Title: Bee Sting Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis
Headings: Bee Sting Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis
Bee Sting Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis
Questionable Benefits and Definite Risks Associated With Using Bee's Venom
How Bee Therapy Works
What Happens During Treatment
Effectiveness of Bee Sting Therapy
Risks of Bee Sting Therapy
Death
Optic Neuritis
Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis
A Word From Verywell

Content: Bee sting therapy can also be given by physicians—they use venom in an injectable form, administering it under the skin, rather than live bees. 2 ﻿
Before the treatment begins, the therapist may inject you with a weak form of the venom to test for an allergic reaction. A bee (usually a honeybee) is held with tweezers up to a part of the body. The stinger is left in for up to 15 minutes and then removed with tweezers. Between 20 to 40 stings are done each session, and a person typically undergoes three sessions a week. 1 ﻿
Effectiveness of Bee Sting Therapy
Bee sting therapy has been studied on a limited basis for MS. A couple of studies used bee sting therapy in mice who had experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), a condition that resembles MS in humans. The treatment not only showed no benefit, but some of the mice receiving bee stings seemed to have worsening symptoms. In addition, a study was conducted in the Netherlands among 24 people with either relapsing-remitting MS or secondary progressive MS. While the bee sting treatment was well-tolerated, no beneficial effects were seen on the MRIs.