I’m newly amazed by the power of a little buzzing insect to cause minor (at least) disruption to my life. I got stung by something (which I didn’t even see before OR after) while walking down a street in Chestnut Hill on Friday. It quickly began to swell up … and I quickly began searching for some type of remedy. I’ve tried them all — to almost no avail.

In order of what I’ve tried in the past 48 hours:

1. hydrocortisone anti-itch cream (as you’ll see, should’ve stuck with this one)

2. Benadryl anti-itch spray

3. Ice

4. Baking soda paste (3 tsp baking soda + 1 tsp water)

5. Honey

6. Aveeno anti-itch calamine cream

7. Baking soda/vinegar/chopped onion paste ** this was a really low point

8. Toothpaste (for real — this was recommended as a #1 home remedy here: http://www.slate.com/id/2088863/ )

And finally after talking to an ER nursing administrator this morning who I go to church with, she recommended hydrocortisone anti-itch cream. Which is, as you see, going full circle!!

My conclusion: take Benadryl. It (a) knocks you out so that you truly will stop itching (b) works internally to significantly decrease the swelling. And when you have to be awake, go with ICE on top of the hydrocortisone cream (which didn’t significantly decrease itching but does decrease swelling). Twenty minutes of application, forty minutes of rest … repeat until you can’t feel it anymore.