Got hit by something in Rock Creek Park on my bike ride. Maybe a bee sting? Hurts. Thoughts? There is a little swollen ring with a red center.
Replies
I get bit by some angry insect that I’ve run into at 20mph every couple months when bicycling. Might be different insects than your local variety but I just ignore it, will be itchy for a few days and it’ll be a little lump that goes away in a couple months.
aug 6, 2025, 11:32 pm • 1 0 • view
Could be a biting midge. Some people call them No-see-ums. They bit and the bite swells like that. The welt lasts about a week. Use Hydrocortisone cream to lessens the intense itch.
aug 7, 2025, 4:19 pm • 1 0 • view
Looks like an insect bite .
aug 6, 2025, 11:13 pm • 2 0 • view
Yelliwjacket. Not, alas, the Tour de France yellow jersey. Ice and an antihistamine.
aug 7, 2025, 12:02 am • 1 0 • view
Ouch...😕
aug 6, 2025, 11:16 pm • 0 0 • view
Make sure it's not a tick bite! Look for the tick in the center. If it's a tick, get it out right away and see a doctor.
aug 6, 2025, 11:09 pm • 7 0 • view
Exactly what I was going to post.
aug 6, 2025, 11:14 pm • 3 0 • view
Not a tick. Likely a wasp from pics and symptoms I’m seeing in research.
aug 6, 2025, 11:35 pm • 10 0 • view
It will probably itch like crazy the next few days 🫤
aug 7, 2025, 12:19 am • 1 0 • view
If it is a tick, twist it out counterclockwise. They screw in. You unscrew them and they can't hold on. That way you are sure to get the mouth part out of your skin. Important.
aug 6, 2025, 11:21 pm • 0 0 • view
Does it itch or sting?
aug 6, 2025, 11:06 pm • 0 0 • view
Burns/stings. I thought I hit something sharp. Was going full speed down hill.
aug 6, 2025, 11:08 pm • 1 0 • view
Looks like a hornet sting to me
aug 6, 2025, 11:26 pm • 1 0 • view
Looks like what the health apps say is a wasp sting.
aug 6, 2025, 11:34 pm • 5 0 • view
I was thinking of that as a possibility as well. I’ve only been stung once in my life, and it burned like hell. I was driving and it got me on my upper but. I thought a cigarette had flown in the window from a passing car and fell behind me. At the time, I thought it was a hornet, but I’ve come
aug 6, 2025, 11:42 pm • 0 0 • view
butt* 🙄
aug 6, 2025, 11:43 pm • 0 0 • view
To learn since that some wasps look like hornets too. I’ve often wondered if mine was in fact a wasp sting. I just know your sting looks exactly Iike what mine looked like. Either way, ouch, and I hope your sting is feeling better soon.
aug 6, 2025, 11:42 pm • 0 0 • view
Oh better than a tic bite
aug 7, 2025, 12:05 am • 1 0 • view
Looks like a wasp sting.
aug 6, 2025, 11:07 pm • 2 0 • view
More information
aug 6, 2025, 11:09 pm • 3 0 • view
It looks like the red dot on Jupiter, but probably not helpful
aug 6, 2025, 11:07 pm • 4 0 • view
Looks like it to me. Feel better. ❤️🩹
aug 6, 2025, 11:07 pm • 1 0 • view
Exact same thing happened to my son 3 weeks ago while riding along a paved bike path ~15 mph. Lots of swelling. What are the odds of getting stung like that on the move!
aug 7, 2025, 7:03 pm • 2 0 • view
I think I just ran into the back of one. It was like a thump. I've ridden 5,000 miles on my back last couple years and a lot of that is in insect-heavy parks. Have to wear glasswear to protect my eyes. (Had to have a doc remove an insect once that wouldn't come out.)
aug 7, 2025, 7:23 pm • 1 0 • view
I would take a Benadryl and get some Afterbite to put on it. Both of those things can work wonders. I used to carry Afterbite with me in the garden and got stung by a yellow jacket one day. Whipped out the Afterbite applied it to the welt and that stopped it in its tracks. The stuff is amazing.
aug 6, 2025, 11:10 pm • 4 0 • view
Use Sting Stop or similar
aug 7, 2025, 12:46 am • 1 0 • view
Looks like a bee/wasp sting to me. They burn, rather than itch.
aug 6, 2025, 11:07 pm • 3 0 • view
Burns
aug 6, 2025, 11:08 pm • 3 0 • view
Google brown recluse spider. The bull's eye around the bite happens with those, and they have some nasty consequences.
aug 7, 2025, 1:15 am • 2 0 • view
1) if no barb, likely wasp 2) Wasp apply vinegar (bee Bicarbonate of Soda). (remember using dracula Vasp Vinegar, Bee Bi). 3) Insist not a hickey
aug 6, 2025, 11:14 pm • 8 0 • view
📌
aug 7, 2025, 6:44 pm • 0 0 • view
If not a tick, put heavy-duty zinc cream on it, thickly. Like diaper rash cream. Heals up skin issues rapidly! Plus benadryl. Good luck!
aug 7, 2025, 1:24 am • 1 0 • view
Risk of tick bite -> Lyme disease. Get a blood test. Good luck!
aug 7, 2025, 1:21 am • 1 0 • view
The other week, I got stung on the thumb while riding. At about 30 mph, downhill It wasn't too bad till I flatted a few miles later and had to use that thumb fixing the flat. Advil and ice. Do the ice 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off.
aug 6, 2025, 11:08 pm • 3 0 • view
Yellowjacket. More common in late summer to fall.
aug 6, 2025, 11:09 pm • 6 0 • view
That's what I was going to say. There are tons of those little ground-dwelling Eastern Yellowjackets in the DC area, and a bee would have left its stinger behind. About the right size welt for one of those too.
aug 6, 2025, 11:19 pm • 3 0 • view
Suspect Tic- get to doctors for antibiotics for Lyme disease.
aug 7, 2025, 12:05 am • 0 0 • view
Almost all better. My current guess is wasp. Thanks BlueSkyers!
aug 7, 2025, 6:37 pm • 28 0 • view
Dang wasps! Stepped near a ground nest once and several flew up my skirt and stung me several times in sensitive areas. At least you don’t need to sit on your neck!
aug 7, 2025, 6:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Hopefully not of the radioactive variety. !!
aug 7, 2025, 7:06 pm • 0 0 • view