Going home after your visit
Insect bites & stings
How to ease a bite or sting at home, and the signs that need urgent help.
Most insect bites and stings are harmless and settle within a few days. Here is how to ease the symptoms, and the signs that need urgent help. Please read this and keep it handy.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
this Emergency Department your nearest A&E other:
none needed
Call 999 now — these can be a severe allergic reaction
This can come on fast. Do not wait to see if it settles.
- Swelling of the lips, tongue, mouth or throat
- A tight throat, or trouble breathing or swallowing
- Wheezing, or breathing very fast
- Feeling faint or dizzy, collapsing, or a child going limp or floppy
- A fast-spreading rash, or skin turning pale, blue or grey
- Being stung inside the mouth or throat
CALL 999 Also see your GP if a bite becomes more red, hot, swollen or painful after a few days — this can be an infection.
Easing a bite or sting
- If a sting is left in the skin, scrape it out sideways — do not squeeze it.
- Wash the area with soap and water.
- Put a cold pack on it and raise the area to reduce swelling.
- Try not to scratch it.
- A pharmacy antihistamine or cream can ease the itching.
- Take paracetamol or ibuprofen for pain if you can take them.
Ticks and Lyme disease
If you have a tick, remove it with fine tweezers held as close to the skin as you can, pulling slowly straight out without squeezing it, then clean the area. See your GP if a spreading circular rash or a flu-like illness appears in the weeks afterwards, as this can be Lyme disease.
Where to get help
999
Life-threatening emergency, or a red-flag symptom above
111
Urgent but not life-threatening, or you're not sure — call or visit 111.nhs.uk, 24/7
Your team
Use the department phone in Your care details above