Herbal First Aid: wasp stings
Last Thursday, our dog was running up and down the fence line, swearing at the neighbour’s puppy. While I was trying to catch him, I inadvertently stood on a hidden wasps’ nest.
Less than 30 seconds later I had 10 stings, all below the waist. So I practised some hearty swearing of my own.
The dog was stung too. Serve him right.
What to do first after a sting
Firstly, and most importantly: if you have any kind of severe allergic reaction to a sting, call 111 immediately. The medical term for this kind of reaction is anaphylaxis and symptoms include:
- swelling in the tongue or throat
- breathing difficulties
- dizziness
- vomiting
- heart palpitations
- skin rash.
Once you’ve been given a shot of adrenalin and the emergency’s over, get a prescription for an EpiPen and carry it around with you at all times.
Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening, medical emergency. There’s no herb on the planet that will ‘cure’ it. So don’t mess around if you, or someone you’re with, is reacting badly to a sting.
Although anaphylaxis is not uncommon and can be life-threatening, deaths are rare.
Natural and herbal treatments for wasp stings
When I finally ran out of fruity and wildly inventive language (it took a while), it was time to work out how to treat my sting collection. I had four on one leg and six on the other. There were clusters of three on each leg. They were burning hot and painful but even at that early stage they were manifesting the very worst thing about wasp stings: severe and incessant itching.
Herbs are usually used more for chronic conditions than first aid. Having said that, esteemed herbalist Paul Bergner and the amazing 7Song have both written at length about herbs for first aid.
So in the spirit of “Herbalist, heal thyself!” I thought I should experiment a bit.
Here’s what I tried.
Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
Plantain is usually my go-to for any kind of skin irritation. It’s cooling and moistening and it contains over 14 different anti-inflammatory compounds, so it’s generally brilliant for relieving itching.
Another great strength of Plantain is its universal availability. It basically grows everywhere so it’s always to hand.
Although I’ve made ointments from it, I most commonly use Plantain as a ‘spit poultice’. This involves chewing up the leaves and then plonking them on the sore bit for 5–10 minutes. This works brilliantly for sandfly bites. I’ve also used it this way to take out the itch and inflammation of contact dermatitis.
This time, though, I’m afraid Plantain wasn’t going to do the job. There were too many stings and they were too concentrated. So it was on to the next candidate.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Another wonderful herb that’s found almost everywhere. The traditional use for Yarrow was for staunching bleeding, externally and internally. 
It’s very astringent, so it’s excellent for tightening and toning tissues. But a wonderful herbalist by the name of Robin Rose Bennet names it as her go-to remedy for stings. She’s also a fan of the spit poultice, so I went outside, found some nice, fresh Yarrow flowers, chewed them up and put them on the worst sting cluster.
It definitely worked to relieve the itch and the inflammation but as with the Plantain, spit poultices aren’t practical when you have multiple stings over a large area! I could’ve made teas to use as compresses but I’m holding onto my dried Plantain and Yarrow for a gut tea blend, so compresses weren’t really an option.
Which meant bringing out the big gun …
Aloe Vera (Aloe vera)
Aloe vera really is superb for cooling and reducing any skin inflammation. I had a feeling it might work best in this situation and it did. The itching was gone in under two minutes, the inflammation
was clearly reduced, and the therapeutic effect lasted for 1.5–2 hours. This was on a par with an over-the-counter pharmacy product I used a couple of times as a comparison.
I grow Aloe vera in pots on one of my laundry windowsills, so I just snipped off a leaf, squeezed out the gel from the cut and applied it directly. I didn’t need the whole leaf and like all succulents, cut leaves of Aloe vera will heal over, so they can be re-used. One big leaf did me for a day or so and when I ran out, I just snipped another. I think I used three leaves in total and there’s still some gel left in the last one.
Aloe vera takes very little care. I water mine when I remember—once every 10 days or so. I believe everyone should grow it in or near their kitchens; there’s nothing better for burns.
Final thoughts
There were other herbs I could have tried in this experiment—Calendula with its antihistamine and wound-healing effects springs to mind—but there’s only so much you can do in the name of
experiential learning when you’re half out of your mind with itching!
I totally understand why someone who’s been stung would race straight to the pharmacy for antihistamine medication. But if you live remotely or don’t want to take pharmaceuticals for whatever reason, any one of the herbs I’ve mentioned might give you some temporary relief. Even something as simple as cool water compresses (not too cold) will help but you’ll need to change them frequently.
Do try to get hold of an Aloe vera plant. Most indoor plant stockists will have them and they cost very little. They grow quickly too, and sprout lots of babies so you should never run out. Cheap, effective medicine for stings, bites, burns, rashes, wounds and zits!
P.S. Jack the dog was fine.
