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Onions to soothe stings

If you get stung by a yellow jacket( Wasp, hornet) etc, cut an onion and put it directly on the sting area. Instantly the sting is gone. Any type of green onion will do just fine.

Visitors comments

Onion for yellow jacket stings Comments By: Lily on 2004-08-16

It works. My roomate thought I was crazy when I was bitten yesterday. In her panic she grabbed the bag of potatos instead of the onions but we worked it out. I quickly cut a chunk off the onion and squeezed the juice on to the my finger after removing the stinger with tweezers. From sting to onion was probably less than a minute. After keeping the onion on the site for about 10 minutes I plunged my finger into ice water and took 4 Motrin to counter the inflammation. 24 hours later I have no pain and I am typing this. I have nominal swelling in the finger.

It's TRUE! Comments By: Kelly on 2008-08-12

A freshly cut onion will draw the poison out of your stings, and works best when applied to bee stings. It helps with other stings. My mom was just swarmmed by yellow jackets and I helped her and quickly looked online for other remedies because they all swarmed in her hair and got stuck... it's hard to apply an onion in a thick head of hair... so I saw that you can use Apple Cider Vinegar to -soothe- pain, and it helped.

sunflower Comments By: Sam on 2009-06-26

Brilliant tip! Thanks, it worked within a minute. When Benadryl (medicine for stings) didnt.

:)

Amazing best advice Comments By: Susan Curtis on 2009-07-17

I read this piece of advice after being stung on the bum, yes bum this morning after the little bugger got in my bed! Brave wasp, I have a big bottom! Well that was 15 hours ago and it was still stinging, so after benedryl (meant fir stings)! 3 times it still hurt so out came the onion, I squezzed the juices out of half an onion the rubbed it on the sting and then held it there, after 5 mins I'm in no pain and get sit down without it hurting, so even 15 hrs later it still works, thank you x

Excellent tip Comments By: Lebe on 2009-07-31

I must admit I was sceptical but it really does work. I was stung by a wasp about 20 minutes ago but after applying the cut onion for a few minutes there was hardly any sign of the discomfort.

Thanks very much

wasp sting/onion pain relief Comments By: eolux on 2009-08-20

yup - this is working after a few minutes where the pain was very sharp and spreading just a few minutes before....now much duller and i can concentrate again! thanks

Fantastic Comments By: laura on 2009-09-10

I have been jumping around in pain for about 15mins after being stung by a wasp on the foot. I took to the internet for help and found this site. It's truly fantastic advice, pain and swelling gone, thanks!

Works great, allowed me to sleep Comments By: TeeC on 2011-03-19

I was stung on the sole of my foot about 1pm and continually iced the area until about 10pm. However, if the ice pack got warm or I left it off for more than 5mins, the pain was intolerable (about 7 or 8 out of 10).
I tried ibuprofen, paracetamol, codeine and a topical anasthaetic cream. They didn't do anything to help with the pain.
About 1.30am, unable to sleep and desperate for relief, I found this remedy.
I sliced an onion bit by bit and rubbed it on the area, it immediately soothed the area. After about 10mins the pain had reduced to about a 5/10. Enough for me to actually sleep.

Works great Comments By: Norma Hedger on 2011-06-07

Got stung on my elbow. My neighbor recommended onion. I didn't have one so I made a baking soda paste and wrapped it on my elbow. It helped but next day I it was swollen, red and hot to the touch. I got an onion, cut it in half and wrapped it on with an ace bandage all day. The the redness is gone and the swelling is almost gone.