When a fire ant stings, it injects venom that causes itching, swelling, and redness of the skin. Discomfort occurs as a small red welt appears, followed soon by a clear blister. The fluid in the blister may turn cloudy, and the area begins to itch. Most people experience only a small amount of redness around the sting site, but swelling, itching, and pain can be intense. Fire ant stings are prone to infections, which cause breathing difficulties, nausea, high fever, widespread swelling of body parts, or worse — death, if you are allergic.


Steps

1. Brush the ants off your body. Fire ants clamp onto the body with their mandibles and this loosens their grip. Refrain from slapping at them, as this only agitates them.
2. Elevate the affected area. This will help to minimize swelling.
3. Tighten the affected area. This will stop the venom from spreading to other parts of the body.
4. Rinse the sting with cold water. Place a cool compress on the infected area; this will help to alleviate the itching by bringing down the swelling and numbing the stung area.
5. Keep the wound clean. If it is an open wound, keep it clean by using a half-bleach/half-water concoction to rinse the area. A steroid cream, like hydrocortisone alleviates pain, and is recommended for most severe insect bites.
6. Watch for symptoms of a severe allergic reaction. These include chest pain, nausea, sweating, loss of breath, swelling, and slurred speech. If any of these symptoms are detected, get medical treatment immediately.

Tips

• Keeping a vigilant watch for fire ant mounds and keeping loved ones and pets away from them is a sure way to prevent future stings.
• Using the Two-Step method will prevent fire ants in your yard:
  • Step one – Use indoxacarb bait for fast acting control of mounds. Step two - followed by fipronil broadcast for year long control.
• Another possibility is to use rubbing alcohol and meat tenderizer. After brushing off the ants, immediately rinse the area with rubbing alcohol and leave it wet. Elevate the area and sprinkle a generous amount of meat tenderizer on the area. This will prevent the effects of the sting from progressing beyond the moment of treatment.

Warnings

• If you begin to feel the following: tightness in the chest, swelling anywhere on the face, difficulty breathing, welts (hives) anywhere on your body and nausea you are having an allergic reaction! You will need to get to an ER immediately. Allergic reactions can be minor to severe. So any abnormal reactions (besides occasional itch ,minor swelling at sting site or pain)should be reported to a doctor right away.
• The best way to prevent injuries caused by fire ants from happening is to treat the fire ant infested areas with preventative ingredients, such as fipronil.