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Email a friendMeat Tenderizer and Vinegar for Stings
Home Remedies
The meat tenderizer trick was our very first home remedy in the original edition of The People's Pharmacy®.* We stumbled across it in the Journal of the American Medical Association.**
Dr. Harry L. Arnold of the American Health Institute suggested mixing 1/4 teaspoon of tenderizer with 1 teaspoon of water to make a paste. Smearing this on a bee or wasp sting relieves the pain.
A variation was suggested by a lifeguard in Hawaii who had to deal with insect and jellyfish stings. He used a paste of meat tenderizer and vinegar and claimed it was magical.
- Graedon, Joe. The People's Pharmacy®. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1976; p. 54.
** Arnold, [Harry L.] "Immediate Treatment of Insect Stings." JAMA 1972; 220:585.
Copyright (c) 1999 by Graedon Enterprises, Inc. From The People's Pharmacy Guide To Home And Herbal Remedies by Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon. Reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC.
Reader Comments
My grandmother lived on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay and always kept a supply of meat tenderizer at hand to neutralize the inevitable jellyfish stings we all got in August. She also used baking soda sometimes, I think.
Posted by: Susannah Fox | May 29, 2007 1:01 PM
I grew up in Texas, where fire ants are a daily nuisance. My mother always kept meat tenderizer on hand and would treat our ant bites with it. She would make a cold compress by wetting a paper towel, sprinkling meat tenderizer on it, and placing the cool, wet towel on our bite with the meat tenderizer down. This always reduced the swelling, itching, and burning.
Posted by: Laural Radmore-Savova | June 5, 2007 12:20 AM
I just got an ant bite yesterday. I called my Mother and she suggested the meat tenderizer. It works so well, the pain is just about gone.
Posted by: Lexi | June 29, 2007 11:58 AM