Insect Bites and Stings
Submitted by Missie S., Sprout Contributor
Source: RelayHealth
What Kinds of Reactions do Insect Bites Cause?
For most people, a minor insect bite or sting may cause a little swelling and itching. The site may be painful for a few hours. Mosquitoes, biting flies, bedbugs, and some spiders usually cause mild reactions.
Yellow jackets, honeybees, paper wasps, hornets, and fire ants cause more severe sting reactions. Everyone reacts to the toxic effects of insect venom, for example, from a bee sting. Most people have mild reactions, which may appear in a few minutes or up to 48 hours after the bite or sting. A mild to moderate reaction may cause:
Mild to severe itching in the area bitten
Redness and swelling in the area bitten
Pain in the area bitten
Some people have insect allergies, which may cause mild to severe allergic reactions. Symptoms of a bite depend on how severe your reaction is.
A mild allergic reaction may cause hives with intense itching and pain around the site, as well as eye itching. It may cause blisters in the area of the bite.
A severe allergic reaction to a bite happens within minutes of the bite. The symptoms may include:
Swelling of the lips, tongue, or throat
Trouble breathing
Nausea, cramping, diarrhea, or vomiting
Hives
Dizziness
Loss of consciousness
How are Insect Bites Treated?
If a bee stings you, remain calm and brush away the insect. Bees leave a stinger in your skin, but hornets, wasps, and yellow jackets typically do not. Remove a stinger within 30 seconds by scraping it with a fingernail. Do not squeeze the stinger, or it will likely release more venom.
When a tick bites you, remove the tick right away using fine-tipped tweezers to grasp it firmly close to the skin. Do not squeeze the tick's body. You may want to save the tick for identification in case you become ill. This may help your healthcare provider make an accurate diagnosis.
Place the tick in a sealable plastic bag and put it in your freezer. Wash your hands after touching the tick. Wash the bite area and put an antiseptic on it. See your provider if you start having symptoms such as a rash, fever, muscle aches, or joint pain.
If you have a mild reaction to an insect bite or sting:
Mix up a paste of 3 teaspoons baking soda and 1 teaspoon water and rub the area of the bite or sting with it.
Put a cold, moist cloth or bag of ice wrapped in a towel on the bitten area 3 to 4 times a day for 15 to 20 minutes. Never put ice directly on your skin. This could cause frostbite.
Put hydrocortisone cream or calamine lotion on the area to help reduce itching and swelling. If the bite is still itchy, take an oral antihistamine such as Benadryl.
If the bite is painful, take acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Children under 18 years of age should not take aspirin or products containing salicylate (such as Pepto-Bismol), unless recommended by a healthcare provider, because of the risk of Reye's syndrome.
Rest the bitten area on a pillow above the level of the heart to help prevent swelling.
If you are bitten by a spider or stung by a scorpion, put a cloth-covered ice pack on the area. If the scorpion or spider may be poisonous, go to the emergency room. Urgent care for a poisonous bite is especially important for children or older adults. If it can be done safely, take the spider or scorpion in a jar to the emergency room, so it can be identified.
If you know you are allergic to some insect stings, ask your healthcare provider about carrying an injection kit of epinephrine, such as EpiPen. With the kit you can give yourself a shot of medicine to counteract the allergic reaction until medical help arrives. Wear a Medic Alert ID that warns of your allergy and tells what to do in case of an emergency. Tell your family, friends, and co-workers what they should do if you have a severe allergic reaction.
A severe allergic reaction is life threatening. Call 911 immediately if someone is bit and has the symptoms of a severe reaction or they have a history of severe reactions. If the person carries an injection kit, use it right away. Start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if the person has stopped breathing or has no pulse.
Call 911 right away if:
You start to have trouble breathing, trouble swallowing, or feel tightness in your throat.
Your throat or tongue is swelling.
You feel weak, dizzy, or lightheaded.
Call your healthcare provider if:
You have itching or hives that are getting worse.
The bite area is becoming more swollen or more painful.
The bite area is beginning to look infected. Pus is forming or draining from the bite.
You have a fever of 101.5° F (38.6° C) or greater.
Any of Your symptoms are getting worse instead of better.
How can I help Prevent Insect Bites?
Follow these guidelines to help prevent insect bites:
Avoid walking barefoot or wearing open-toe shoes when outdoors.
Do not wear clothing that is loose or brightly colored.
Avoid wearing perfume or using scented lotions.
Do not disturb beehives or hornet nests.
Keep food and soft drinks covered, and keep garbage cans tightly covered.
To avoid mosquito bites or tick bites, keep the body covered with long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and closed-toe shoes. Stay away from places where mosquitoes breed. Use an insect repellent whenever you are outdoors. Don't use more repellent than recommended in the package directions. Don't put repellent on open wounds or rashes. Do not apply it to your eyes or mouth.
When using sprays, do not spray it directly on your face--spray the repellent on your hands first and then put it on your face. Then wash the spray off your hands. Be careful with children because repellents can make them ill.
Repellent products containing either DEET or picaridin as active ingredients have been proven to give longer-lasting protection than others.
Adults should use products with no more than 35% DEET. Children older than 2 months can use repellents with no more than 30% DEET. DEET should be washed off your body when you go back indoors.
In some studies, oil of lemon eucalyptus, a plant-based repellent, provided as much protection as repellents with low concentrations of DEET, but it hasn't been as well tested as DEET. Oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under age 3.
Picaridin is a repellent recently made available in the US. It can be less irritating to the skin than DEET.
