What to Do If You Are Stung by a Scorpion? Symptom Identification and Proper Treatment
The scorpion is one of the five poisonous creatures. Although its range is not as widespread as that of centipedes and bees, there are still many scorpions in certain areas. What should you do if you are accidentally stung by a scorpion?
1. Symptoms of a Scorpion Sting
When a scorpion stings a person, it injects venom into the body. Scorpion venom contains toxic proteins, and its main toxic components include neurotoxins, hemolysins, hemorrhagins, and toxins that constrict the heart and blood vessels. If stung, a patch of redness and swelling may appear locally, with a burning pain, and a sting mark may be visible at the center; in mild cases there are generally no systemic symptoms. If the poisoning is severe, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, drooling, photophobia, tearing, nausea and vomiting, rigidity of the mouth and tongue muscles, profuse sweating, rapid breathing, weak and thready pulse, and muscle spasms may occur. Severe poisoning occurs mostly in young children, and may even lead to bleeding of the nose, lungs, or stomach and intestines, pulmonary edema, and coma, until respiratory and circulatory failure endanger life.
2. Treatment Methods for a Scorpion Sting
1. If a stinger remains in the wound, it should be pulled out promptly. At the upper end of the sting site (the end nearer the heart), 2--3 cm away, tie tightly with a tourniquet, cloth strip, or rope, and loosen for 1--2 minutes every 15 minutes. Use your hands to press firmly from around the wound toward the wound, so that toxin-containing blood is squeezed out of the wound. If conditions permit, you can also use cupping or a breast pump to draw out the venom. If the oral mucosa is not damaged, you can also suck out the venom with your mouth.
2. Wash the wound with any one of 3% ammonia water, clear supernatant liquid of limewater, 1:500 potassium permanganate solution, 5% sodium bicarbonate solution, etc. Ice packs or cold water compresses can be applied around the wound to reduce the absorption and spread of the toxin. Nantong snake medicine can be applied around the wound, and it can also be taken orally
3. In severe cases, a tourniquet needs to be tied at the proximal end of the wound, and the wound cut open in a “+” shape or “++” shape, then rinsed with 1:5000 potassium permanganate solution. If necessary, seek medical attention promptly, and where conditions permit, inject anti-scorpion venom serum and provide other symptomatic treatment to prevent secondary infection and pulmonary edema.
4. In crude conditions, applying mud and one's own urine to the affected area can also help reduce swelling and relieve pain. If necessary, use a red-hot small knife to cauterize the stung area for a few seconds.
If the patient is severely poisoned or is a young child, it is best to go to the hospital promptly. Moreover, after being stung by a scorpion, treatment must be carried out, otherwise the pain will be unbearable, and in severe cases there is a risk to life.