Allergic Reaction to Bee Sting

Being stung by a bee may not be a very painful experience in most cases, but the swelling and redness that appears as a result of the sting can be quite an unpleasant scenario. Some people have a lower threshold of pain, and a simple bee sting can hurt them a lot, but this is quite rare as the pain that accompanies the sting is quite minute. There are cases though, where the individual who has been stung develops an allergic reaction to bee sting. This culminates in a lot of complications and discomfort that affect the person.

Bees are not aggressive by nature, and they will sting a person only if they feel threatened by that person, or if they feel that the person is too close to their nest. Being stung by a bee is quite a common occurrence, but for people who get an allergic reaction to bee stings this seemingly small dilemma turns into something quite big. Of course, the type of bee that has stung a person also plays a part in the severity of an allergic reaction to bee stings. A small honey bee does not cause much discomfort with its sting as mush as say - a wasp, a bumble bee, or a hornet.

Bee Sting
When we talk about being stung by a bee, it refers to the injection or the poking of the human skin by a stinger that is present on the tail of all bees. This stinger transfers a protein venom into the skin which initially causes a certain degree of pain, and soon after causes some form of local reaction, or even a widespread allergic reaction.

Being stung by a honey bee means that the stinger of the bee is left in your skin, as it contains barbs which poke into the skin. When the bee tries to fly away after stinging, the abdomen of the bee gets ripped out as the stinger is attached to the abdomen, and the bee dies soon. You should immediately remove the stinger from your skin as it could cause an infection if it is not dislodged soon enough. Bumble bees and wasps on the other hand, can repeatedly sting a person as their stinger does not get removed after stinging a person.

These are bigger and deadlier species of bees, and an allergic reaction to bee sting will be more intense if the type of bee that stung you was a wasp, a bumble bee, or a hornet. It is said that the venom of the sting of bees contains nine different chemicals that cause varying reactions on the human skin. Thus the possibility of developing an allergic reaction to bee sting (also known as an anaphylactic reaction) is real, and quite high.

Symptoms
Most people simply experience local reactions to bee and wasp stings, so the dangers are not too serious and these can be treated quite easily as well. But some people, owing to their genetic makeups, are more prone to developing an allergic reaction to bee stings, and this can be quite harmful if it is left untreated. The following are the most commonly seen symptoms of an allergic reaction to bee sting.

• Excessive wheezing and difficulty in swallowing.
• Difficulty in breathing.
• Increases pulse rate.
• Extreme dizziness.
• Sharp drop in blood pressure.
• Swelling of the throat, the face, and the mouth.
• Feeling of anxiety and restlessness.
• Hives on the skin that look like inflamed and itchy rashes, and are rapidly spreading to many parts of the skin.

There are some severe allergic reactions to bee stings that sometimes lead to a cardiac arrest or unconsciousness, but these are extremely rare. Some more mild allergic reactions to bee stings are as follows.

• Itching.
• Pain.
• Redness and swelling.
• Warmness at the site of the sting.

It is also important to note that if a person has suffered from an allergic reaction to bee sting once in his life, he is more prone to experience a similar allergic reaction in the future if he gets stung by a bee again.

Treatment
The treatment to be administered for bee stings depends on the severity of the sting, the species of bee that stung the person, and the area that has received a bee sting. Under normal circumstances a bee sting must be treated immediately as delaying the treatment can potentially worsen the situation. Here are some possible treatments for an allergic reaction to bee sting.

• Apply ice on the stung area.
• Sit still. Moving the person who has been stung is not advisable.
• Avoid consuming alcohol immediately after being stung.
• Gently lower the arm or the leg that has been stung.
• If there is a stinger in the skin, remove it immediately.
• Spraying Benadryl topical solution on to the spot where you have been stung.
• If you feel that the stung person is not responding to any form of treatment, visit an emergency room immediately.

An allergic reaction to bee sting is not very common, and usually any of these remedies will treat the condition effectively. The pain and discomfort is usually just a temporary phenomenon, and it will soon pass. Administering these forms of treatment will help soothe the pain, and will ease some of the discomfort felt by the person. Another important thing to remember is that you must quickly move out of the place where you got stung, as bees in distress let out a smell that attracts other bees. You do not want to be around when these other bees arrive.