I have unfortunate news...
While I was walking around my property this morning I suddenly felt a VERY sharp, burning pain on my thigh and when I reached down I swatted away a flying, stinging insect.
It was either one of these -a mud dauber:
Or one of these - a European hornet:
The latter is very nasty and aggressive without provocation. What did I do to them to deserve such rage?
Because stinging and biting insects are part and parcel of living on a homestead/farm it's very important to know how to treat stings and bites to avoid unnecessary pain and discomfort - especially for children.
How to Treat a Sting:
- Remove the stinger if it's still in the skin.
- Clean the area with soap and water.
- Add enough water to a small amount of baking soda to create a paste, and apply to the sting. Leave it for around 30 minutes or so then wash it off. This helps with pain and redness.
- Hold an ice pack to the area to reduce swelling.
- Allow 2-5 days for the sting to heal.
- Apply tea tree oil to the sting (never apply tea tree oil to broken skin) to prevent scarring and speed up the healing process.
Yikes! I wish you a speedy recovery from being stung! Thanks for the info on how to treat a string. I hope to never have to use it! Lol
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I hope so too! I guess the only way to truly avoid stings is to stay indoors 100% of the time, where's the fun in that? Curse those fun-ruiners... LOL
Thank you for the well-wishes!
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::begins crafting human size wasp proof bubble::
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Somehow I manage to get yellow jacket stings every year. Last year I got a few on my arm, and treated them with baking soda. My whole arm was swollen but we had given a day at the famous New Hampshire Motor Speedway to my grandson for a Christmas present so we had to go.
It was unbearably hot and my arm was itching terribly.
My son came out of the bathroom still drying his hands on a paper towel so I took it and wrapped my arm.
Instant relief!
I got some more towels and wet them and made a cool fashion statement at the races.
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Wow, that's a feat to go to a race suffering from ANY ailment let alone multiple stings! I guess the towels acted sort of like a temporary ice pack. Congratulations on being super resourceful and making it through! Thank you for sharing your story~
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Hornets are born pissed off. All you gotta do is look at them the wrong way and they'll come after you.
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