They may be yellow or red or black, but they seem to be flying around everywhere. And those evil creatures hurt when they sting! I had a friend and a coworker both get stung twice this week. I was cutting grass and saw one. I started thinking about the ways Maw Maw treated wasp stings. They worked, too!

 

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    Toothpaste

    I can hear her right now. "Go get me some toot'pas,' cher!" She had a very thick Cajun accent. French was her first language. The website healthguidance.org offers toothpaste as one of the immediate remedies for the awful pain of a wasp sting, and says it even help reduce inflammation.

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    Mustard

    When she was closer to the kitchen, Maw Maw or any one of my other Cajun relatives would reach for the mustard. I'm referring to the yellow stuff that you slather onto sandwiches. It was usually cold, which helped the stinging to subside. In doing my research, I found out that the spice is better. It, too, has anti-inflammatory properties because of something in it.

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    Tobacco

    My grandfather, who lived to be 88, rolled his own cigarettes. His Prince Albert was in the can on the screened porch all the time. One day, one of us grandchildren got stung, and an adult came at the victim with a pinch of tobacco they had moistened. I remember being fascinated. Amazingly, it's not uncommon. According to ehow, the acid in tobacco neutralizes the venom of an insect sting, and it can help reduce swelling.

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