Favorite Home Remedies: Dozens of amazing treatments for over 45 common health conditions. With drug costs through the roof, why not give a home remedy a try? Only $12.95 +s/h
Guide to Home Remedies: Learn to make your own low-cost remedies at home for only $2
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Q. A wasp stung me today on the inside of my thumb. I called NHS Direct for advice. Then I logged onto your website and found the method of bicarbonated soda and vinegar. It worked really well! Ten minutes after I first applied it, the pain was nearly gone.A. American readers may not know that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) provides self-care advice by telephone, digital TV and on the Web. We are delighted that making a paste of baking soda and vinegar worked for you. Many other readers have found this home remedy eases the pain of bee or wasp stings.
re: baking soda for bee/wasp stings.
Growing up in the south meant getting stung.
Mama always made a paste of baking soda and water; it worked just fine without vinegar. We used apple cider vinegar on sunburns. Yes, daddy would take a sponge soaked with apple cider vinegar and gently apply it to our sunburned backs, etc. He used to say that it would burn for a little while, then we would feel much better. He was right! we seldom even peeled; (note: our parents were protective of our being in the sun during the "danger hours", but occasionally we did get burned.) Both remedies, baking soda for stings, and vinegar for sunburns worked great. Old timey, but they worked.
Baking soda works very well on other insect bites, too. We also live in the south, and deal with the constant presence of mosquitoes throughout the summer months, in spite of the wonders of modern insect repellants. My kids and I are mildly allergic to them, and get big itchy welts from the bites that often come back intermittently over several days. We've found that a paste of baking soda and water, applied as quickly as possible after a mosquito bite, will almost totally remove the itch and prevent the welt and recurrent "itchiness" of the bite.
I live in SE Virginia, and so do lots of ticks. I have had three bites so far this year; the VA put me on a preventative anti-biotic course against Lyme disease. But the itching is unbearable! Bought three OTC anti-itch remedies; none was very effective. And then I remembered the Graedons' Vinegar/Soda paste, and VOILA! It stops the itching for several hours. And it's cheap!