Pain and other symptoms of a bee sting can worsen if you don't get the stinger out quickly. The longer the stinger stays in your skin, the more venom it releases, adding to your pain and swelling. This can also increase the chances of an allergic reaction.
30 Minutes After
The first few minutes after a bee or wasp sting is all about safety. Once you are inside and calm, consider any first aid you may need. The most common symptoms are burning, slight swelling, and a red welt at the sting site.
It will start to look and feel worse. “You can get redness and swelling,” Dr. Wright explains. “It can also feel warm or tender to touch, and if your infection is advancing, you could even get pus in the area.” Other symptoms include redness that spreads on the skin, a fever and chills, or increased pain.
You probably won't have a severe allergic reaction the first time you are stung. But even if your first reaction to a sting is mild, allergic reactions can get worse with each sting. Your next reaction may be more severe or even deadly.
Pain and other symptoms of a bee sting can worsen if you don't get the stinger out quickly. The longer the stinger stays in your skin, the more venom it releases, adding to your pain and swelling. This can also increase the chances of an allergic reaction.
Severe allergic reaction
A small percentage of people who are stung by a bee or other insect quickly develop anaphylaxis. Signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis include: Skin reactions, including hives and itching and flushed or pale skin. Difficulty breathing.
Wasps and many bees can sting more than once because they are able to pull out their stinger without injuring themselves. Only honeybees have special hooks on their stinger that keep the stinger in the skin after a person is stung. The stinger gets torn out of the bee's body as it tries to fly away.
You'll likely see a red bump. If a stinger was left behind, you'll also see a small black filament sticking out of the center. It may have a bulbous end, which is the venom sac. If the skin around the stinger is loose, pull it tight to get a better look.
You should call 911 and seek immediate emergency treatment if you or someone near you develops a severe reaction to a bee sting or if there are multiple bee stings. The following symptoms are a sign of an allergic reaction: Nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Stomach cramps.
Delayed reaction.
Sometimes you may not experience a reaction until 4 hours or longer after the sting occurs. At that point you may begin to experience hives, fever, joint pain, swelling, and headache.
Large Local Reactions and Bee Sting Swelling Days Later
A local reaction can produce very uncomfortable pain, itching, and swelling. Some of this swelling can be delayed, increasing over 24 to 48 hours. It may take 3 to 10 days for these symptoms to resolve.
Apply hydrocortisone cream or calamine lotion to ease redness, itching or swelling. If itching or swelling is bothersome, take an oral antihistamine that contains diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or chlorpheniramine. Avoid scratching the sting area. This will worsen itching and swelling and increase your risk of infection.
Some people may have a stronger allergic reaction to an insect's venom, leading to bee sting side effects, such as a very large, swollen welt. The welt may grow in size over a 48-hour period. This reaction remains local to the sting site and doesn't spread to other areas of the body.
A large local reaction can be defined as swelling at the site of the sting exceeding 10 centimeters. These symptoms may continue developing for up to a few hours after the incident. If the sting happened on your arms or legs, the symptoms could last for days or weeks while still being considered a local reaction.
If the stinger remains in your skin, remove it by scraping over it with your fingernail or a piece of gauze. Never use tweezers to remove a stinger, as squeezing it can cause more venom to release into your skin. Wash the sting with soap and water. Apply a cold pack to reduce swelling.
Local reactions – Local reactions are the most common. These stings will look like a bad mosquito bite, with swelling at the bite site. The area will be red, the center may be white and there may be a small brown stinger still in your skin. A welt may also form.
You shouldn't try to remove it with tweezers, because the stingers of some flying insects – like honeybees – contain a venom sac. “If you use a tweezer to remove the stinger, you risk releasing more venom from the sac,” Dempsey says. This isn't the case with wasps and hornets, which don't leave behind a venom sac.
To remove a stinger, scrape the back of a knife or other straight-edged object across the stinger. Do not use tweezers since it may squeeze the venom sac and increase the amount of venom released into the wound. Next wash the site thoroughly with soap and water.
If there's a stinger in the wound, remove it quickly — within a few seconds if possible. Scraping the stinger out rather than squeezing or pulling it out may reduce the amount of venom that is injected. However, it is more important to remove the stinger quickly than to be overly focused on technique.
Apply baking soda directly to the wound, covering it completely. Next, pour white vinegar over it and let the bubbles do the rest. As it bubbles, it draws the venom out and helps diffuse the pain. Let it stand for 5 minutes and then rinse with warm water.
Normal swelling from venom can increase for 48 hours after the sting. The redness can last 3 days. The swelling can last 7 days.
Bee venom contains proteins that affect the skin cells and immune system, resulting in pain and swelling at the site of the sting, even if a person is not allergic to the venom. In those who are allergic to bee stings, the venom triggers a more severe immune system reaction.
Approximately 10 percent of people develop severe redness and swelling after a sting. This is called a large local reaction. The area may become large (4 inches [10 cm] or more) over 1 to 2 days and then slowly resolve over 5 to 10 days.