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Q. You recently wrote about rubbing a cut onion on a bee sting to ease the pain. Swiss farmers have practiced this for centuries. In 1949, when I was stung by a bee right near the knee-cap and was hurting badly, my farmer grandmother gave me a freshly cut onion and told me to rub it on the sting site for 5 minutes. After that, I could not even feel the sting or any pain anymore. I have used this remedy many times since.A. Thanks for this historical perspective. Onion contains compounds that can break down the proteins in bee venom.
We also heard from someone who experienced a different kind of sting: "Several years ago I was stung on the leg by a scorpion. It was horribly painful. My leg turned red and started swelling above and below the site of the sting. At my mom's suggestion, I tried fresh-cut onion on the sting and it worked great. In about 20 minutes the redness had completely disappeared, the swelling stopped and the pain was almost completely gone."
Some scorpion stings can be dangerous. If they cause numbness or tingling, blurry vision or muscle twitches, emergency treatment is advisable.
I just saw this comment about onions for bee stings in your column a few weeks ago so when I got stung by a bee yesterday, I ran to the computer and went to The Peoples Pharmacy to find out what to do. Sure enough, the fresh cut onion worked! I was pain free in 5 minutes. Thank you!