Apologies if this has been discussed here before (I did try a search): does "Bite away" actually work for reducing pain/swelling from wasp (etc) stings? It was recommended to me by a chemist, but they also recommended homeopathic treatments!
On the one hand at least there is some vaguely plausible mechanism of action: it heats a small plate in contact with the skin to 51 celsius, which supposedly denatures the protein in the sting. On the other hand, given that the sting is injected below the skin, it seems to me that to denature it you'd need a lot more heat than that - more something that would cause a significant burn on the surface. But still, I suppose the heat could influence the body's reaction in some way.
Googling found one study suggesting it does work well and quickly: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257884/ , but it's not controlled (not clear how one could do a controlled study).
So I was wondering whether any of you skeptics had looked into this!
On the one hand at least there is some vaguely plausible mechanism of action: it heats a small plate in contact with the skin to 51 celsius, which supposedly denatures the protein in the sting. On the other hand, given that the sting is injected below the skin, it seems to me that to denature it you'd need a lot more heat than that - more something that would cause a significant burn on the surface. But still, I suppose the heat could influence the body's reaction in some way.
Googling found one study suggesting it does work well and quickly: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257884/ , but it's not controlled (not clear how one could do a controlled study).
So I was wondering whether any of you skeptics had looked into this!
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2mktZIe
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