American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [128]
Symptoms of a scorpion sting include severe burning pain at the site of the sting, nausea and vomiting, stomach pain, numbness and tingling in the affected area, difficulty opening the mouth, fast heart rate, blurred vision, muscle spasms, seizures, and unconsciousness.
To treat a bite by a poisonous spider or a scorpion sting:
1. If a person has been bitten by a poisonous spider or stung by a scorpion, call or have someone call 911 or your local emergency number or the national poison center (1-800-222-1222), or send someone for help.
2. If the person is not breathing, start mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (see page 156) immediately. If the person’s heart has stopped beating, perform CPR if you have had CPR training.
3. Keep the bitten area lower than the person’s heart.
4. Place ice wrapped in a cloth or cold compresses on the bite.
5. Keep the person calm and comfortable.
6. If you can catch the spider or scorpion safely, take it with you to the emergency department.
Tick Bites
Ticks can be found anywhere but thrive in wooded and grassy areas. They can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease (see page 942) and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (see page 942). Initial symptoms of a tick bite include irritation, pain, bruising, and a round, red rash or blotch (see color illustration on page 126) that may not appear at the site of the bite. If you think you have been bitten by a tick, see your doctor right away. The doctor will perform a blood test to determine if the tick has caused an infection; if the infection is in an early stage, he or she will prescribe antibiotics. To remove a tick, see page 943.
Tick
Ticks are about 1/8 inch long. When a tick becomes engorged with blood, it can expand to up to seven times its normal size.
Snakebites
Poisonous snakes include the rattlesnake, cottonmouth (water moccasin), and copperhead (all three are pit vipers), and the coral snake. Rattlesnakes are responsible for two out of three poisonous snakebites and are found all over the United States. Cottonmouth and copperhead snakes are found primarily in the Southeast and South Central United States. Coral snakes are found in the Southeast.
It is important to know whether a snake is poisonous. Poisonous, or venomous, snakes have a triangular-shaped head, while nonvenomous snakes have a more rounded head. Pit vipers such as the rattlesnake, copperhead, and cottonmouth have pits (which look like another set of nostrils) between their nostrils and their slitlike eyes. Rattlesnakes have a rattle at the end of their tail. Cottonmouths have a white lining in their mouth. Copperheads have a copper-colored head and a pinkish gray body with a brown hourglass shape on the skin.
The symptoms of a pit viper bite include severe pain, rapid swelling, discoloration, and redness at the site of the bite. The person may also experience weakness, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, seizures, numbness in the arms and legs, and difficulty breathing.
Top view of a pit viper
Pit vipers such as rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and copperheads have a triangular head when viewed from above (left). Nonpoisonous snakes have a more rounded head (right).
Coral snakes are not pit vipers, but they are venomous. They have round eyes and a black nose and alternating rings of red, yellow, and black (the narrow yellow rings always separate the red rings from the black). All poisonous snakes have long fangs.
Symptoms of a coral snake bite include slight pain and swelling at the site of the bite, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, difficulty speaking or swallowing, drooling, drowsiness, sweating, nausea and vomiting, confusion, weakness, dizziness, joint pain, paralysis, and difficulty breathing.
If there is no swelling within 4 hours (for a pit viper bite) and 6 hours (for a coral snake bite), the snake was probably not poisonous.
If someone has been bitten by a poisonous snake:
1. Call 911 or your local emergency number or the national poison center