DumDog
Posted : 6/2/2007 10:56:50 PM
fresh cut onion reduces the swelling and pain of any insect sting. my mom is a HUGE advocate for this remedy, and has used it on me several times when i was a kid. i had been stung about five times by yellow jackets (a type of wasp for those that dont know) she put a piece of onion on each sting, except for the one beside my eye, she used an ice cube and that was the only place that swelled up.
she's also used it on ant bites. we once discovered a truly bizarre type of ant.. they were large and black and they JUMPED.. yes they were indeed ants.. she was transplanting shrubs when she dug into their nest. she thought she had been stung by yellow jackets since they often nest in the ground, but nope. they were angry jumping ants.
the onion remedy acts as a poultice i guess. within a few minutes the pain goes away and it never swells. so the next day you wont even know you were bitten.
my husband is very sensitive to insect stings, when he is bitten they turn into huge open sores... he thought i was mad when i started sticking little slices of onion all over him when he mowed over a yellow jacket nest.... but it worked. he didnt believe it, but it did. the only trouble he had was where he had been stung seven times in one spot on his hand, and the only reason was because he wouldnt sit his butt still long enough to let it work. he had a total of twenty sting all over front and back, and a couple on his ear, even they didnt swell up.
the trick is to use it right away on any insect sting - it might even work on mosquito bites, never tried it. do it as soon as you're bitten, but it can still work even the next day to draw out poison, though damage has already been done so its still gonna hurt.
you'll smell like a Wendy burger, but its a small price to pay, i believe.