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Gerard Butler Surprised By Allergic Reaction After Bee Sting Injections

Gerard Butler Surprised By Allergic Reaction After Bee Sting Injections

Most of us learn from an early age that bee stings are to be avoided. Apparently, the Scottish actor did not receive the memo

Paddy Maddison

Paddy Maddison

In news that will likely shock absolutely no one - apart from Gerard Butler, it would seem - injecting bee venom into yourself is a bad idea.

Credit: ITV / Lorraine

The Scottish star was shocked when his body reacted badly to having the venom of 23 bee stings pumped directly into it.

Butler acknowledged that he may have gone slightly OTT with the traditional remedy, which some people claim eases muscle ache, after using it in the wake of a 12-hour shoot for the disaster film Geostorm .

Credit: Warner Bros.

The actor told ITV chat show Lorraine: "I had heard of this guy injecting bee venom, because apparently it has many anti-inflammatory compounds.

"So, I'm like: 'Come, come to New Orleans where we're filming.' So, he gives me a shot, and I go: 'Oh, that's interesting' - because it stings."

No shit.

He continued: "Then he gives me 10 shots, and then I have the worst reaction. I kind of enter this anaphylactic shock. It's awful, creepy crawlies all over me, swelled up, heart's going to explode. But I go through it, and then I find out he gave me 10 times too much."

Credit: Bill Damon (Creative Commons)

Following the treatment, Butler was whisked off to hospital for emergency treatment, which you might have thought would've been enough to put him off any future attempts. However, the bearded thespian admitted that just four days later he decided to give the unconventional remedy another go.

"I decide to do it again, because I think maybe I just took too much. So, he's on the phone, and this time I have to go to the hospital [again]," he said.

Surprisingly, bee stings have actually been used for centuries in a treatment known as apitherapy, in which live bees are placed on an inflamed area of the body. However, while some people do swear by it, there's not a lot of science to back their claims up.

Credit: Warner Bros.

The New York dermatologist Jeannette Graf recently told Vogue: "Bee venom has the potential to help minimise symptoms - the science isn't really there yet, but there's potential for things that don't respond to western medicine."

Thor: Ragnarok star Jeff Goldblum had a little jab at Butler's use of the bizarre remedy while appearing as a guest alongside the Scot on The Graham Norton Show. Goldblum joked: "I've done some cockamamie things in my time but that is crazy," he said. "I think we should trust science."

Centuries-old treatment or not, I'm inclined to agree.

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros. / Crab Chick (Creative Commons)

Topics: UK News, TV and Film, venom, Celebrity, US News