Scorpion Sting

By Stephen Bucaro

Scorpions can be found in 31 different states in the U.S., including Hawaii. In the United States, scorpions are most common in southern Arizona and in a swath of land extending through central Texas and central Oklahoma. The common striped scorpion, Centruroides vittatus, reaches from northern and northeastern Mexico to southern Colorado, Kansas, southern Missouri, and Louisiana.

Scorpions are nocturnal and glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light such as that produced by a blacklight. So if you want to check an area before you sleep there you can inspect it using a hand-held UV lamp. If you find a scorpion, dead or alive, don't touch it. These Arachnids are extremely difficult to kill. They only get a little high on insecticide, and smashing them just tickles them a bit. Also be aware that if you vacuum them up, they'll just crawl back out of the vacuum cleaner.

All scorpions possess venom. They use their venom to kill or paralyze their prey so that it can be eaten; in general it is fast-acting, allowing for effective prey capture. Most scorpions are relatively harmless to humans; stings generally produce only local effects (such as pain, numbness or swelling). A few scorpion species, can be dangerous to humans, and some people may be allergic to their venom.

A primary symptom of a scorpion sting is numbing at the injection site, sometimes lasting for several days. I personally was stung in a finger by a scorpion. The finger became so numb that it felt like a piece of wood stuck to my hand. I could have hit it with a sledge hammer and I wouldn't have felt a thing. To someone allergic to the venom, the scorpion's sting may cause death.

Crushed ice in a plastic bag applied to the sting will reduce the pain, however remove the cold compress frequently because numbness caused by the sting may mask the feeling of your skin freezing. Aspirin may help reduce the symptoms a little. If the victim of a scorpion sting is a small child or an elderly person, you may need to seek medical help. Otherwise, the symptoms of should begin to recede in about 72 hours.

Someone asked me why I don't recommend all people to seek immediate medical help, not just children and elderly? In young virile individuals, only a small number of stings produce severe symptoms. A hospital is not a good place to be. They're filled with sick people and therefore are a breeding ground for bacteria. The Center for Disease Control estimates that of the approximately 2 million bacterial infections Americans acquire in hospitals each year, 70 percent are resistant to antibiotics.

I believe the human body has amazing power to heal itself. Going to the hospital and subjecting yourself to invasive procedures and powerful drugs (and all drugs have side effects) is statistically far more likely to kill you than any scorpion sting. However those that do experience severe symptoms from a scorpion sting should seek medical assistance. I'm just saying that you should seek medical assistance only as a last resort.

For more information about scorpions, visit Wikipedia Scorpion Article.