Bee Venom Therapy-Cure to Many Ailments?

Sometimes it is the oddest things that make you feel better. Maybe it’s a quirky movie, maybe a delicious ice cream float or, say, maybe getting stung by a bee? That’s right, bee venom therapy is a real thing and it’s been making some headway in the current alternative therapy community.

What the Heck?

Using bees to enhance health is not a new approach as these incredible insects have been helping humans for centuries. In addition to harvesting honey, bee pollen and royal jelly (nutritive bee secretion to enhance queen bee health), bees have also been used for their sting venom.

Depictions of bee venom therapy (BVT), also known as or apitherapy, have been found in medical writings and images during Hippocrates and ancient Egyptian and Greek medical journals.

Modern treatment began in the 1930’s after beekeepers reported getting stung on the job and experiencing arthritis pain relief. BVT is widely used all over the world but America is slowly embracing the benefits as practitioners gradually emerge.

Stinger or Injection

The process consists of either extracting the venom from the bee and injecting it into an affected area or directly getting stung in a controlled environment. The injection method is more widely used but some practitioners still use controlled live stings to deliver the venom. Bee venom acupuncture (BVT) delivers the venom into acupuncture points which correlate to various health challenges.

The beneficial results of BVT have shown great promise for those suffering from various conditions and diseases where pharmaceuticals have been unable to deliver. Most discover BVT after walking the slippery slope of opioids and other side effect producing painkillers as well as multiple physical therapy sessions and even surgery.

Medicine Net reports on the testimonial of Louise Chirasello of Brewster, New York an 84 year old patient who was getting no relief for two unmanageable hip replacements,

“I was so sore, you could not touch my hips without me crying out,…Right after I got that first injection of bee venom, I left his office pain-free.”

Although the medical community does not recognize BVT as a valid treatment for various pain, many studies have proven otherwise. As crazy as it may sound, bee a venom therapy may be a worth a try. It is mandatory to get an allergy test before BVT even if you are not allergic to bees or honey.

Multiple Applications

When patients like Louise are at the end of their rope, BVT just may bring relief.  Positive results from bee sting therapy have been documented for many health challenges including:

• PMS
• Asthma
• Tendonitis
• Hearing loss
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscle conditions
• High blood pressure
• Nerve pain (neuralgia)
• Arthritic conditions (especially rheumatoid arthritis)

With so many observational reports and ancient affiliations, BVT has undergone a variety of study trials to determine just how this unorthodox application works.

How the Body Reacts

Most people do not enjoy being stung by a bee. In fact, each year many victims end up in the hospital so it is understandable that the idea of bee sting therapy can be unnerving. This is why it is more important than ever to work with a professional practitioner experienced at administering BVT.

Among the 40 different compounds found in bee venom, according to Lawrence Cohen, a medical doctor based in Danbury, Connecticut who practices BVA, 

“Mellitin, an anti-inflammatory agent found in the venom, is one hundred times stronger than cortisone,”.

Another compound that stood out is adolapin which works as both an anti-inflammatory and pain blocker. It is believed that these compounds along with the full spectrum of the venom only during a “stinging episode” work together to produce many healing effects. This is why extracting the venom into a medicine may be impossible.

One Chinese study of BVT and rheumatoid arthritis concluded,

“Combined application of bee-venom therapy and medication is superior to simple use of medication in relieving RA, and when bee-sting therapy used, the commonly-taken doses of western medicines may be reduced, and the relapse rate gets lower.”

BVT is another example of wrangling natural remedies that work just as well or better than conventional drugs with little or no side effects. Contraindications of BVT would be an allergic reaction and some slight redness at the affected sight.