Arizona bark scorpion sting: symptoms, first aid, and treatment

What are the symptoms of a bark scorpion sting?

Pain, immediately, and usually out of proportion to the tiny puncture. A tap on the sting site sharply worsens the pain, a sign clinicians use to confirm a bark scorpion sting.^[3] Tingling and numbness follow and may travel up the limb. Symptoms typically begin within minutes; one clinical summary cites an average onset near 14 minutes.^[3] Local pain, tingling, and numbness can persist 24 to 72 hours after the systemic signs, if any, have resolved.^[2][1]

Systemic signs, which occur in a minority of stings and most often in young children, come from the venom's action on nerves rather than from an allergic reaction: rapid, roving eye movements; excess saliva; difficulty swallowing or slurred speech; restlessness; involuntary jerking of the limbs; fast heart rate; and, in the most severe cases, breathing difficulty.^[1][3]

How do clinicians grade severity?

What should I do right after a sting?

1. Wash the site with soap and water.^[1]
2. Apply a cold pack wrapped in a cloth for up to 20 minutes at a time.^[7]
3. Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain if you can safely use them.^[1]
4. Call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222. The Arizona centers are staffed around the clock and will tell you whether to stay home or go in.^[5][1]
5. Watch for systemic signs for the next few hours, especially in a child under 10 or an adult over 70.^[8][9]

What should I not do?

UArizona Health Sciences guidance specifically warns against antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and against epinephrine auto-injectors (EpiPen) for scorpion stings. The reaction is neurotoxic, not histamine-driven, and those drugs can worsen heart rate and blood pressure without helping.^[1] Do not cut the site, apply suction, use a tourniquet, or apply electric shock; none of these has evidence behind it and the last is documented to cause cardiac harm.^[10] Do not give a stung child alcohol or sedatives at home.

When should I go to the emergency department?

Go, or call 911, for any of the following: roving or jerky eye movements, drooling or trouble swallowing, slurred speech, involuntary muscle jerking, difficulty breathing, or a sting in a small child who is inconsolable or unusually restless.^[1][7] Children under 10 have the highest rates of systemic effects, hospitalization, and intensive-care admission in Arizona and Nevada poison-center data.^[9]

What happens at the hospital?

Grade III and IV envenomations are treated with supportive care (benzodiazepines for agitation and jerking, opioids for pain, IV fluids, airway monitoring) and, where indicated, the antivenom Anascorp.^[3] In the randomized trial that led to FDA approval, children with neurotoxic signs who received antivenom had resolution of those signs within about four hours, versus persistent signs in the placebo group, and needed far less sedative medication.^[4] The antivenom page covers how it works and its history.

What about a dog or cat that was stung?

Pets show pain, limping or pawing at the face, drooling, dilated pupils, tremors, and sometimes vomiting or trouble breathing. Pet Poison Helpline recommends contacting a veterinarian or their hotline; small dogs and cats are at higher risk.^[11] Do not give human pain medication to a pet without veterinary advice.

How common are stings in Arizona?

Very. The FEARS study found 86.5% of Arizona stings happened indoors, 42.5% in a bedroom, and 72.7% of bed stings while the person was asleep; 34.5% were to the foot, and in four of five cases the household had seen scorpions before.^[8] Statewide, poison centers handle on the order of 11,500 reported exposures a year, and a 2025 capture-recapture study estimated the true number in Maricopa County alone at nearly four times what is reported.^[8][12] The deadly page walks through those numbers.