How I Treat a Bee Sting

In my 6-month beekeeping journey, I have been stung 10 times to date. I am not a doctor, but I am part of the lucky minority that experiences "large local reactions": itchiness and swelling that exceeds 10 cm in diameter and lasts for more than 24 hours. (Source). This is different from being allergic. It seems that my body is just dramatic.

Over the last six months I've become a human testing lab. If it claimed to stop itching, I was desperate enough to try it. Here's my definitive ranking, worst to best.

This isn't advice. Just my experience. If you are reading this for advice, go talk to a DOCTOR.

Terrible.

Every one of these did nothing measurable for me:

• Zyrtec. Nothing.
• Benadryl topical cream. Nothing.
• Hydrocortisone spray. Nothing.
• Benzocaine spray. Nothing.
• Hydrocortisone 1% cream. Also nothing, which surprised me, because this is the thing everyone tells you to reach for.
• Elevating my hand. Did nothing for the itch, and it came with two bonus downsides. It made sleeping much harder, and it made me look deeply strange holding my arm in the air at the grocery store.

I honestly can't tell

• Pepcid. Maybe? I took it, I waited, I felt roughly the same. I can't rule out a small effect, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Took a small edge off

• Aloe spray. Felt nice going on. Cool, a little soothing. Then the feeling left within a few minutes and took all the relief with it.
• Advil. Okay. Not dramatic, but I think it helped a bit with the ache and the swelling.
• Pramoxine 1%. This one did a little something. A faint numbing effect, enough that I noticed it. Small, but real, which puts it ahead of most of the list.
• Benadryl (oral pill). It never touched the itch directly. What it did was make me drowsy enough to fall asleep, and sleeping through the itch counts as a win when you're desperate.

Absolute HEROES

• Ice. Incredible. Immediate.
• Hot water. I was highly suspicious of this one at first. It sounds backwards when the sting is radiating. But it's the only thing that made the itching fully stop. I cranked the heat and used an instant-read thermometer to land right around 112 to 114 degrees. Uncomfortably hot. And it works, so I kept doing it. Don't burn yourself.

The unfortunate reality

• Prednisone. Super effective. After 24 hours my finger looked like a deflated balloon. The catch is that it needs a prescription, and from what I gather it's not something you want to be taking regularly. Nuclear option only.
• Time. The undefeated, undesired champion. The one thing that reliably fixes a sting is waiting for it to go away on its own. :(

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Once again -- I'm not a doctor. This is what worked for my body. I don't even know you.