Arthritis Remedies Site

As far back as around 400 B.C., Hippocrates - the Greek physician commonly referred to as the “father of medicine”, used bee venom to treat joint pain and swelling, in fact bee venom therapy has been around for thousands of years. Reference’s to the treatment can be found in ancient Egypt and Greek medical writings. Also known as apitherapy, the technique is more widely used in Eastern Europe, Asia and South America. Today many people still find the stings of honeybees helpful when addressing conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and osteoarthritis.

Honeybee venom contains many active substances one of which is ‘Mellitin’, an anti-inflammatory agent which is known to be more than one hundred times stronger than cortisone. These substances stimulate the body’s release of the hormone cortisol as well as neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, all of which can help relieve the pain, stiffness and swelling of arthritis.

Caution…. Allergic Reactions

Perhaps apitherapy or bee sting therapy sounds like a viable option for your arthritis pain, well maybe it’s worth re-considering, you see unfortunately bee stings are noted for triggering an allergic reactions called ‘Anaphylaxis’ or Anaphylaxis shock in many people. Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening type of allergic reaction.

Is Bee Venom A Proven Method for treating Arthritis?

Although bee venom therapy is largely an unproven technique, a small number of U.S physicians have reported good results using the substance to treat arthritic conditions.

Treatments of honeybee venom therapy, or ‘Apitherapy’ supposedly started after bee-keepers, who were stung many times, noticed their arthritis pains were relieved. Some practitioners still use live bee stings to deliver the venom.

There’s really no way of knowing if bee sting therapy will work for you, without trying, which could result in an allergic reaction. For those of you who remain undeterred, the appropriate medical supervision should be sought.

If you do decide you would like to try bee stings, speak with your doctor. It’s important that you be prepared for a severe allergic reaction by having a bee sting allergy kit on hand - even if you’ve never reacted negatively to bee stings in the past. Although the side effects of bee-venom therapy usually are mild, an allergic reaction to a sting could potentially be deadly.

Is Bee Sting Therapy a Viable Option For My Arthritis ?

It’s true that apitherapy may indeed help your arthritis pain and inflammation, but at what cost?. Personally I think ‘Apitherapy’ should probably be avoided, this is just my opinion, but there is just to much risk involved for me. There are far less barbaric natural methods that prove far more effective in relieving arthritis pain and inflammation, so I think I’ll just skip the bee stings.