Natural Relief from Pain and Swelling of Bites and Stings.

YOU take your daily stroll around the block, and one of your neighbors has a new (unchained! big! growling!) dog who's decided that your middle name is Purina. You go for a dip in the ocean while on vacation and discover that dozens of jellyfish have picked that exact spot to practice their new synchronized swimming routine. You decide to clean the outside windows on a warm spring day and literally stir up a hornet's nest, making yourself the target of a well-executed sting operation.
Although it's easy to joke about bites and stings, the truth is, they're never a laughing matter. When the injury is minor, though, alternative practitioners offer a wide variety of drugfree home remedies for fast relief of pain and swelling.

The Plant to Pick First
"My favorite herbal remedy to instantly take the pain and itchiness out of a sting or bite is plantain," says Pamela Fischer, founder and director of the Ohlone Center for Herbal Studies in Concord, California. Plantain, a very common plant, is loaded with tannins. These chemicals, she says, act as astringents, tightening skin and other tissue so that irritation and inflammation are reduced and infection is drawn out of the skin.

Plantain is a common weed that grows just about everywhere, especially where the soil is damp, heavy, and shaded. It grows 6 to 18 inches high, although it can be flat to the ground in areas that are frequently mowed or walked on. Its roundish, waxy, dull green leaves are 3 to 4 inches long with deep parallel veins that run from top to bottom. The leaf stem cups inward like a trough. From early summer through mid fall, the plant sprouts green, pipe cleaner-like flower spikes.


PLANTAIN: Chew for Fast Relief

If you're stung by a bee or bitten by a mosquito, and you spy some plantain nearby, Fischer says to grab some leaves and rinse them off, then put them in your mouth, chew them up, and put that wad of plantain right on the bite for instant relief. "Your bite or sting will feel much better immediately," she says. You can also rub the leaves in your hands until the juice is released, then apply them to the affected area.

PLANTAIN: A Poultice for Dog Bites

First, scrub the area of the bite with soap and water to clean it as thoroughly as possible. To make the poultice, put a handful of rinsed plantain leaves in a blender, add a few drops of hot water, and blend. Put the mixture directly on the wound, says Fischer, then put gauze over the herb and a heat source (such as a hot-water bottle or heating pad) over the gauze. Apply the heat for 20 to 30 minutes. Change the poultice three or four times a day, she says.
If the bite is on a limb, she says, you can soak the bitten area in cooled plantain tea for 10 to 15 minutes three or four times a day. To make the tea, add ¼ cup of dried plantain leaves to a quart of boiled water, cover, and steep for 20 to 30 minutes.

More Options for Fast Relief
If plantain isn't your cup of tea, here are various other ways to relieve the pain and reduce the swelling from bites and stings of all kinds.

GOLDENSEAL: Seal Off Infection
Before the age of prescriptions, people often used the leaves of the herb goldenseal on a minor wound such as a cut or sting to prevent infection and hasten healing. You can do the same with goldenseal powder, says Michael Rosenbaum, MD., an alternative physician in Corte Madera, California. Mix a small amount of water with the powder to make a paste, put the paste directly on the wound, and cover it with a bandage. Reapply the paste as necessary.

BENTONITE CLAY: To Remove Toxins
Even after a dog bite has healed, some body-hurting toxins can be left behind in your skin, says Beverly Yates, N.D., a naturopathic physician and director of the Natural Health Care Group in Seattle. To help remove them, prepare a poultice of bentonite clay (look for the words food grade on the label), a natural substance that helps remove impurities from the body.
To 2 tablespoons of the clay, add just enough water to make an easily moldable paste, says Dr. Yates. Cover the bite with the paste, cover the paste with gauze, and tape the gauze in place. Leave the paste on for 30 minutes. Repeat this twice a day for 4 days.

OLIVE LEAF: Prevents Infection
An extract of olive leaf is thought to be an infection-preventing, natural antibiotic, Dr. Rosenbaum says. It also helps reduce inflammation, making a bite less painful. Take tablets or capsules as soon as the accident occurs and until the wound has healed, following the dosage recommendations on the label.

HOMEOPATHY: Crush Bee Sting Pain with Apis Mellifica
This remedy, which is made from crushed bees, is good for a red, puffy bee sting that feels better with ice and worse with heat, says Dr. Yates. For pain and swelling, take two pellets of the 12C or 30C potency every 3 to 4 hours on the day of the sting, then repeat as needed. To take the remedy, dissolve the pellets under your tongue.

URINE: For Jellyfish Stings
For a jellyfish sting, go to the bathroom-on yourself. The idea doesn't sound too appealing, right? Dr. Yates says, however, that applying your own urine to a jellyfish sting or a wound from stepping on the barbs of a sea anemone is one of the best things that you can do to stop the pain and heal quickly. "The acidic pH of the urine immediately dissolves the barbs and venom that those animals inject into your skin, providing fast pain relief," she says. "Apply the urine in whatever way makes sense; for example, you could urinate into a glass and then sponge it on." Dr. Yates discovered this alternative home remedy when she was living in Hawaii. "I asked the native Hawaiians what they did for marine stings, and they said this was the best remedy. I tried it, and it works great!"


OIL & INSECTS DON’T MIX.
Both eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils are good insect repellents, says Kal Kotecha, an aromatherapist in Waterloo, Ontario. Combine three drops of each oil with three drops of citronella essential oil, mix the oils into Y2 ounce of unscented skin cream, and rub the cream on your skin before going outside.