Got Stung Today

[krading]

We (she) bought a 1 rai block in the village and we have been raking a number of years worth of noi-nar prunings into piles and burning them off. (hence the new tag-line under my avatar.)

I'm sorry but it will only happen once and I promise to behave more responsibly in the future.

As I picked up a branch today I felt something jab into the middle pad of my little finger. It felt like the burn of a local anesthetic injection, you know the one where the doctor says "Now, this might sting a bit."

I dropped the branch and had a look for the culprit but to no avail, couldn't see where I had been bitten either but it burnt like what I would imagine a hot needle would feel like and almost straight away started to swell.

I grabbed some ice out of the esky but that only intensified the pain so I tried the heat from the fire and it eased back a little.

Burning pain for an hour or so and then it settled down to pins and needles all over the whole finger.

That was 5 hours ago and I've still got the pins and needles but at least the swelling has gone down a bit.

I'm having to drink left handed.

Any ideas on what could have got me? Wasn't a red ant 'cos I've had plenty of those drop out of the trees to get me

[neverdie]

I'm having to drink left handed.

Wow this is an emergency. I can imagine that your going to make your right hand jealous later on tonight as well.

[canuckamuck]

There are a couple of ants here that give a sting like that, I don't know the names, just know them by sight. One type is medium sized and bluish dark grey in color. They like to be in deadfall and old timber, live in very small colonies. The other kind hurts more, but I know less about them, they are dark brown from and back, and reddish in the middle usually you only see one at a time. They are also medium sized. My wife says they are the worst in Thailand.

it is also possible it was a scorpion, I have seen a lot of them this year.

[krading]

Left handed is a pain, can't keep up a rythym.

Luckily my missus has a perfectly functional right hand (along with all the other bits)

[Dave the Dude]

Doesn't sound bad enough for a millipede. That lasted at least 7 hours for the pain (in the @rse) to stop.

Scorpion, maybe???

Hope the drinking improves

Dave

[krading]

There are a couple of ants here that give a sting like that, I don't know the names, just know them by sight. One type is medium sized and bluish dark grey in color. They like to be in deadfall and old timber, live in very small colonies. The other kind hurts more, but I know less about them, they are dark brown from and back, and reddish in the middle usually you only see one at a time. They are also medium sized. My wife says they are the worst in Thailand.

it is also possible it was a scorpion, I have seen a lot of them this year.

It looks like I won't lose the finger, alcohol seems to have reduced the symptoms to a managable level.

[Gary A]

I was helping my wife plant some trees and got bit or stung by something. I too could not find what bit me but it really did hurt. My wife told me that I had to watch out for those big black ants. She apparently saw a few of them in the area where we were working. She insisted that was what bit me and since I had no idea, I didn't dispute her.

[chang35baht]

GLOVES

[elcent]

I was helping my wife plant some trees and got bit or stung by something. I too could not find what bit me but it really did hurt. My wife told me that I had to watch out for those big black ants. She apparently saw a few of them in the area where we were working. She insisted that was what bit me and since I had no idea, I didn't dispute her.

most likely that this is the case of the OP and that he was bitten by one of these. They're really nasty and more feared than wasp stings by the locals.

[NADTATIDA1]

It must of felt good to get stung organicly for a change.

If your not dead tomorrow you will be alive!

[Maizefarmer]

The wife reckons you were bit by something, as opposed to stung - see how things are in the morning: bite sites tend to be slower to develope but are more prominent when they do develope.

Usual precautions: anaphylactic reaction, tissue damage etc etc........ all things that can take time to occur but if in doubt don't hesitate to go see a medic.

[krading]

Good news comrades and fellow workers, my little finger and I survived the night with no apparent permanent damage.

Still a little pins and needles around the fingertip but the swelling has gone.

PS. chang35baht, I'm off into town to buy some gloves.

[finner]

I was sleeping out at the farm and was bitten or stung on both my hands which caused swelling and extreme itching for about 4 days. Still don't know what it was. Very uncomfortable.

[Gary A]

Many people including some farangs don't differentiate between stings and bites. How many times have you heard people say that they were bitten by a bee or wasp?

Also many people mistake millipedes and centipedes. Millipedes are harmless and centipedes have a seriously painful bite. Centipedes don't sting, they have powerful jaws and cause wounds when they bite. The two appendages at the tail of the centipede do NOT sting.

[chang35baht]

Good news comrades and fellow workers, my little finger and I survived the night with no apparent permanent damage.

Still a little pins and needles around the fingertip but the swelling has gone.

PS. chang35baht, I'm off into town to buy some gloves.

Very sensible. I wasn`t trying to be a smart#rse. I learnt the hard way also.

[David006]

Good news comrades and fellow workers, my little finger and I survived the night with no apparent permanent damage.

Still a little pins and needles around the fingertip but the swelling has gone.

PS. chang35baht, I'm off into town to buy some gloves.

Keep 'em in a plastic bag/box ( the gloves,not your empties) or something when not in use..I had a bloody nest of scorpions take up residence in mine..which I found on placing said glove on hand ,resulting in the same symptoms you exhibited ...f..g .hurts like hel_l! Had bought gloves after being zapped by a scorpion in some wood/brush I was moving too...they like to live under the peeling bark...trouble is they "freeze" when disturbed so you don't see 'em so easy. They also like to live in brick or roof tile piles, under rocks, rice bags, empties etc..come to think of it they are bloody EVERYWHERE .....lol

Those big black ants hurt more than scorpions, ..best not to lean on a tree in LOS without inspection.....

Now what to do about the bees nest in the tree next to the house ....they all fly around the house looking for drink I think..

[JungleBiker]

My bet is on scorpions. I have been stung three times now. I reckon they are worse than the black ants. I am not talking about the big black scorpions but the small (about 2 cm long) light brown scorpions. They are small and camouflaged so not easy to see. They are often found under rocks/bricks, logs, stacks of wood, etc.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

My bet is on scorpions. I have been stung three times now. I reckon they are worse than the black ants. I am not talking about the big black scorpions but the small (about 2 cm long) light brown scorpions. They are small and camouflaged so not easy to see. They are often found under rocks/bricks, logs, stacks of wood, etc.

Agree, altho not (yet) been stung by those wee brown scorpions. Have seen a couple recently on your visits up to our bungalow at Wang Muang, 27 km up Hwy 2273 from Muak Lek. Bothh came out of the drain in the bathroom sink when I was washing my hands. Next time first deed on arrival will be to hot up some water to poor down the drain.

Mac

[Cuban]

My bet is on scorpions.

Lasts a day - very painful, then gone.

Sounds like a scorpion.