Bee Stings

Bee stings are a common problem, and most people realize that in order to reduce the severity of the reaction, it's important to remove the stinger to stop the injection of venom. It has been widely believed that the best way to remove the stinger was to scrape it off--with a knife blade, credit card, or fingernail--but never to pull it out by squeezing it with fingers or a tweezers. The reason for that concern was that the stinger continues to inject venom after it has been left behind by the bee, and squeezing the stinger and venom sac would only pump more venom into the sting.

Because experts found that the venom sac didn't seem to be affected by squeezing, they tested the theory by measuring the amount of venom injected into a volunteer's arm under different removal methods. They report that, as would be expected, the hive-like reaction was bigger the longer the stinger was left in; however, there was no difference in reaction when the stinger was scraped off or pulled off.

They conclude that the common belief about how to remove the stinger may actually be counterproductive, because while someone is looking for the "right kind" of tool to remove the stinger, it's continuing to inject more venom. "The advice", they stress, "should be simply to emphasize that a bee sting should be removed as quickly as possible." (Visscher PK et al: Lancet, August 3, 1996, pp. 301-302)

Comment by Child Health Alert: This sounds quite reasonable. Children who have been stung by bees often find that the pain of the sting is minor compared to the anxiety they pick up from the panicky adults who are their caretakers. The vast majority of stings produce no more than local pain and swelling, and it is most helpful to the child if their care providers are calm; it's easier to be calm if all you have to do is remove the stinger with your fingers, a tweezers, credit card, or whatever happens to be available.

This information has been provided by Child Health Alert. Child Health Alert is a nationally-recognized newsletter devoted to informing parents and child-care professionals about the latest developments affecting child health.

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