This summer has not been one for me in terms of getting stung by bastard insects. I was stung by a hornet about a week ago on my neck, and as I sit here writing this post, my arm is throbbing thanks to two yellow-jacket stings on my forearm and my hand.
I was doing great up until now.
Thankfully I am not allergic to either types of these stings, but they still hurt like a bitch and swell to the size of grapes. Speaking from experience, hornet stings are a hell of a lot more painful than wasp or yellow-jacket stings, but I would rather abstain from being stung by any type of these critters entirely if I had the option.
When I got stung by a hornet a few days ago, I raided our medicine cabinet to see if we had anything in our house to treat stings. I didn’t want to take a Benadryl as it was mid-day and it makes me pretty sleepy, so I settled on something else that, honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure if it would work or not.
I would like to state clearly that by no means am I suggesting this remedy will work for everyone. It worked for me, personally, but please do your own research and consult a physician if you remain unsure.
I grabbed a bottle of lavender essential oil and put a few dabs directly on the hornet sting. Without any exaggeration, within ten minutes the shooting pains going up and down my neck had diminished, and the swelling had already come down. I figure it is important to note that this particular lavender essential oil is absolutely pure and has no added ingredients or synthetic chemicals.
After a couple of hours I could hardly see where the sting was on my neck, and the pain was just about completely gone. Perhaps this natural solution for aggravating insect stings could help others as it did me.
ontheedgeofeverything 