Spit poultice and bee stings

[wildWoman]

I'm totally thrilled at how good this works! Got stung by a bee yesterday, in the soft area between my pinkie and ringfinger. I chewed up a few young willow leaves and spat them on there to act as a poultice (willow has painkilling, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties). After 5 minutes, the pain subsided. I left the green goo on there for another 10 minutes maybe and thought no more about it - there was a very slight swelling yesterday and no more pain.
This morning, the swelling was a lot more pronounced, the area pretty warm to the touch and hurt slightly. I thought I'd try commercial stuff on it this time, first witch hazel (cooled it for a bit, but no lasting effect), then hydrocortisone cream (took a bit of the ouch away but the area was still swollen and hot). After waiting for a more pronounced effect than this for three hours and none appearing, I went and applied another willow spit poultice, leaving it on for 30 minutes this time. Since then, the swelling has gone down, the spot is no hotter than the rest of my hand and it doesn't hurt anymore.

[Graf]

Common plantain works well also and its very abundant.

[Wildthang]

My dad always put wet cigarette tobaco on a bee sting, and it seemed to help. Anybody else tried that?

[hunter63]

My Dad spit tobacco juice everywhere....so it worked on bee syings as i wouldn't tell him i had one.....didn't want to get slimed.

Willow...is a "go to" in the bush, even use a twig for a tooth brush....
BUT...had a friend cut a lot of canes, and spent a lot time stripping the bark off for some crafts....actually got sick...Dr said possible OD on the juice, thru the shin when working with it.

Was gonna cut a bunch of them myself, last summer, for making a willow back...but the beavers beat me to them......maybe this year.
Rubber gloves might be in order.

[Rick]

And maybe it's anecdotal. Placebo effect? Then again, if it works, who cares?

[wildWoman]

I was thinking that too. Also found out why the hydrocortisone ointment didn't do a thing: it ran off two years ago :) Not a problem that happens with willows! They stay right where they are.

[crashdive123]

WildWoman - could the action of chewing the willow leaves have had some effect along with using the poultice?

[wildWoman]

Maybe as far as pain relief goes, I don't think taking willow internally would make a swelling go down, though. I take it you haven't taken the opportunity you had to try a different cure on each bee sting?

[crashdive123]

Not much willow around my area. Not sure if it would have helped or not, but certainly worth a try. I have never had a bad reaction, other than discomfort, minor swelling and itching at the sting site - but this was my first bumble bee sting. Not sure if it was the location (back of knee) but I had a great deal of difficulty walking Tuesday and Wednesday. Today there is just a little minor discomfort, but no problem walking.

[wildWoman]

Yeah, that sure is a stupid spot. I guess the more the area gets moved or compressed, the more the venom spreads. Noticed that my finger didn't take too kindly to doing laundry and stacking firewood but should be ok for paddling out in a couple days. Interesting how a sting in the wrong location can become a real handicap even without an allergy.

[hunter63]

I can recall a hunting trip, that started out with a bee sting on my eye brow.....flew in the truck window, got stuck behind my glasses, swelled up some, even though I don't think I got hit real hard.

We had just hit the road for the trip, I was riding and spent 200 miles with a poultice of mashed raw potato...that helped..... with a Benadryl, did kinda feel fine after a while.

Willow tea is a traditional aspirin substitute....as it contains the compound aspirin is based on.

In a similar situation I would strongly consider the willow chew and spit poultice as well..........
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/willow-bark-000281.htm
Thanks for posting.

[Rick]

I had a willow in my back yard. The blasted limbs were always growing down to the ground and I had to trim them back just to mow. I reached up and grabbed a handful of limbs one time and grabbed a wasp in between my fingers. I let go of everything pretty dang quick. Hurt like a son of a .... gun. That's the last time I got stung. Didn't know about willow at the time. Sort of ironic, though.

[2crows]

I got nailed on my right ring finger by a hornet. Common plantain, msg, tobacco poultice worked well for me.

[Wildthang]

The Cherokee indians in Oklahoma mix willow leaves with buffalo poop, and make a multi purpose poultice. It attracts flies and repels musquitos and other people as well:scared:

[WolfVanZandt]

What started me chewing tobacco is that I was stung by a bee when I was a teenager and my landlord cut off a plug of tobacco, told me to chew it and put it on the sting. I liked the taste and it made the bee sting stop hurting.

[2crows]

The Cherokee indians in Oklahoma mix willow leaves with buffalo poop, and make a multi purpose poultice. It attracts flies and repels musquitos and other people as well:scared:

I bet that would work for chapped lips too. At least it would keep you from licking them.