Home Healthcare for minor bites and stings

Home Healthcare

The following procedure can treat most minor bites and stings at home:

• Place an ice or a cold pack onto the bitten or stung area.
• Carefully remove any stinger in the skin.
• Remove the stinger from the bottom with tweezers or scrape the stinger out from the skin with a credit card or nail file, being careful not to squeeze the top of the stinger (venom sacks) to prevent more venom entering the skin.
• Take an antihistamine such as Benadryl® if itch develops—this medication causes drowsiness, so you should not drive or do dangerous activities after you take the pill.
• Apply to the bite or sting hydrocortisone cream, calamine lotion, or a baking soda paste.
• Apply to the affected area a gel or a lotion containing at least 80% aloe vera.