Quick & Handy Home Remedies: Find practical, affordable ways to deal with some of life's most common ailments, proving that getting back to the basics has its reward. Only $16.95 +s/h
Was this information helpful? Average rating: 4.8/5 (4 votes)
What do you think? Click the stars to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
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.
Was this information helpful? Average rating: 4.8/5 (4 votes)
What do you think? Click the stars to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
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!
I was stung on my palm about an hour ago, by a wasp (first wasp sting ever.) I immediately put a baking soda and water mix on the effected area... about the size of a quarter. Then, I took a Benedryl Tab, because I react with severe itching to insect bites of all kinds. My hand throbbed and was a tad stingy/itchy after about a 1/2 hour... nothing serious but definitely bugging me. Then, I found this website and read about adding vinegar. I added a couple drops to the drying baking soda and voila... the irritation disappeared almost immediately. Perhaps it was the Benedryl kicking in? But, the timing, leads me to believe the bubbling chemical reaction of the vinegar, helped speed up the neutralizing effect.
My pain and irritation is all but gone and I can type without a problem. The baking soda poultice is now removed, and I'm good to go. I vote for the remedy with vinegar plus baking soda... but that's just my personal opinion, you may be different... then there's the Benedryl to factor in, also...
I always heard to cover the hole with baking soda, mud, tobacco. My grandfather said to cover the hole because the more the sting is open to air it swells and is painful. I have a friend that recently got stung by a Wasp and she didn't have any baking soda and used New Skin. It worked real well, she never had any swelling. I told her to cover the hole and she did. Was my grandfather's advice correct?
My mother grew up in the early 1900s on a small hollow farm at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, eastern Kentucky, USA. In such isolation, most health problems and injuries were treated using home remedies. She was taught to use vinegar and baking soda on stings, and used this paste on my infant daughter when bee-stung. It worked.