Treating insect bites: here’s how
What helps against mosquito bites? What to do with a wasp or bee sting? Questions like these arise especially in the summer months, when stinging insects are usually at their most active. The first thing you should do is keep calm. This is particularly important if the insect that has stung you is still nearby or if other insects are buzzing around. Move away slowly without waving your arms.
Then look at the area where you were stung. If you only have discomfort around the sting site and are not allergic to any insect venom that may have been injected, you do not necessarily need to see a doctor.
Bee sting: what to do?
In the case of a bee sting, the venomous stinger often remains in the skin. Remove it without crushing it, otherwise you will force the venom from the venom sac at the end of the stinger into the wound. Therefore, do not use your fingers, but scrape the stinger out from the side with your fingernails.
Wasp sting: what to do?
In principle, the same applies to a wasp sting as to a bee sting. However, the stinger does not usually remain in the skin – wasps keep it and can sting several times (unlike bees).
Medication against itching
The itching often tempts you to scratch, but you should avoid doing so. If you scratch, bacteria can enter the wound and infect it. Special sticks or gels with active ingredients such as tripelennamine or dimetindene (antihistamines) relieve unbearable itching caused by insect bites. Treat the sting site with these as indicated in the package leaflet. Such itch-relieving medication can be used to treat mosquito bites, for example – they are often particularly itchy.
Herbal remedies for itching caused by insect bites include lavender oil and St. John’s wort oil (red oil). The two ingredients linalool and linalyl acetate in lavender have a calming, pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effect. Hyperforin, an active ingredient in St. John’s wort, is particularly helpful for inflammation caused by scratched mosquito bites. The pharmacist will advise you on the correct application.
How to treat painful insect bites
Insect bites: Treatment by a doctor
In some cases, a doctor may need to treat insect bites.
Insect venom allergy
Call an emergency doctor if an insect bite causes a severe allergic reaction. You will recognize this by severe swelling around the sting site, accompanied by symptoms such as shortness of breath, swelling of the face and neck and severe general reddening of the skin. In extreme cases, there is even a risk of life-threatening anaphylactic shock (the most severe form of allergic reaction)! Those affected need medication quickly (antihistamines, cortisone, possibly adrenaline) to get the overreaction of the immune system under control.
If you know that you have an insect venom allergy, you should always carry appropriate emergency medication with you and be trained in its use.
When you should also see a doctor
Insect bites in the mouth or throat also require immediate medical attention. The swelling of the mucous membrane can cause breathing difficulties!
Have your family doctor treat bee or mosquito bites if the symptoms persist for several days. This is usually due to an intensified local reaction. Your doctor may prescribe a cream containing glucocorticoids (“cortisone”). This relieves the inflammation by suppressing the immune system.
