We used to get treated with a blue bag! Probably most people will not even know what one of those is, but the ones we used to get here were were like a piece of pool cue chalk used to add to the washing to get your clothes nice and white. I haven't looked in the supermarket lately to see if they still sell them or not. As I remember the swelling never got too bad when a liberal coating of "blue" was applied, but maybe I don't react too badly to stings and/or the blue was a cunning ploy to pacify my screaming! :laugh: ...it's a bit of a novelty to paint various body parts blue! I must research this further to see what they put in those little blue packages that might help with stings.
The first time I was stung by a European Wasp, I thought that I was going to die, then I became afraid that I wasn't going to die ;), but seriously, that was not all that pleasant and the little darling had a pretty good go at me before I got her out of my jacket. The recommended treatment was a few pain killers and half an onion applied to the affected area. Maybe the onion does something, but it stil hurts :'( The onion may also help with bee stings. The second wasp sting I got, I was pretty quick to get rid of the wasp from my arm (benefit of experience) and the effects were relatively insignificant.
I must say that the Vagisil idea is brilliant, I'm going now to check the medicine cabinet and the cupboard under the bathroom cabinet for supplies. Thanks for the hint.