Bee Sting

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

At my college, there are usually a lot of bees around. It gets really warm there, which they seem to like, and they usually swarm around the trash cans because they're attracted to the smell of the food. I'm used to seeing them around, but it was so cold yesterday that there really weren't any in the morning so I wasn't looking out for them. I was sitting outside studying before class, and I felt something crawling on my leg. I figure it was a fly or something so I swatted at it without really thinking about it. Well, it was a bee, and it stung my hand, on the inside of one of my fingers. I really started to swell for a few minutes but the health center gave me something to cool the skin off, and the swelling relaxed. Problem solved, right?

Well, I have a history with bees. a) I attract bees and b) while I'm not allergic I still usually react a bit to the venom. I'll be fine for maybe a day, and by the next day I swell up. Last time, my entire hand swelled up and it was red all the way up my wrist. Today, I've started to swell. I can barely bend my finger, and it's swelling into the fleshy bit of the palm where your finger connects to it? This is really uncomfortable, and it's managing to sting and itch at the same time, as well as being rather warm to the touch. The entire rest of my hand is stiff, and I'm not sure if it will swell up too by the end of the day though I think this is going to be it.

My question: Is there anything I can do to get rid of the sting and the itch?? I've been using ice, but the moment I take it off I'm uncomfortable again. I'm afraid to use some Benadryl cream because touching the finger makes the discomfort a lot worse. Other than soaking my hand in ice water and then ignoring it when I become a prune, any suggestions?

[Requin]

I found this off a website, hope it helps:

Unlike wasps who are capable of unleashing a barrage of multiple stings (although they rarely do); a bee can only sting you once. Once it stings, the stinger remains in your skin and the bee goes off to die as its stinger contains part of its nervous system and so it can no longer survive. In understanding how its stinger works, it can help you to comprehend why you need to take action quickly and why a bee sting can often develop into something far more serious.

Basically, the stinger ‘unit’ is made up of 3 components – a barb to pierce the skin, a poisonous ‘sac’ and a set of muscles which works to push the barb, and thus the poison, even deeper into your skin. This unit works for around 20 minutes even after you’ve been stung to pump more poison into your bloodstream.

In all cases following a bee sting, you need to wash the affected area with soap and water or use alcohol wipes having first removed the stinger, of course. Then apply some kind of cold compress – a cloth soaked in cold water or wrapped in ice cubes is best to alleviate the pain somewhat. You can also take paracetamol or some other kind of oral pain killer which will help too. Things like calamine lotion and other antihistamines will also lessen the desire to scratch the wound if it starts to itch.

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

Okie dokes. I guess I'll take some Tylenol and see if we have any calamine lotion--it doesn't take as much rubbing as Benadryl does. Thanks!