 
There is hardly anything that a bee makes that is not used medically! Apitherapy is the use of bee products like honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and bee venom. All of these products can be taken orally, or by mouth. But some people swear that one of them, the most painful, is best taken right from the bee!
Bee venom therapy is done by encouraging the bee to sting you! Now, when a bee stings, it loses its stinger, which sticks in the skin. The poor bee doesn't survive this process. Its venom sac is pulled out, which is always fatal (the bee dies a horrible death!) The sac keeps pulsing for about a minute to pump in the poison.
Most people, when stung by a bee, suffer pain, itching, swelling, and redness! So why have five or six bees sting you on purpose? That is a very good question! Well, the venom of bees has about 40 ingredients, some of which scientists haven't even identified! One of the ingredients is melittin, an anti-inflammatory drug 100 times stronger than hydrocortisol. There are also enzymes, peptides, and some other strange things, none I've ever heard of! Some of these ingredients seem to do wonderful things for some people. They seem to reduce swelling and increase blood circulation. People with multiple
sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, rheumatism, back pain,
and skin diseases are finding that bee venom relieves symptoms. Most people go to a licensed practitioner, who keeps the bees and helps give the sting. You can get a license to sting people with bees? Patients get up to ten stings two or three times a week. Some patients swear that bee venom
is helping them lead a more normal life, with less pain. Even the
pain of the stings is little to pay for being able to move more freely
and not suffer between stings. It's
all a trade-off, I guess!
Some people are allergic to bee venom, so they cannot take the therapy. It's probably not a good idea to jump into bee venom therapy without making sure there's no allergy. Allergic or not, I hope I never have to try it! |
It even seems to help heal scar tissue!
