# How long does the reaction bump from a wasp sting last?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 16, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801 "2024-08-16T16:56:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/1 "2024-08-16T16:56:19Z")
I got stung by a wasp a week ago; still have a bump at the spot, like a mosquito bite bump, only bigger.
How long does it take to go away? Doesn’t hurt or anything, just an irritant.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/2 "2024-08-16T16:57:53Z")
I’ve had them last several weeks.
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### Author:  [@Snipe70e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snipe70e)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/3 "2024-08-16T17:11:55Z")
Depends on the person. Me about 2 days. My wife about 4 or 5 weeks.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/4 "2024-08-16T18:21:47Z")
I think it depends on how sensitive your body is to the wasp venom. I remember it lasting about a week for me.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/5 "2024-08-16T19:08:36Z")
It can last _forever_ as a keloid scar!
ETA: cite
[Mosquito Bite Scars: Causes, Treatment, and Prevention](https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-treat-mosquito-bites-to-prevent-scarring#:~:text=Some%20people%20are%20just%20more,It's%20usually%20permanent).
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/6 "2024-08-19T17:12:35Z")
Best immediate treatment for a wasp or hornet sting is to apply mascerated chewing tobacco to the sting spot. It wall draw out the venom. The problem is I don’t chew tobacco. My dad did when I was a kid and it worked numerous times.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/7 "2024-08-19T21:40:02Z")
There are a lot of poultice-like stuff you can put on them with limited to no effect. Damp baking soda, for example.
What I find best for stings of any time is to spray on an anesthetic spray such as you use for sunburns. The faster you apply it, the quicker the itch and bump go away.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/8 "2024-08-19T21:42:25Z")
Lidocaine. Works great.
But the bump can be there awhile. Ignore it. It’ll go away.
(Ewww, I don’t want any ones nasty spit and nasty tobacco anywhere near me.)
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### Author:  [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/9 "2024-08-20T14:17:52Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> Best immediate treatment for a wasp or hornet sting is to apply mascerated chewing tobacco to the sting spot. It wall draw out the venom.
Do you have a reputable cite for this? I have heard it all my life, but it doesn’t really makes sense to me. The venom is now deep in the skin, how is tobacco going to “draw it out?”
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/10 "2024-08-20T14:21:16Z")
No cite, only my personal experience a few times as a kid. A home remedy rather. If there was a study showing it to be false, I would give that creedence, but I don’t think that’s been done either.
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### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/11 "2024-08-22T19:49:41Z")
FWIW, [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topical_tobacco_paste) says
> **Topical tobacco paste** is a [home remedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_remedy) sometimes recommended as a treatment for [wasp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp), [hornet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet), [fire ant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant), [scorpion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion) or [bee stings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_sting), though there is no scientific evidence that this home remedy works to relieve pain.
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### Author:  [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-the-reaction-bump-from-a-wasp-sting-last/1005801/12 "2024-08-22T21:30:45Z")
There are a lot of variables involved in reactions to stings - how much venom the stinging wasp gets into you, your personal susceptibility to that venom, and a bit of luck.
On Monday of this week I got stung by a paper wasp. First time in a very long time. A rather large bump came up almost immediately, but it was gone when I woke up this morning. I didn’t put tobacco juice (or anything else) on it.
Thing is, I used to be pretty allergic to wasp stings. I got stung by a gazillion (actual count by maternal eyes: 12 IIRC) wasps around the age of ten, and after that would have noticeably worse reactions to single stings than other kids around me. Then I went a decade or two without getting any wasp or bee stings, and when I finally did I had almost no reaction at all, and have been that way ever since.