Insect Bites and Stings | Insect Bites Treatment | How to Treat Insect Bites and Stings | 2018

Abraham the pharmacist is coming to you
from London todayokay so check this out and I thought to myself actuallyI’ve seen so many patients with insect bites and stings this summer so let’s do a video on itgenerally speaking insect bites or
stings often cause a small red lump onthe skin which can be painful and itchy
the good news is that many clear upwithin a few hours or a few days and it
can be safely treated at homeI do have a bit of a sore throatnow if you didn’t see it happen which most people don’t it canbe quite difficult to identify whether
you’ve got bit or stung but not toworry because the treatments are all
very similar and we’re gonna get to thata bit later on in the video let’s first
start with wasps, hornets and bee stingsthey cause a sharp pain at first a
swollen mark may then form on your skinwhich can cover a larger area depending
on how much you react but it’s notusually anything you need to worry about
a few people however can experience avery serious allergic reaction called
anaphylaxis which causes breathingdifficulties, dizziness, swelling of the
face or mouth and if this happens youneed to call 999 immediately for an
ambulance now I’ve left more information inthe description below about anaphylaxis
which I’d highly recommend everyone toread and learn more about, now unlike
wasps and hornets, bees tend to leavetheir sting in the wound which is it very
nice of them but you’ve got to remove itand here’s how you do it simply brush or
scrape the sting outwards usingsomething with a hard edge like a bank
card or a fingernail avoid tweezers asthey can spread the venom now we will
get back to cleaning the wound shortlybut next up is a tick bite now they’re
not very painful so you might notrealise straight away you’ve been bit
but let’s say you have realised straightaway that you been bit and it’s stuck
on your skin well then you need toremove it and you need to remove it
properly so I’ve left more informationin the description below on how to do
this now the symptoms include a smallred lump, swelling, itching and blistering
but the picture I’ve used is one that youreally need to remember if you look at
it closely it looks like the bullseye ona dartboard a bite from a tick can make you quite sick did you see what I did there I can’t do it, it’s too bad that joke is terrible, ticks can carry a potentially seriousinfection which we call Lyme disease so
if you do get the bullseye that welooked at earlier or a fever then see your GP straight away more information in thedescription below about this and lastly
we’ve got the horsefly bites which canbe very painful and it can make your
skin red, raised, itchy and leave youfeeling dizzy, weak and wheezy these
bites can take a while to heal and canbecome infected
now with all insect bites or stingsthere’s always a chance of developing a
skin infection so if you start gettingpuss from the area or increased pain
or the area becomes hot and tender totouch then speak to your healthcare
professional as soon as you can toreduce the chance of an infection wash
the site with soap and water aftergetting bit or stung by an insect
treatments when it comes to treatments Ithink the three parts so to begin with
lets start with itching don’t itch Iknow it’s easier said than done but if
you itch it’s gonna react more and alsoyou’re at a higher risk of it getting
infected so speak to your pharmacistabout getting an antihistamine tablet
and a steroid cream for quick and easyrelief there is also an antihistamine
cream but I prefer antihistamine tabletsfor swelling apply a cold compress and
an ice pack andraise the area the antihistamine tablet that we spoke about earlier will also help forthis and if you’re in pain or discomfort
then speak to your pharmacist aboutusing paracetamol or ibuprofen with all
medication always speak to yourpharmacist and read the information leaflet that comes with it before you takeit and if you’re still unsure about an
insect bite or a sting or you want abit of extra information then speak to
your amazing pharmacist and that’s ityou’re now an insect bite and sting
pro and if you have any of your own tipsthen leave a comment below because I’d
love to read it too hey guys thanks forwatching this week’s video make sure to
click that like follow or subscribebutton now to stay up to date with new
weekly videos it is really bad ok listento this a bite from a got good back definition, “pull ups” pull upsyou might not be able to tell, that I’m not feeling well, but I’m feeling really unwell I can’t, I can’t do this seriously it’s such a bad jokeI’m definitely improving keeping hydrated but my ears are completely blocked right now I can’t hear anything