Curing the Ails of Summer

Image Gallery A little care plus these simple remedies can keep your summer fun and healthy! MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF

BEE STINGS

Bees usually don't go looking for trouble. If you don't bother them by poking around their nests, chances are you'll never get stung. And even if you do, most bee stings cause little pain, usually lasting from a few hours to a few days. Unless, of course, you're allergic, in which case you need emergency care. But for the vast majority of the population, a little tender loving care is all you'll need.

Scrape out the stinger

One of the best ways to remove a stinger — and avoid any additional pain — is to "scrape" it out of the skin with a credit card, a knife or a long fingernail, advises John Yunginger, M.D., professor and pediatrics consultant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "The biggest mistake people make is trying to pull the stinger out. In doing that, you squeeze the tiny venom sac attached to the stinger and accidentally release more venom into your skin." If you scrape the stinger out, this sac goes undisturbed.

Rub with aspirin

"Rubbing a wet aspirin on the area where you were stung can help neutralize some of the inflammatory agents in the venom," says Herbert Luscombe, M.D., professor emeritus of dermatology at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. If you are allergic or sensitive to aspirin taken by mouth, though, you shouldn't try rubbing it on your skin.

Get tender relief with meat tenderizer

"Make a paste with meat tenderizer and water and apply it to the sting," says Philip Koehler, Ph.D., an entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Laboratory at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "The reason meat tenderizer works is because insect bites and stings are made up of protein, and meat tenderizer breaks down this protein." Use Adolph's, McCormick or another product that contains papain — the active venom-busting ingredient.

Try baking soda

Some doctors say baking soda can ease bee-sting pain. Claude Frazier, M.D., an allergist in Asheville, North Carolina, recommends applying a paste of baking soda and water directly on the sting for 15 or 20 minutes.

Kill the sting with Sting-Kill

One towelette product that works well is called Sting-Kill. "This product is sold at some pharmacies and at beekeeper-supply stores, and I'm told it's very effective," says Dr. Yunginger. Wonder where to find such a store? Call a local beekeeper and ask where you can purchase Sting-Kill; there are beekeeper-supply stores in most metropolitan areas.

Wipe out the pain with ammonia

Sometimes dabbing some household ammonia on the sting also does the trick, says Dr. Luscombe. In fact, ammonia is a key ingredient in a product called After Bite, which is sold over the counter and comes in convenient towelettes that you rub on the sting.

Swallow a pain reliever

"One of the best ways to relieve the pain of a bee sting is to take a mild pain reliever such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol)," says wilderness medicine specialist Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H., professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, Davis. Do not give aspirin to children because of the risk of Reye's syndrome.