Scorpion bites may mostly be harmless. Despite this, these bites are commonly painful and hence, proper treatments will help to minimize the resulted pain and promote faster recovery. You have to be extra cautious about scorpion bites on either young children or the elderly, as victims at these ages are more prone to severe effects of scorpion bites, that the incident can be life-threatening.

How to treat scorpion bite

Here are what you can or need to do when you or someone else nearby is stung by scorpions.

• Identify the victim

This is important since some people might be more prone to more severe effects of the bite, whilst some others may undergo only those mild effects of the sting. Seek immediate help if the victim is:

• Young or very young children or infants.
• The elderly or those over 60 of age.
• People with diabetes.
• People with heart problems or taking heart medications.

Those groups of people are susceptible to more severe effects of scorpion bites, as they might have weakened immune system and thus, may experience delayed healing or other complications. Do not wait to seek for medical helps as untreated bites may be deadly.

• Observe serious symptoms

Scorpion bites are not harmful as long as no serious symptoms appear afterwards. Thus, although the bites are most of the time not deadly, you need to be alert for some possible serious symptoms. When these symptoms appear, do not attempt to treat the bitten part at home, as medical care is definitely required.

• Foaming of the mouth, drooling, and vomiting.
• Muscles twitching and abnormal eye and neck movements.
• Difficulty breathing, talking, or swallowing.
• Severe swelling.
• Unintentional urination.

• Find sting location

If severe symptoms do not appear, you can treat the sting victim at home. The first thing you need to do is finding the sting location. You might or might not see the sting location, but burning or itching sensation can be used as a guide. In some cases, the stung location may develop numbness or tingling sensation. Different from bees or hornets, scorpions do not leave

In some cases, the stung location may develop numbness or tingling sensation. Different from bees or hornets, scorpions do not leave a sting on the wound site, so that there is nothing to be removed from the wound site.

• Clean the sting location

Once you find the sting location, it is important to clean it thoroughly. To clean a sting location, wash it with water and mild soap to get rid of any venom residue left around the location. This also decreases the risk of infection on the wound site.

• Prevent scorpion venom from spreading

Although most scorpion venoms are harmless to humans and can only kill their prey—small insects, venom spread from the sting location can cause a variety of symptoms, which are painful and disturbing.

This is why preventing the venom from spreading out to other body parts are important. To do this, raise the sting location above the heart level. You also need to limit movements around the sting location, as excessive movements may cause the venom to spread more quickly.

• Apply cold compress to the sting location

This can be helpful, as there are some benefits cold compresses can give to a sting location, such as:

• Slowing down venom spreading.
• Reducing inflammation and swelling of the sting location.
• Helping numb the pain.

To apply alleviate the resulted effects, apply the cold compress for ten to fifteen minutes at a time and give an equal of time between applications. If you use ice cubes, wrap it inside a towel or cloth to prevent skin burn because of the application.

• Reduce pain with medications

In many cases, scorpion bites cause intense pain that lasts quite long. To reduce this kind of pain, take either ibuprofen or aspirin pills, but avoid those containing narcotics, as this may induce difficulty breathing. Any elevated pain may be associated with infection or poisoning, so that further medical helps are required.

• Do not consume foods or liquids if you have difficulty swallowing

Wait for some hours before trying to consume foods or liquids of you have difficulty swallowing after being bitten by the scorpion.