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Other treatment If you or your child has severe reactions, your doctor may prescribe an epinephrine shot that you keep with you or your child at all times. Preventing stings To reduce your chances of being stung: Stay away from places where insects nest. Wear shoes, long sleeves, and long pants when you are outdoors. Don't wear perfume or scented lotions. Stinging insect hypersensitivity: A practice parameter update Annals of Allergy Asthma Immunology , 1 : 28— Accessed February 3, Allergy diagnostic testing: An updated practice parameter.

House H Insect bites and stings. In MR Dambro, ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Reisman RE Insect sting allergy. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press. Schwartz LB Systemic anaphylaxis, food allergy, and insect sting allergy. In L Goldman, A Shafer, eds. Philadelphia: Saunders. Tankersley MS The stinging impact of the imported fire ant. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 8 4 : — If you think you have been stung by one of these insects, tell an adult immediately.

Some people are allergic to stings from insects. The symptoms of an allergic reaction include hives red patches on the skin that sting and itch , nausea, dizziness, a tight feeling in the throat, or difficulty breathing. A person who has these symptoms needs medical attention right away. Call the doctor if you or your parent are worried about the redness, swelling, or itching.

Sometimes, the doctor will suggest giving a medicine called an antihistamine to control these symptoms. If someone has an allergic reaction to a bee sting, a doctor must immediately give a shot that fights the reaction.

People who know that they are allergic to bee stings also sometimes carry emergency medicine that they can give to themselves to prevent a severe reaction from happening. If you know you are allergic to bees or other insects, you'll want to take extra steps to avoid getting bitten or stung.

You may want to avoid places where they spend time, like gardens or orchards in bloom. If a bee or wasp flies around you, stay calm and don't swat at it. If you get stung, tell an adult and go indoors right away. A Bee Stung Me! Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. However, even without a lodged stinger, wasp venom can cause significant pain and irritation.

In either case, prompt treatment is important for alleviating symptoms and complications. The majority of people without sting allergies will show only minor symptoms during and after a wasp sting. The initial sensations can include sharp pain or burning at the sting site. Redness, swelling, and itching can occur as well.

A tiny white mark may be visible in the middle of the welt where the stinger punctured your skin. Usually, the pain and swelling recedes within several hours of being stung. Large local reactions to wasp stings include extreme redness and swelling that increases for two or three days after the sting. Nausea and vomiting can also occur. Let your doctor know if you have a large local reaction after a wasp sting.

They may direct you to take an over-the-counter OTC antihistamine medication such as Benadryl to reduce your discomfort. You could have one strong reaction and never show the same symptoms again. However, a large local reaction could be the way your body routinely responds to wasp stings. The most severe allergic reactions to wasp stings are referred to as anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis occurs when your body goes into shock in response to wasp venom. Most people who go into shock after a wasp sting do so very quickly. Epinephrine has several effects that help stabilize the blood pressure, increase the heart rate and strength, and help respiration return to normal. Anaphylactic shock is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment.

Learn more about this dangerous condition, including what to do if someone you know is experiencing it. You can treat mild and moderate reactions to wasp stings at home. While treating your sting at home, you should:. Use hydrocortisone cream or calamine lotion if itching or skin irritation becomes bothersome. In some cases a person will disrupt a hive or swarm of bees and get multiple stings.

Some types of bees — such as Africanized honeybees — are more likely than are other bees to swarm, stinging in a group. If you get stung more than a dozen times, the accumulation of venom may induce a toxic reaction and make you feel quite sick.

Signs and symptoms include:. Multiple stings can be a medical emergency in children, older adults, and people who have heart or breathing problems. In most cases, bee stings don't require a visit to your doctor. In more-severe cases, you'll need immediate care. Call or other emergency services if you're having a serious reaction to a bee sting that suggests anaphylaxis, even if it's just one or two signs or symptoms.

If you were prescribed an emergency epinephrine autoinjector EpiPen, Auvi-Q, others , use it right away as your doctor directed. Seek prompt medical care if you've been swarmed by bees and have multiple stings. To sting, a bee jabs a barbed stinger into the skin.

Bee sting venom contains proteins that affect skin cells and the immune system, causing pain and swelling around the sting area. In people with a bee sting allergy, bee venom can trigger a more-serious immune system reaction.

You're more likely to have an allergic reaction to bee stings if you've had an allergic reaction to a bee sting in the past, even if it was minor. Adults tend to have more-severe reactions than children do and are more likely to die of anaphylaxis than children are. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.