Some products containing permethrin are recommended for use on clothing, shoes, bed nets, and camping gear. Permethrin is highly effective as an insecticide and as a repellent. Permethrin-treated clothing repels and kills ticks, mosquitoes, and other insects and continues to work after repeated laundering. The permethrin insecticide should be reapplied to the clothing according to the label instructions. Some commercial products are available pretreated with permethrin. Don't put permethrin directly on your skin.
To get rid of bedbugs, spray beds and baseboards with an insecticide that is labeled to be effective for bedbugs. Follow the safety cautions about breathing the insecticide or having prolonged skin contact with it, especially for children. Or call an exterminator to treat your home.
It is also important to prevent the possibility of getting a tetanus infection. The skin broken by an insect bite could become infected with tetanus bacteria. You can prevent this type of infection by keeping up to date with tetanus shots. Adults should have a tetanus booster shot every 10 years.
Tick Bites
What are Ticks?
Ticks are small wingless bugs that feed on the blood of animals, birds, and people. They have 8 legs and are related to spiders and mites. There are many different kinds of ticks. Black-legged ticks, or deer ticks, are usually tiny, no bigger than the head of a pin. Wood and dog ticks are usually much larger.
How to Tick Bite Occur?
Ticks are found among plants and on animals in low-lying brush in woodlands, grasslands, and marshlands and at the seashore. Wild birds and animals, as well as domestic animals and pets such as dogs, horses, and cows, can carry ticks. Ticks may climb on humans from animals, leaf litter, or lowlying brush. Ticks cannot jump or fly.
How do I know is I have been bitten by a tick?
You usually will not feel anything when a tick bites you. If you find a tick attached to your skin, you have been bitten. You may have a little redness around the area of a bite.
Can I get sick from a tick bite?
There is little risk from the bite of a tick most of the time. However, some ticks carry infections that can be passed to people. For example, deer tick bites may cause Lyme disease. The early symptoms of Lyme disease occur within the first week to months after being bitten by an infected tick. These include flu like symptoms and a rash that resembles a bulls-eye or target located on one area of the skin. A bite from other ticks such as the wood tick or dog tick may cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF).
RMSF may first cause flu like symptoms and then a pink or red spotted rash. Tick bites may cause other diseases as well, such as babesiosis and ehrlichiosis.
How are tick bites treated?
If you find a tick attached to your body, you need to remove it. You can remove it yourself or get help from your healthcare provider. To remove an attached tick:
Grasp the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible.
Gently pull the tick straight away from you until it releases its hold. Use slow gentle traction. Pulling the tick out too quickly may tear the body from the mouth, leaving the mouth still in the skin. If you are unable to remove the tick completely, you may need to see your healthcare provider.
Do not twist the tick as you pull, and try not to squeeze its body. Squeezing or crushing the tick could force infected fluids from the tick into the site of the bite.
After you have removed the tick, thoroughly wash your hands and the bite area with soap and warm water. Put an antiseptic such as rubbing alcohol on the area where you were bitten.
Save the tick in case you later start having symptoms of disease and need to know what kind of tick bit you. Put the tick in a clean dry jar, small plastic bag, or other sealed container and keep it in the freezer. Identification of the tick may help your provider diagnose and treat your symptoms. If you do not have any symptoms of disease after 1 month, you can discard the tick.
How long with effects last?
The usual reaction to a tick bite is nothing more than a bump on your skin that improves within a few days.
How can I take care of myself?
If you find a tick on your body, remove it right away. Infected ticks usually do not spread an infection until after the tick has been attached and feeding on your blood for several hours.
Check for a rash and other symptoms for about 4 weeks after the bite.
Call your healthcare provider if:
A tick has bitten you and you think the tick may be a deer tick.
You develop a bulls-eye rash or a rash with tiny purple or red spots.
The area of the bite becomes more swollen or painful or drains pus, or you see red streaks spreading from the wound.
You have flu like symptoms after a bite such as fever, headache, muscle aches, joint pain or swelling, and a general feeling of illness.
How can I prevent tick bites?
Be aware of the areas where ticks live. Do not walk, camp, or hunt in the woods of tick-infested areas without precautions.
In areas of thick underbrush, try to stay near the center of trails.
When you are outdoors, wear long-sleeved shirts tucked into your pants. Wear your pants tucked into your socks or boot tops if possible. A hat may help, too. Wearing light-colored clothing may make it easier to spot the small tick before it reaches your skin and bites. While you are outside, check for ticks every 4 hours and remove any ticks on clothing or exposed skin.
Use approved tick repellents on exposed skin and clothing. Do not use more than recommended in the repellent directions. Do not put repellent on open wounds or rashes.
Wash the spray off your hands. Be careful with children because the repellents can make them ill. DEET is a very effective repellent, but adults should use products with no more than 35% DEET. Children older than 2 months can use repellents with no more than 30% DEET. DEET should be washed off your body when you go back indoors.
Picaridin is another repellent recently made available in the US. It can be less irritating to the skin than DEET.
Some products containing permethrin are recommended for use on clothing, shoes, bed nets, and camping gear. Permethrin is highly effective as an insecticide and as a repellent. Permethrin treated clothing repels and kills ticks and continues to work after repeated laundering. The permethrin insecticide should be reapplied according to the label instructions. Some commercial products are available pretreated with permethrin. Do not put permethrin on your skin.
Treat household pets for ticks and fleas. Check pets after they have been outdoors.
Brush off clothing and pets before entering the house.
After you have been outdoors, undress and check your body for ticks. They usually crawl around for several hours before biting. Check your clothes, too. Wash them right away to remove any ticks.
Shower and shampoo after your outing.
Inspect any gear you have carried outdoors.
If you spend much time hiking, you may want to include a pair of tick tweezers in your first-aid kit. The tweezers are available at many sporting goods stores.
