Fire Ant Stung Me!

2 days ago, my hubby inspected the soil around our house and realized it was time to fill out the gap as it was getting bigger and bigger due to the dry weather. So he bought about 5 bags of soil and started to do the work. As usual, I didn't really help much because it's more to a man job as it's dirty and heavy... hehe... So I was just standing there and watching him sweating and showing off his mucle. Out of the blue a fire ant stung my toe. It was painful and itchy. Yesterday it was still swelling but not sure why today it gets a lot better. I believe it was because I did not scratch. My mom always told me when I was little not to scratch the scar or pox because it will leave ugly scar or mark once it's healed.

A few weeks ago, my hubby got stung by about 20s fire ants around his leg and fingers, it took about a week to get completely healed. I felt so sorry and sad to see him suffering from it because whoever had the experience of this will know how itching and burning the bites will cause as fire ants inflict a painful and fiery formic acid sting. They hold on with their mouthparts and inject venom into skin through a smooth, not barbed stinger. That's why we need to use cream that has bleach as it is a base that neutralizes the acid.

I found some ways to treat fire ant sting:

• Apply a cold compress to relieve the swelling and pain.
• Gently wash the affected area with soap and water and leave the blister intact.
• First, Chiggerex medicated ointment, found in most pharmacies. This will stop the itching and stinging.
• Secondly, Cortisone Cream 1%, Found in most pharmacy's. Rub in well after applying the Chiggerex to stop the inflammatory reaction.
• Thirdly, Neosporin ointment also found in most pharmacy. Rub this in last. Do this twice a day for three days and you will reduce the itch and sting, the inflammatory process and also the slight infection usually associated following the bite.

I also found this posting from someone named Ange Hall on first aid for fire ant stings and I think it makes sense:

Years ago, I heard a very well known physician discuss first aid for fire ant stings on a news broadcast. He said to rinse sting sites with a 10% bleach solution. Since that time, I have found that if you spray the bleach solution on the stings within 5 minutes of the bite (sooner is better) and then rub it in for 2-3 minutes and then rinse, both the pain and itching quickly stop and then the blisters/pustules do not form the next day. It has always worked for me. Applications after 5 minutes do not work as well. A few times I have been out of bleach, so I used Clorox Clean-up....It worked very well, too. Those with sensitive skin should probably not leave this on the skin for more than a minute or two.

If any of you get stung by fire ants next time, you can use these methods to stop the itch and maybe even stop the blisters or pustules from forming. Hey, it can happen to anyone!