[pct-l] Bee Stings Cure

[Rick Genter]

On May 14, 2008, at 5:54 AM, Hiker97 at aol.com wrote:

> I do not know if this  is true, but thought it might be something  
> for the
> trail if it does work.   Someone sent this to me, so if anyone knows  
> about this
> post your  insights.
> Dr. Switchback
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> A couple of weeks  ago, I was stung by both a bee & hornet while  
> working in
> the  garden.  My arm swelled up, so I went to the doctor. The clinic  
> gave  me
> cream & an antihistamine. The next day the swelling was getting   
> progressively
> worse, so I went to my regular doctor. The arm was  infected &  
> needed an
> antibiotic. The doctor told me - ' 'The next  time you get stung,  
> put a penny on
> the bite for 15  minutes'.
>
>
> That night, my niece was stung by two  bees. I looked at the bite &  
> it had
> already
> started to swell. So, I  taped a penny to her arm for 15 minutes.  
> The next
> morning, there was no sign of a bite. We decided that  she just  
> wasn't allergic
> to the sting.
>
> Soon, I was gardening  outside. I got stung again, twice by a hornet  
> on my
> left hand. I thought, here I  go again to the doctor for another  
> antibiotic.  I
> promptly got my  money out & taped 2 pennies to my bites, then sat &  
> sulked
> for  15 minutes. The penny took the string out of the bite  
> immediately.  In  the
> meantime the hornets were attacking, & my friend was stung on the   
> thumb.
> Again the penny. The next morning I could only see the spot  where  
> the hornet
> had stung me. No redness, no swelling. My friend's sting  was the  
> same; couldn't
> even tell where she had been stung.  She  got stung again a few days  
> later
> upon her back---cutting the  grass!  And the penny worked once again.
> Wanted to share this marvelous  information in case you experience  
> the same
> problem. We need to keep a  stock of pennies on hand.  The doctor  
> said that the
> copper in the  penny counteracts the bite.  It definitely  works!

 From the write-up at Snopes, this is pretty much unsubstantiated  
folklore:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/beesting.asp
--
Rick Genter
rick.genter at gmail.com