should help to remove the stinger without breaking it.

If you have a skilled person around you can use some tweezers to pull it out. But be very careful and don't use your fingers, as this might cause you to break the stinger and leave parts of it in your skin.

2. Ice The Area

Next put some ice on the area, this will help to control the swelling, which will isolate the allergen to one spot. If you only have a mild allergy, the area will swell, become red and it will itch and burn. If you have a serious allergy it could mean that the whole body reacts causing you to have breathing problems, hives all over the body, and so forth. Either way; ice the site initially.

3. Take an Over The Counter Steroid

Many people who have bee sting allergies don't know that they have it, so they don't generally have something like epinephrine on hand in the form of an EPI pen. If you start to feel symptoms coming on, even if it is just the site swelling and itching, take some Benadryl or another anti-histamine. This will stop the progress until you can get to the doctor. If the person seems to be going into anaphylaxis and they have a hard time breathing, you should get them to an ER or call 911.

By understanding what to do in the case that you or someone else is stung and have an allergic reaction you can protect yourself. For more information, visit websites like http://www.oakbrookallergists.com.