How to treat bee or wasp stings

Pediatrician Lawrence Kagan, MD, shares advice for parents on the best way to treat your child's bee or wasp sting
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How to treat bee or wasp stings

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Bees are of the order Hymenoptera. There are many species in this order, including bees, yellow jackets, wasps. They all inflict either a sting or a bite that can be venomous and they create a localized reaction that initially for the first hour to two hours hurts quite badly, then the pain starts to go away. And then the local reaction can actually increase in size for up to 36 hours to a size of about 4 inches of diameter. Depending on how much it’s scratched, that will determine how long it persists. I recommend removing any stinger by scraping it with a credit card. Cleaning the area and applying the triple antibiotic ointment and then you can use Benadryl for itch, you can use Ibuprofen for pain. Some people advocate Hydrocortisone cream for itch. But you really don’t want your child to itch, because it will last a lot longer.

Pediatrician Lawrence Kagan, MD, shares advice for parents on the best way to treat your child's bee or wasp sting

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Lawrence Kagan, MD

Pediatrician

Lawrence Kagan, MD, FAAP, is a UCLA honors graduate, with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. He received medical training at USC Keck School of Medicine, and completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. In addition to passionately studying neonatal, general pediatric and adolescent medicine at CHLA, he had the opportunity to train under some of the greatest minds in subspecialty pediatrics, diagnosing and managing the rarest and most complicated childhood ailments. Prior to opening Westside Pediatrics, he worked as an attending physician at the CHLA Emergency Department as well as at Cedars Sinai Urgent Care. Dr. Kagan is a native of Los Angeles and is happily married with two children.

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Transcription: 
Bees are of the order Hymenoptera. There are many species in this order, including bees, yellow jackets, wasps. They all inflict either a sting or a bite that can be venomous and they create a localized reaction that initially for the first hour to two hours hurts quite badly, then the pain starts to go away. And then the local reaction can actually increase in size for up to 36 hours to a size of about 4 inches of diameter. Depending on how much it’s scratched, that will determine how long it persists. I recommend removing any stinger by scraping it with a credit card. Cleaning the area and applying the triple antibiotic ointment and then you can use Benadryl for itch, you can use Ibuprofen for pain. Some people advocate Hydrocortisone cream for itch. But you really don’t want your child to itch, because it will last a lot longer.