Care Advice
What You Should Know About Fire Ant Stings:
- Pain from a fire ant sting is less severe than with a bee sting. Most often, it's gone in 10 minutes.
- Fire ant stings form a pimple and become red. This is normal. That doesn't mean they are infected.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
Pain Medicine:
- To help with the pain, give an acetaminophen product (such as Tylenol).
- Another choice is an ibuprofen product (such as Advil).
- Use as needed.
Steroid Cream for Itching:
- For relief of itching, use 1% hydrocortisone cream (such as Cortaid). Use 3 times per day. No prescription is needed.
Allergy Medicine for Itching:
- If itching becomes severe, give a dose of Benadryl.
- No prescription is needed. Age limit: 1 and older.
Pustules (Pimples) - Do Not Open:
- By 24 hours, a small blister will form over the sting.
- Do not open them.
- Try not to scratch them.
- If you open the blisters, they often become infected.
- Left alone, they will most likely dry up in 4 days.
Antibiotic Ointment:
- If the pimples break open, use an antibiotic ointment (such as Polysporin.) No prescription is needed.
- Use 3 times per day to prevent skin infections. Keep using it for 1 or 2 days.
What to Expect:
- Severe pain or burning at the site lasts 5 to 10 minutes.
- Itching follows the pain and is the main symptom. It can last a week.
- Swelling: normal swelling from ant venom can increase for 24 hours after the sting.
- The redness can last 3 days and the swelling 7 days.
Call Your Doctor If:
- Redness lasts over 3 days
- Swelling becomes huge or spreads past the wrist or ankle
- Sting begins to look infected (redness gets larger after 48 hours)
- You think your child needs to be seen
- Your child becomes worse
Remember! Contact your doctor if you or your child develop any "Contact Your Doctor" symptoms.