Active ingredient key to cure

Dear Dr. Gott: I recently read your reply to the grandmother whose granddaughter develops itchy welts when stung or bit by insects. I have some further suggestions for her. I, too, suffer from extreme itchiness from bites, while I am not considered to be “allergic.” Benadryl often makes me sleepy and other antihistamines have had little effect or do not last long enough. The intense itchiness, almost to the point of pain, can last for days.

The first product that I have found to be highly effective is After Bite. It is available at many drug stores, and the active ingredient is simply 3.5 percent ammonia. It comes in a tube and must be rubbed on within minutes of the bite or sting. Even an 8-year-old can carry it and use it as needed right away. I have used it very effectively on myself as well as others for bee and wasp stings, mosquitoes and most effectively on a jellyfish sting. It works remarkably fast. One friend who carries an EpiPen for bee stings now carries After Bite to use first. She has not had to use the EpiPen since.

The second product is for when you just don’t catch the bite in time. It is a homeopathic remedy available at health food stores called StingStop. It’s active ingredients are echinacea angustifolia 1X 10 percent, ledum palustre 1X 10 percent, and Urtica dioica 1X 10 percent. This can be reapplied as often as needed.

I hope you can include these products in your column to help others who overreact to insect bites but are not bad enough to need more intensive medical intervention. I suffered for many years before I found these. Now I garden and camp again in comfort without expecting days of excruciating itching afterward.

Dear Reader: I am publishing your letter as a public service because I have had no experience with the products you mention, although I am naturally very suspicious of homeopathic remedies because they ordinarily contain too little of the active ingredients to be effective.

Dear Dr. Gott: Do you know of anything, short of surgery, that can make a boil on the neck come to a head?

Dear Reader: Skin abscesses can be “drawn out” by the application of hot compresses. If, however, the boil fails to “point,” antibiotic therapy may be necessary. If this doesn’t solve the problem, surgical “I and D” (incision and drainage) is the next step.

Some skin boils, particularly on the neck and trunk, are caused by infected skin cysts that tend to recur unless the entire cyst is surgically removed. Therefore, you should see a physician (or a surgeon) if the boil is large and painful, does not respond to hot compresses applied for 15 to 20 minutes three or four times a day, or is a recurrent nuisance.