BraindumpDiscussion about bee/wasp sting and infection concerns
Summary:
- The patient believes they were stung by a wasp and has experienced delayed swelling and numbness.
- They have a brother who is severely allergic to wasp stings and have concerns about their own reaction.
- The swelling was painful but not itchy, and has worsened to involve the wrist area.
- The physician suggested starting antibiotics (possibly doxycycline) to cover for infection, along with steroids to reduce swelling.
- The patient asked about the use of topical treatments, and the physician advised that icing and Epsom salt soaks may help.
Content:
So I understand that you were stung by a bee? I think I was stung by a wasp, but I don't think that this is a reaction from that because it didn't start until like a day afterwards. This one didn't. And it's not like itchy swelling. Okay. More painful swelling. Okay. I've been working in a barn. Yeah. I got stung here and there. So I think it's a wasp because there's like two. I see. Gotcha. And it didn't even start like it didn't swell the next day. I was like, okay. Because I took my ring off at night.
I took my ring off. I was like, oh, like just in case. It's worse. Because my brother is severely allergic to wasps. I see. Okay. His hands like blow up, but they blow up right away. All right. Yeah, with most allergic reactions, we see them pretty quick. I will say there are some that can be delayed, but usually they are more itchy. They can sometimes be painful, but there's at least some component of itching. All right. So then, were you exposed to anything else besides that that you can think of? No. Any fevers or chills?
Nothing to know. Other cough or cold symptoms? And then, have you taken anything at home for it so far? No, I just iced it. I see. Okay, perfect. All right. Anything else we didn't touch on? No, it feels really hot. Okay. Any numbness or tingling with it? It's numb, completely numb. But I tried to ice it. I can feel the coldness around it, but not on it. All right. Yeah, definitely. You said it was more in between the fingers? The one, like right here. But like, they're pretty much gone. And then there's got here, so like.
I see. But it started in like, there was like a little swelling yesterday, and it was like bubbled right here, and that was it. And now like, it has to be back up into my wrist everywhere because of my, I had to switch my hair ties to the other hand. Because it felt tight. How is your movement there? Do you feel like you're restricted? I can, yeah, I can move forward. Well, concern now is that it could be an infection. So we can go ahead and get you started on an antibiotic to cover for infection.
Are you allergic to anything that you know of? Um, I did have an antibiotic for something else in the past and it made me throw up, but I couldn't even take it. Not sure what it was though? Um, no, it's probably in the record somewhere. Well, at least for this, my thoughts are either Bactrim or Keflex. Um, we could also do doxycycline. Any of those sound like something you may have been on before? Um, I know what doxycycline is because I work in a vet's office and we use that a lot for Lyme and stuff.
Right, exactly. But those don't sound like the ones that... I know doxycycline isn't. Okay. I'm not sure about the other two. Okay. We could go with doxycycline then. And then, let's see, are you going to Walgreens on North End? Yeah. So I've been putting Benadryl like cream on it, but it didn't seem to help. Yeah, I was going to say, particularly if it's not an allergic reaction, it won't really have much an effect. So, I mean, other things that you could try though, so steroids might be a little more helpful just to help reduce the swelling.
There's topical steroids. We could also do a short course of oral steroids in case there's any, um, in case there is any allergic component. It would help with that. Would you want to give that a try as well? Might as well, I guess. At least have it on hand just in case. Right. Because it gets worse. Yeah, I was going to say, particularly if you wanted to start with the antibiotic and say it's not responding in the next few days here, or it's continuing to get worse. I'd like to go. Oh no, do you really?
Yeah. So I could at least bring it with me. Right. Yeah, at least have it on hand. So where are you heading? We're just going to Cedar Point with my friends, but... All right. Well, I'll send a few days of prednisone in as well. Continue with the icing. NSAIDs like ibuprofen or leave can be helpful. All right. Those are sent in. And do you have other questions at this point? Is there anything I should be putting on it topically? Not necessarily. I mean, topically, I mean, icing pretty much. Besides that, I don't know that there's much else that will help all that much.
It's not going to hurt. So I mean, if you do want to do like an antibiotic ointment or, you know, like a hydrocortisone cream or something like that, I don't think it's going to hurt. I just don't know how helpful it would be, but I mean, you can give it a try. So do you think it's probably not from the sting itself? It's probably some sort of... I think it could be from the sting. I think it could be an infection secondary to the sting. Because I got stung and it was at night, but we were in the barn and then the next day I was cleaning the barn.
Yeah. So maybe it had gotten some bacteria in that area that just uh found its little track in through the sting. Another thing you could try too, I mean, um, if you wanted to try Epsom salt soaks, that could help reduce the inflammation as well. Other questions? If I'm doing an Epsom salt soak, do I do it cold or warm? Usually do warm. Okay. Because I didn't know if with the icing if it would be better if you were supposed to do it cold. Cold, right. That's what I was just making sure. Anything else? Other questions?
Nope. Well, hopefully this clears it up pretty quick for you and I hope you enjoy your Cedar Point trip. Thank you. All right, you can fill me out front. We'll grab your summary and help you out.
