Stung last night, still in pain, will I die..?
Discussion
Last night (about 11pm) I was stung by this. I trod on it accidentally, and it fought back strongly by stinging my big toe. No big deal I thought, it’ll hurt a little and then be fine.
Oh how wrong I was! It soon started hurting like an absolute b*rstard. I washed it and made sure there’s nothing still in my toe. Once my wife had stopped laughing she found some “After Bite” and some Hydrocortisone cream. I’ve used both liberally. Ice was the only thing that gave any relief.
It hurt through the night enough to stop me sleeping, and it’s still hurting like an absolute b*rstard this morning. No particular swelling or spread, just sharp needle-like pain exactly where it got me.
What is that stung me? Why did it hurt so much? Why (10 hours later!) is it still hurting? Is there anything I can do for the pain? Will I die?

Sorry for poor photo quality, my mind wasn’t 100% on the job...
Oh how wrong I was! It soon started hurting like an absolute b*rstard. I washed it and made sure there’s nothing still in my toe. Once my wife had stopped laughing she found some “After Bite” and some Hydrocortisone cream. I’ve used both liberally. Ice was the only thing that gave any relief.
It hurt through the night enough to stop me sleeping, and it’s still hurting like an absolute b*rstard this morning. No particular swelling or spread, just sharp needle-like pain exactly where it got me.
What is that stung me? Why did it hurt so much? Why (10 hours later!) is it still hurting? Is there anything I can do for the pain? Will I die?
Sorry for poor photo quality, my mind wasn’t 100% on the job...
Depending on how you removed the sting is how sore it will be. If you nip and pull, what you actually do just before you pull the sting out is pump in every bit of venom in the sac.
You need to get a nail or thin blade and flick it up and out without squeezing the venom in more.
But yeah, it'll be annoyingly sore for a day or two
You need to get a nail or thin blade and flick it up and out without squeezing the venom in more.
But yeah, it'll be annoyingly sore for a day or two

