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Baking soda for stings

Make a paste of baking soda and water and apply to wasp or hornet stings. This will soothe as well as keep any swelling down. Using a thick paste, just leave it over the stung area for about five minutes and you will find great relief.

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SCIENCE?! Comments By: Jeff on 2004-09-03 I grew up in Florida (first 15 yrs of my life) and because of the sub-tropical climate, we had plethoric stinging/biting insects and caterpillars. Bees, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets....everything. My friends in I would frequently go on "expeditions" into surrounding woods and, thus, were frequently stung. My mother would always make a baking soda paste to put on it, but I was wondering if there was any scientific basis to this for stings. I know fire ants' main pain-causing toxin is formic acid, but formic acid is present in only minute amounts in bees; it's mostly a BASIC (in regards to pH, i.e. not ACIDIC) chemical called mellitin. I know baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is quite basic itself. So to neutralize an acid, sodium bicarb would do the trick, but why apply a BASIC paste to a BASIC toxin?   Using baking sode paste for hornet sting really worked Comments By: QualityJo on 2006-06-30 Last night I was stung twice on my face by a hornet, and my husband suggested the baking soda paste. Worked wonderfully!   worked for my little boy Comments By: Amanda on 2007-08-05 My 4 year old got stung last night while I was at work. My husband tried the baking soda paste and it worked beautifully!!!   tryin it now! Comments By: nadine on 2007-11-09 i got stung by a wasp and im trying the baking powder thing now.. it already feels cooler and less itchy *5 mins later*... it does actually feel better but it still painful but it's not as itchy!   wasp stings Comments By: carol on 2008-07-31 my husband got 2 wasp stings one above the left eye and the other at the right temple. they are swollen and red. i'm going to try the baking soda paste. thanks for the advice.   Baking Soda for Bee Sting Comments By: Kim on 2008-08-29 My two year old received a bing sting yesterday. Needless to say it was quite traumatic! The baking soda paste worked wonders. I also gave him a little ibuprofen. He seemed to calm down very quickly after the paste was applied.   I applied a baking soda paste to a red wasp sting.. Comments By: Lynn on 2008-09-14 The baking soda paste does really work. It stung me on the front of my neck, in a very delicate area. There is not that much skin so it really did hurt. Not like stinging you on a leg or arm where there is more meat. It is still hurting a little, but when I applied the baking soda paste it almost immediately stopped hurting. It will still be a little sore, but I believe the baking soda paste kept down the swelling, and the pain. It really works!!   science explained Comments By: Suzy on 2009-09-14 Baking soda, (sodium bicarbonate) has the chemical formula NaHCO3. It is amphoteric in nature, meaning that it can act as an acid, by acceping a H+ ion to form H2CO3(replacing the sodium ion Na+) or as a base by donating the H+ to form CO32- ion. (*chemical formulae incomplete - need super & sub scripts)   Baking Soda is the bomb! Comments By: Stung when my back was turned on 2010-06-16 I just got stung by a wasp on the upper back of my thigh. I ran to my neighbor and she made baking soda paste. As soon as she applied the paste, the pain of the sting was taken away. It was incredible. I highly recommend it!!   ~BAKING SODA DUZ WORK~ Comments By: Erik Mendoza on 2010-06-24 ~MA FRIEND GOT STUNG BY A WASP AT THE POOL. I APPLIED BAKING SODA AND IT WORK VERY GOOD FOR HER.~   Used Baking soda Comments By: Bunny on 2010-07-17 I got sting on the bicep and the redness went dow to my elbow. Used Baking soda and the redness went down but it still iched like mad. But I think it somewhat helped. Will try again. The sting still hurts. Funny the sting hurts where I did not get sting at.   only relief at all Comments By: jdawnb92188 on 2011-06-25 I got stung by a wasp on my finger last night and my finger is literally swollen to the point my fingernail is detaching from the sides. I've iced it, taken Benedryl, done whatever I can think to do and have only found relief with the baking soda paste. I don't feel the fever, pulsing of blood through the swollenness, or pain! Literally works wonders.   Science teacher was right! Comments By: lori on 2011-07-06 My high school science teacher made this baking soda paste 30 years ago for me after I was stung. Ten minutes ago I got stung by a wasp on my finger. Immediately it was painful and swelled up fast. So I used this paste and it really quickly took away most of the pain. Yes, my old science teacher was right!   WASP STING Comments By: JAMES on 2011-08-23 JUST READ THIS COLUMN AND USED IT ON MY WIFE. WASP STING BETWEEN THE TOES. IT WORKED AWESOME!