- The patient believes they were stung by a wasp and has experienced delayed swelling and numbness.
- They have a brother who is severely allergic to wasp stings and have concerns about their own reaction.
- The swelling was painful but not itchy, and has worsened to involve the wrist area.
- The physician suggested starting antibiotics (possibly doxycycline) to cover for infection, along with steroids to reduce swelling.
- The patient asked about the use of topical treatments, and the physician advised that icing and Epsom salt soaks may help.
Content:
So I understand that you were stung by a bee? I think I was stung by a wasp, but I don't think that this is a reaction from that because it didn't start until like a day afterwards. This one didn't. And it's not like itchy swelling. Okay. More painful swelling. Okay. I've been working in a barn. Yeah. I got stung here and there. So I think it's a wasp because there's like two. I see. Gotcha. And it didn't even start like it didn't swell the next day. I was like, okay. Because I took my ring off at night.
I took my ring off. I was like, oh, like just in case. It's worse. Because my brother is severely allergic to wasps. I see. Okay. His hands like blow up, but they blow up right away. All right. Yeah, with most allergic reactions, we see them pretty quick. I will say there are some that can be delayed, but usually they are more itchy. They can sometimes be painful, but there's at least some component of itching. All right. So then, were you exposed to anything else besides that that you can think of? No. Any fevers or chills?
Nothing to know. Other cough or cold symptoms? And then, have you taken anything at home for it so far? No, I just iced it. I see. Okay, perfect. All right. Anything else we didn't touch on? No, it feels really hot. Okay. Any numbness or tingling with it? It's numb, completely numb. But I tried to ice it. I can feel the coldness around it, but not on it. All right. Yeah, definitely. You said it was more in between the fingers? The one, like right here. But like, they're pretty much gone. And then there's got here, so like.
I see. But it started in like, there was like a little swelling yesterday, and it was like bubbled right here, and that was it. And now like, it has to be back up into my wrist everywhere because of my, I had to switch my hair ties to the other hand. Because it felt tight. How is your movement there? Do you feel like you're restricted? I can, yeah, I can move forward. Well, concern now is that it could be an infection. So we can go ahead and get you started on an antibiotic to cover for infection.
Are you allergic to anything that you know of? Um, I did have an antibiotic for something else in the past and it made me throw up, but I couldn't even take it. Not sure what it was though? Um, no, it's probably in the record somewhere. Well, at least for this, my thoughts are either Bactrim or Keflex. Um, we could also do doxycycline. Any of those sound like something you may have been on before? Um, I know what doxycycline is because I work in a vet's office and we use that a lot for Lyme and stuff.
Right, exactly. But those don't sound like the ones that... I know doxycycline isn't. Okay. I'm not sure about the other two. Okay. We could go with doxycycline then. And then, let's see, are you going to Walgreens on North End? Yeah. So I've been putting Benadryl like cream on it, but it didn't seem to help. Yeah, I was going to say, particularly if it's not an allergic reaction, it won't really have much an effect. So, I mean, other things that you could try though, so steroids might be a little more helpful just to help reduce the swelling.
There's topical steroids. We could also do a short course of oral steroids in case there's any, um, in case there is any allergic component. It would help with that. Would you want to give that a try as well? Might as well, I guess. At least have it on hand just in case. Right. Because it gets worse. Yeah, I was going to say, particularly if you wanted to start with the antibiotic and say it's not responding in the next few days here, or it's continuing to get worse. I'd like to go. Oh no, do you really?
Yeah. So I could at least bring it with me. Right. Yeah, at least have it on hand. So where are you heading? We're just going to Cedar Point with my friends, but... All right. Well, I'll send a few days of prednisone in as well. Continue with the icing. NSAIDs like ibuprofen or leave can be helpful. All right. Those are sent in. And do you have other questions at this point? Is there anything I should be putting on it topically? Not necessarily. I mean, topically, I mean, icing pretty much. Besides that, I don't know that there's much else that will help all that much.
It's not going to hurt. So I mean, if you do want to do like an antibiotic ointment or, you know, like a hydrocortisone cream or something like that, I don't think it's going to hurt. I just don't know how helpful it would be, but I mean, you can give it a try. So do you think it's probably not from the sting itself? It's probably some sort of... I think it could be from the sting. I think it could be an infection secondary to the sting. Because I got stung and it was at night, but we were in the barn and then the next day I was cleaning the barn.
Yeah. So maybe it had gotten some bacteria in that area that just uh found its little track in through the sting. Another thing you could try too, I mean, um, if you wanted to try Epsom salt soaks, that could help reduce the inflammation as well. Other questions? If I'm doing an Epsom salt soak, do I do it cold or warm? Usually do warm. Okay. Because I didn't know if with the icing if it would be better if you were supposed to do it cold. Cold, right. That's what I was just making sure. Anything else? Other questions?
Nope. Well, hopefully this clears it up pretty quick for you and I hope you enjoy your Cedar Point trip. Thank you. All right, you can fill me out front. We'll grab your summary and help you out.