I’d say it was over an inch long for sure. I’ve been stung by wasps (presumably normal ones) lots of times, and never flinched. This experience has not been comparable! My wife’s view is that it’s lucky it was me that got stung, not one of the kids. I diagree with this quite strongly.
Maybe it is some kind of evil euro-hornet...? Whatever it is - and a confirmed id would be great - it dominated my stairs in an impressive manner given my height/weight/power advantage. Fair play to it really...
Maybe it is some kind of evil euro-hornet...? Whatever it is - and a confirmed id would be great - it dominated my stairs in an impressive manner given my height/weight/power advantage. Fair play to it really...
WindyCommon said:
Last night (about 11pm) I was stung by this. I trod on it accidentally, and it fought back strongly by stinging my big toe. No big deal I thought, it’ll hurt a little and then be fine.
Oh how wrong I was! It soon started hurting like an absolute b*rstard. I washed it and made sure there’s nothing still in my toe. Once my wife had stopped laughing she found some “After Bite” and some Hydrocortisone cream. I’ve used both liberally. Ice was the only thing that gave any relief.
It hurt through the night enough to stop me sleeping, and it’s still hurting like an absolute b*rstard this morning. No particular swelling or spread, just sharp needle-like pain exactly where it got me.
What is that stung me? Why did it hurt so much? Why (10 hours later!) is it still hurting? Is there anything I can do for the pain? Will I die?
My wife was stung on the finger last week. She was pulling a coat out of a bag and leapt in pain. No remnants of a sting was obvious and there pulling of stings was involved. Oh how wrong I was! It soon started hurting like an absolute b*rstard. I washed it and made sure there’s nothing still in my toe. Once my wife had stopped laughing she found some “After Bite” and some Hydrocortisone cream. I’ve used both liberally. Ice was the only thing that gave any relief.
It hurt through the night enough to stop me sleeping, and it’s still hurting like an absolute b*rstard this morning. No particular swelling or spread, just sharp needle-like pain exactly where it got me.
What is that stung me? Why did it hurt so much? Why (10 hours later!) is it still hurting? Is there anything I can do for the pain? Will I die?
She too was in huge pain, it swelled up and she struggled to sleep. It was sore for a couple of days.
(Contrast that with an incident a couple of years ago when a group of us disturbed a wasp nest whilst mountain biking in the dark, stopped next to it and each of us received multiple stings. The pain for most of us subsided quite quickly)
I was tasked with manfully investigating the bag for the unknown attacker. Somehow a(the?) wasp ended up on my sock, which I noticed a few minutes later and was able to shoo away before it had me too. It wasn't a big wasp and certainly not a big hornet.
I have noticed quite a few wasps about recently. They've mostly appeared quite sluggish in behaviour.
WindyCommon said:
I’d say it was over an inch long for sure. I’ve been stung by wasps (presumably normal ones) lots of times, and never flinched. This experience has not been comparable! My wife’s view is that it’s lucky it was me that got stung, not one of the kids. I diagree with this quite strongly.
Maybe it is some kind of evil euro-hornet...? Whatever it is - and a confirmed id would be great - it dominated my stairs in an impressive manner given my height/weight/power advantage. Fair play to it really...
Hornet then - evil little bu**ers.Maybe it is some kind of evil euro-hornet...? Whatever it is - and a confirmed id would be great - it dominated my stairs in an impressive manner given my height/weight/power advantage. Fair play to it really...
I had one a couple of weeks ago and zapped him multiple times with an electric Executioner Pro fly killer. Appeared dead so I picked it up by the wings and dropped it in the loo. Looked down the loo 12 hours later and it was alive and kicking and paddling around on top of the water!
Here's one clinging to our window the other night.
Edited by Marlin45 on Friday 31st August 10:43
You'll be ok, just make sure there's nothing in the sting and make sure it doesn't get infected. Ice packs are the way forward and an anti-inflammatory.
Many years ago I was helping my dad on our farm move a large wooden get that had been lay in the grass for a year or two. It was a lovely hot summer day and I was wearing shorts. We lifted the gate with some difficulty as the grass had grown through it. I stepped forward straight into a wasp nest
I set off running across the field with hundreds of the little b
ds on me. I ran to the stream that ran along the bottom of the field and waded into that. I counted at least 30 stings on my legs later that evening. That kept me awake for a few nights.....
Many years ago I was helping my dad on our farm move a large wooden get that had been lay in the grass for a year or two. It was a lovely hot summer day and I was wearing shorts. We lifted the gate with some difficulty as the grass had grown through it. I stepped forward straight into a wasp nest
I set off running across the field with hundreds of the little b
ds on me. I ran to the stream that ran along the bottom of the field and waded into that. I counted at least 30 stings on my legs later that evening. That kept me awake for a few nights.....MC Bodge said:
My wife was stung on the finger last week. She was pulling a coat out of a bag and leapt in pain. No remnants of a sting was obvious and there pulling of stings was involved.
She too was in huge pain, it swelled up and she struggled to sleep. It was sore for a couple of days.
I hope you pointed out to her that child birth is worse. I'm sure it would have helped. She too was in huge pain, it swelled up and she struggled to sleep. It was sore for a couple of days.

jamiehamy said:
Depending on how you removed the sting is how sore it will be. If you nip and pull, what you actually do just before you pull the sting out is pump in every bit of venom in the sac.
You need to get a nail or thin blade and flick it up and out without squeezing the venom in more.
But yeah, it'll be annoyingly sore for a day or two
bees yes, wasps no.You need to get a nail or thin blade and flick it up and out without squeezing the venom in more.
But yeah, it'll be annoyingly sore for a day or two

Bee stinger is barbed and stays in - it's a single use weapon, the venom sac remains attached. So if one does sting you, at least you know it has paid the ultimate price.
Wasps can sting over and over and it doesn't kill them.
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff




Enjoy!