Q. You’ve written about baking soda and vinegar to ease wasp stings. Until about 35 years ago I used this remedy. Then a friend suggested that I apply raw yellow onion as soon as possible. I take about a teaspoon of grated onion, put it on the sting and bandage it in place. It provides immediate relief and the swelling disappears quite soon.
I always take a raw onion as part of my first aid kit on camping trips. If I don’t need it for a sting I can always use it in a stew.
A. You aren’t the only one to benefit from raw onion for stings. Another reader posted this story to our Web site: “I'm a pianist, and I react poorly to wasp stings. I get really worried and freak out when I get stung on the hand.
“Yesterday I was stung just below the thumbnail and within minutes my hand looked like a rubber glove that had been filled with air. I put it under cold water, found my Apis Mell (homeopathic for bites and stings) and also took ibuprofen.
“Then I looked online for help. At your site (www.peoplespharmacy.com) I saw people had success with onions, so I cut a slice of onion and taped it to my thumb.
“Within an hour the swelling started to go down. By dinner time, six hours later, my hand was almost completely normal. I could bend my thumb and the swelling was down.
“The onion takes time, but it WORKS. Last year when I got stung on the wrist, I didn't know about onion and my hand was almost useless for over a week.”
