Wasp Sting Treatment

How painful is a wasp sting?

2011-06-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

It's not uncommon for people to be curious about how painful a wasp sting is. I've heard a few people admit that they got themselves stung on purpose, just to see how painful a wasp sting is (an incredibly stupid thing to do, considering your body could react violently to such stings).

For this, we will refer to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. This index was created by Justin O. Schmidt, who claims to have been stung by a number of insects.

Yellowjacket Wasp Sting

According to the Sting Pain Index, being stung by a regular yellowjacket wasp is like having somebody extinguish a cigar on your tongue. It is more painful than being stung by a fire ant and less painful than being stunt by a red harvesting ant.

Being stung by a Paper Wasp

According to Schmidt, being stung by a paper wasp is more painful than being stung by a regular yellowjacket wasp. According to his index, the sting from a paper wasp is caustic and burning.

What does a wasp look like?

2011-06-29T06:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of what a common wasp looks like:

A lot of people confuse bees with wasps and vice verse. As you can see, wasps are a lot thinner than bees. Bees tend to have fatter furry bodies. Wasps tend to look thinner. They also have a hard shell.

Is a Wasp Sting acidic or alkali?

2011-06-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

This is an important question as it determines how you should go about neutralizing a wasp sting. The answer is; the venom from a wasp sting is alkali.

But why does that matter?
Well, basically, there's this thing called the PH Scale. The PH Scale is a measure of what is acidic and what is alkali. Acid and alkaline are complete opposites of one another.

As you can see, sea water and household goods such as baking soda are alkali, whereas things such as vinegar and lemon juice are acidic. In the middle, we have "neutrality". When something is neutral, it is neither acidic or alkali. To neutralize acidic substances, you can use alkali substances. Likewise, to neutralize alkali substances, you can use acidic substances.

So, if a wasp stung me, and I knew that wasp stings are alkali, what household goods can I use to neutralize that sting? Obviously, I'd choose vinegar or lemon juice as both of those are acidic.