Bark Scorpion, Ouch!

Like every good Wisconsinite I am reading every word I can find about the Brewers in spring training.  With Ryan Braun continue to shine?  Can Carlos Gomez have a full, productive year in center field?  Can John Axford lead a revamped bullpen?  But what grabbed the headline late last week?  Doug Melvin stung by a scorpion! 

There are many species of scorpions in the US.  In Texas we frequently encountered Centruoides vittatus or the stripped scorpion.  The typical response to a scorpion sting was, "man up".  You put an ice pack on it and went about your day.  The pain at the site of the sting was said to be excruciating.  But rarely were there any further problem.  So man up and bite a bullet! 

That is not the description given by Doug Melvin.   In this article  he described numbness that gradually moved up his arm into his shoulder.  That on top of the excruciating pain.  After a visit to the local hospital ED he did fine.  The scorpion that stung Doug Melvin is the Centruoides exilcauda, the bark scorpion.  That scorpion is well know for it's neurotoxin venom.  It is far and away the most poisonous of the scorpions in the US.  Pain and numbness are normal effects.  The venom poisons sodium channels in your nerves.  Functioning sodium channels are required for nerve conduction, the ability to activate muscles and to feel pain.  Scorpion venom opens those channels resulting in excessive stimulation.  In this case pain and numbness.  That nerve stimulation and the resulting effects on muscles can be life threatening in small children. 

So Doug Melvin, thank you for teaching us all about scorpions in Arizona.  Now about the Brewers starting pitching...