I put a cut ring slice of onion on my wasp sting, and held it in place with a bandana tied over it. I kept that onion slice on for hours, and replaced it with fresh often. It lessened the sting soooo much.

Thanks, OklaMoni, I guess I didn't hold the onion on long enough. I have an appointment first thing this morning, but as soon as I get back, I'll strap on a slice! It's in sort of a tough spot, right on my Achilles, but I'll figure something out. The bandana was a good idea.

After I remove the stinger, I wash the area well with soap and water, then apply a paste of baking soda and water.

ETA: Hornets and wasps do not leave a stinger unlike bees.

I once ran over a yellow jacket nest with a lawn mower and was stung multiple times. The pain was horrid and lasted for days. My legs were swollen and black and blue for several weeks. I had poison ivy on my face at the same time and went to the dr. as it was close to my eye. I was given prednison for the poisonivy and finally got some relief from the stings. I actually have some scars (dark spots) from the stings.Goodluck

I didn't think hornets left their stinger in you either.

I've only been stung once (by a bee) and I used meat tenderizer on it! LOL, it worked.

Bluebell, where do you live? I take it that you never saw the creature?

Rhizo, I'm in Michigan. I saw an elongated, yellow body - that was all I had time for. Definitely not a bee or wasp. Maybe a yellow jacket? I know hornets don't leave stingers, but I do wonder if it's possible for them to leave one if they are brushed off in just the right direction. All I know is that I had to take several swats at it to get it off of me and finally I managed to get it off and it flew into the bushes. I later tried to find its body, so I would have a definitive ID, but couldn't find it.

Satine, poor you! Your experience sounds dreadful!

Casey, now that you mention it, I have heard of using meat tenderizer on stings.

Annie, thank you for the thread. I'll go take a look!

Okay, after reading the thread Annie linked and looking at pictures, and combined with the stinger left in my ankle, now I'm thinking it is more likely a yellow jacket that got me, not a hornet. Lots of good info in that thread, too, about meat tenderizer and other remedies. I think I may pick up some Lidocaine just in case the onion trick doesn't work. Thanks!

Hornets are black, with a white face, nasty. Yellow jackets are small, and I would say have a longish body. Maybe it was another kind of angry insect besides bee or wasp.

I have a bumble bee nest in one flower border (round black bee with yellow shoulders). I was stung on two different occasions. They attacked my ankles and stung repeatedly - and chased me! The border needs weeded badly but I can't get in there. Now there's a second nest inside the privet arch. Some of the bees are small, some large, must be worker bees and ???

ETA: oh, I didn't read the info at the link and was posting the same time as you lol.

Any one who lives near or around stinging insects should keep a fresh aloe plant growing in their kitchen area as it also stops burns immediately as well as stings. Come on people - how difficult can it be to keep this helpful plant around?

Dandy, I actually tried aloe this morning. Didn't help. Onion is up next.

For my stings I used a cortisone-based anti-itch cream, and lidocaine-based anti-pain lotion and advil. They seemed to help some in different ways, but the best medicine was time. It was about 4-5 days of pain and swelling and itching, following by 2-3 more days of just itching. Also the satisfaction of visiting retribution upon the entire hive helped some.

The family of hornets and wasps usually do not leave their stinger. However, members of the bee family do loose their stingers. Their stingers are barbed and will hold on. Most hold in well enough to rip the stinger out of the insect. Tese will have a venom sac attached and little sac has the capacity to keep pumping in small spurts up to one-half hour after stinger insertion. Be mindful of that sac. When removing the stinger, grip the stinger below the sac with tweezers to shut-off any more venom. If you grip the stinger with your fingers to remove, you've probably squeezed the venom sac and injected the full load! The delayed pulse action of the venom sac is reason to remove the stinger quickly; The longer it is left in place, the greater the dose of venom. If you are caught without tools, use your finger nails in place of tweezers being very careful not to squeeze the venom sac. The problem with this method is a possibility of breaking the stinger and leaving part of it in place.

Maybe a solitary wasp?

I watched a video that recommends a product called "Sting Kill" which is primarily Benzocaine (20%) and Menthol (1%).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHJNGdFll4o

The guy in the video is an expert on stings and something of an idiot (since he intentionally lets insects sting him)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDHtYfX7bWU

Jemdandy, I used tweezers to pull the stinger and the venom sack came with it. I didn't know what it was at the time, the round, gooey, little thing attached to the stinger, but now it makes sense that it was indeed the venom sack. By the time I hobbled into the house and found the tweezers, it was probably a good 4-5 minutes before I had the stinger out. The weird thing was that it almost looked like 2 stingers coming out of the stack - they were the same length and width, but one must have been a barb or hair or something.

Bob, when I was looking around the pharmacy I didn't see Sting Kill, although it sounds like what I needed! I'll check out the videos.

i appreciate the ideas. I feel a little foolish posting about a sting, however, I've been stung a few times over the years and it has never been this painful! Honestly, it sounds a little dramatic, I'd put the first few hours after it happened not too far below kidney stones and a broken bone. That's why I thought there might be something unusual about this particular sting. Fortunately, pain is mostly gone now, but my ankle is still swollen and extremely itchy. I think I'll live!

While mowing one day this summer under some scrub trees, I felt something on the back of my neck, stopped the mower and brushed it off. I saw one of those bugs with pinchers on both ends, forget what they are called. I don't know if it was the culprit but later on I had a welt the size of a walnut on my neck that got so sore and painful. I even thought it could be a tumor! It took days to go away, maybe a week or more.

I don't know why I related this story other than to say you have my sympathy!

Ouch, Schoolhouse! The welt must have been quite concerning at that size! Maybe the insect with pinchers was an earwig?

Glad you're going to the doctor. I got stung by something a couple of years ago........it hurt but not as bad as yours. The next day it was very itchy and apparently very red. When my friends saw it, they insisted I see a doctor. I thought they were crazy, but on the way to do some errands, I turned around and headed for Urgent Care. Turns out my friends were right, I had cellulitis. All from a bug sting. Better to be safe than sorry.

Bluebell, I buy sting relief swabs on amazon. They are great for all kinds of stings and especially fire ant bites. They stop the itching. What I have discovered about these is that if you get stung and immediately apply this is really lessens the ongoing effects. I keep a box n my house, a box in my kennel, and a few in my car. We used to keep bees so I learned about these from a beekeeper friend.

Georgysmom, I'm actually not at the point of seeing a doctor yet. The area is still red, yes, but I'll keep an eye on it and see if it gets redder or if the area grows. If it does, I'll definitely go in. Thanks for letting me know about your experience, though. Better safe than sorry for sure!

Annette, thanks for the sting swab info. I'll check them out. Excellent idea to have them on hand, just in case. Not that we would often need it, but you never know.