Bee sting Infection Issue

KONASDAD · July 31, 2006, 03:06:08 PM

Wendesday evening I checked my weak hive w/o gear on. I got stung twice. once on back and one on forearm. The one on my forearm swelled up overnite. I became conscerned and went ot o doctor the next day as redness was spreading up my arm and into my hand. My arm was hot to the touch and very itchy and swollen I wound up recieving intravenous antibiotics for staff infection/cellulitus. Doctor had no opinion if bee sting was culprit or not. Has anyone ever gotten an infection from a bee sting?

Kathyp · July 31, 2006, 03:23:48 PM

the doctor shotgunned you. that's ok. a staph infection is always a possibility when the skin in broken and if you were scratching, it was. cellulites can be a tissue reaction to any kind of irritant in the tissue. there are multiple agents in bee stings, all are potential irritants and some are cell disrupters.

it could also have been your normal reaction. no way to know. last bee sting i got, was swollen and hot for over a week. you could see it for more than two weeks.

next time you get stung, pop 50 mg of benadryl and see if it makes a difference.

randydrivesabus · July 31, 2006, 03:53:55 PM

i get the itchy/swelling thing when stung. and the area gets hot. after a few days its back to normal.

KONASDAD · July 31, 2006, 04:06:11 PM

I took benadryl for day and a half before going to doctor. never had this degree of reaction. My other sting site was no problem at all. itching and swelling for a few hours only.

yoderski · July 31, 2006, 07:12:16 PM

As a physician, I can agree that he overtreated. You just had a more prominent reaction to the venom for some reason. It would not get infected that fast. But doctors want to cover all the bases, and I understand that sentiment too.

Jerrymac · July 31, 2006, 08:06:02 PM

Most of my stings are itchy redspots looking like large mosquito bites. But when they get me in/at a joint it swells turns red and appears to spread up the arm. My last one was on the inside of the hand at the first joint of the middle finger. The back of my hand swoll up big time.

randydrivesabus · July 31, 2006, 08:45:28 PM

this morning on the way to work on NPR they were talking about how certain cells (mast cells maybe) in ones body can reduce the effect of venom...both snake and bee. apparently these cells are prevalent in people with allergies.

qa33010 · July 31, 2006, 08:54:49 PM

The last time I was stung was on the top of the head. Not much swelling, mainly came to a head and on the third day it popped and oozed for a couple more days and was gone.

The one before that was behind the ear, about 1/4" above the ear lobe. Whole side of my head swelled for three days and was gone except for itching for a week. Great comic relief for my wife.

My younger son was stung on the elbow after he rolled a bee. Two days later he got an allergy shot in the same arm. Swelled like nobodies business. He admitted to not saying he was stung in the arm he presented to the tech for his shot. Developed cellulillilituds... what kathyp said. We never thought there would be a problem...we are now educated, as well as no athletics for an hour after the shot.

David

bassman1977 · August 01, 2006, 12:49:30 AM

I got nailed on the back of my neck and had a lump there for 2 months. I got nailed twice in both ankles and they itched for a week and that was it. The two I got in the webbings of my fingers hurt for 10 seconds and that was it for that.

Wow...I got zapped 6 times this summer... :?

thomashton · August 01, 2006, 11:53:03 AM

Only been hit 6 times this summer too. All have been my hands (except on one my calf). Shows what happens to a dummy when he rarely wears gloves.

Nearly all stings were from me putting my hand down in the wrong place at the wrong time--essentially right on the stinger. All hand stings hurt and swell, but I've noticed around joints they especially do so.

The only one that REALLY hurt was under my finger nail. I jumped around and swore to those bees I would come back in 3 minutes and gas them. Of course I did not. Now they'll never take me seriously. :?

KONASDAD · August 01, 2006, 01:29:41 PM

I've been stung a number of times and this is the only one that had this reaction. I dont believe the doctor over reacted. I wouldn't have gone to the Doc if it was just a reaction. My arm swelled so fast it didn't fit into my dress shirt for work. It was hot to touch from shoulder to wrist and had red streaks, accompanied w. low grade feaver. The reduction in swelling began six hours after IV antibiotics and the "heat" discipated over two days.

Wombat · August 01, 2006, 02:10:24 PM

I got tagged earlier this year right on the inside of the joint of my right index finger...hand was pretty swollen for a while (nothing too unusual, and it was the first of the season anyway) - but I now have a tiny little scar on my finger where I was stung. Weird!

Jeff L · August 01, 2006, 11:54:05 PM

Rookie here with my first sting from my first hive. Noticed from reading these postings that peoples sting symptoms seem to vary a lot. Have been doing my homework on bees and read that guard bees are designated that job for a reason. Bees become guard bees at a certain life cycle stage because this is when they have the maximum amount of venom. So maybe this is why some stings swell and persist while others go away quickly. Just a thought.

My sting mark after day four is red, hard, swollen and larger than a dollar coin. But every other sting I've received over the years have been very mild and went away fast. Hmmm.
J.

Brian D. Bray · August 02, 2006, 12:56:46 AM

Don't swell up or get itchy and I hurt so bad elsewhere that I don't notice any pain from the stings. I do get a small white deposit of puss like material at the site of the sting which goes away after a few days.

amymcg · August 02, 2006, 07:07:34 AM

last week I got stung on my ring finger just as I was putting the lid back on the last hive. I took my ring off right away, and was glad I did as my finger swelled up for a day and a half.

Kathyp · August 02, 2006, 11:21:36 AM

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Rookie here with my first sting from my first hive. Noticed from reading these postings that peoples sting symptoms seem to vary a lot. Have been doing my homework on bees and read that guard bees are designated that job for a reason. Bees become guard bees at a certain life cycle stage because this is when they have the maximum amount of venom. So maybe this is why some stings swell and persist while others go away quickly. Just a thought.

could be. wonder also if it has a lot to do with the amount of venom injected, and i'm sure from my own experience, that it has a lot to do with the site of the sting.

with snakes, you can get dry bites. wonder if you can get dry stings from bees? :)

Hi-Tech · August 02, 2006, 09:59:01 PM

I also think it is how deep the stinger goes. If i get stung through my jeans or jacket, it is never as bad as when i get stung on bare skin...

COLVIN · August 08, 2006, 03:50:43 PM

WHEN I GET STUNG AND IT HAPPENS MORE THAN NOT, I KEEP AND OLD HALF DULL STAINLESS STEEL KNIFE THAT I IMMEDIATELY SCRAPE THE STING WITH. THIS DRIVES OUT THE STINGER AND THE POSION. YOU MUST DO IT QUICKLY OR THE DAMAGE HAS DONE BEEN DONE. IT WORKS FOR ME.

COLVIN

Mici · August 08, 2006, 03:54:36 PM

jep, first few seconds are crucial.
heh, yesterday one lady stung me in my left leg, heh it's twice the size of the right one, and warm to tuch (a bit exaggerated, but close to the truth).

Mici · August 08, 2006, 04:59:51 PM

heh, i've read a lot lately too. the thing is, you shouldn't cool it. by cooling it, you slow down the decaying of poison, so you swallow the next day. they say you should put something warm on it, so the poison would decay faster.

yes, you have to scrape it off, not pick, by picking you squeeze some of the poison out

to bad i never do as i should :?