Onion eased wasp sting

Q. I was walking barefoot in my kitchen when I stepped on a wasp. I figured I was in trouble.

I was stung for the first time ever a few days ago. My arm swelled so much I looked like Popeye the Sailor Man. It was horribly sore for a whole week.

So when I stepped on the wasp minutes ago, I immediately searched your website for a remedy. I read that a fresh-cut onion could ease the pain. So I grabbed an onion slice and tied it to my foot with a plastic bag. Within a minute the pain was gone. I’m going to leave the onion in place a little longer in the hope that it will prevent swelling.

A. More than 30 years ago we heard from a reader of this column that an onion might help ease the pain and inflammation of stings. He credited his German neighbor lady “with suggesting a cut onion be applied to the sting for at least 10 minutes.”

We checked with an expert in onion chemistry, Dr. Eric Block, of the State University of New York at Albany. He confirmed that fresh-cut onions contain an enzyme that can break down inflammatory chemicals.

Q. I had recurring bladder infections over a period of 12-18 months. This may sound a little “woo-woo” for some folks, but I got relief by drinking parsley tea. I experienced immediate pain relief and no recurrence in two years.

You can purchase parsley tea bags in any health food store or make your own tea with fresh parsley. I use about 1/2 bunch for a pot of tea. I sip it slowly over a couple of hours, twice a day.

I do not recommend this treatment instead of medical treatment, but in addition to it. My doctor was noncommittal, but I am convinced parsley tea made the difference for me.

A. Although there are many online testimonials touting parsley tea for urinary-tract infections, we could not find any good studies supporting this practice. A group of Brazilian microbiologists analyzed parsley and rosemary for their activity against common bacteria that cause urinary infections (Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, online, Dec. 17, 2013). While they found several compounds in rosemary that were promising, the results from parsley were too weak to be meaningful.

We’re glad to learn that parsley tea helped you, however. We don’t imagine that it will do any harm as long as you are under medical supervision.

Q. Is cannabidiol oil considered a drug? You’ve written that it can relieve pain. Will it show up on a drug test?

A. Cannabidiol is derived from Cannabis sativa (marijuana). Unlike THC, which makes people high, CBD does not have this effect. There is some data to suggest that CBD could be helpful for pain relief or hard-to-treat seizures.

Drugs tests for marijuana use identify THC and its metabolites. Theoretically, a pure CBD product used medicinally would not lead to positive drug test. But that depends entirely on how carefully the supplier works to remove the THC.

One study of a urine test for CBD found that 14 out of 15 patients using CBD products also tested positive for a THC metabolite (Journal of Pain Research, online, Feb. 12, 2016).

2017 King Features Syndicate Inc.