Causes of a hornet sting

Hornets are, contrary to their reputation, peaceful living animals, which do not become aggressive and sting without reason. Even when they feel threatened, they usually choose escape rather than intervention. One reason for a hornet to sting is that the animal is confined and feels threatened.

In addition, hornets defend their nests and their queen by attacking and stinging supposed attackers. Therefore one should avoid the proximity of a hornet’s nest. Also one should not strike after the insects or behave hectically.

The cause of the painful swelling that occurs with a hornet sting is due to the effect of the poison released by the long sting. The pain is usually stronger than with a normal wasp sting, despite the lower toxic effect, which is based on the effect of the messenger substance acetylcholine. In addition, hornets with their long sting penetrate deeper layers of skin than normal wasps or bees.

I recognize a hornet sting by these symptoms

A hornet sting causes severe pain and leads to redness and swelling in the area of the sting. Mostly a strong itching also occurs.However, the symptoms are similar to the general ones that can be caused by the sting of various insects such as wasps or bees. It is therefore usually not possible to distinguish a hornet sting from another insect sting on the basis of the symptoms.

The hornet sting tends to cause particularly severe pain. In addition, a hornet does not shed its sting when stung. If a sting is found in the bite, it is more likely to be a bee sting than a hornet sting.

If you are allergic to a hornet sting – like two out of every 100 people in Germany – symptoms occur in the form of an immediate reaction. This results in severe swelling of the stinging site, breathing difficulties and palpitations. Nausea, difficulty swallowing and dizziness may also occur.

Hives with wheals all over the body can also appear within a short time. A normal, non-allergic reaction to an insect bite, on the other hand, is limited to the bite site and causes swelling and pain only there, without the accompanying symptoms mentioned. An allergic reaction, on the other hand, can in extreme cases even lead to circulatory failure and respiratory arrest and is therefore an emergency.

If an allergic reaction to a hornet sting occurs, an emergency doctor should be called immediately (call 112). If an allergy is already known to the person affected, he or she will at best be carrying emergency medication, which should be administered before the emergency doctor arrives. This could also be of interest to you: Allergy – Emergency set pain is a sensation which can be very different from person to person, so that no general statement can be made about how strong the pain caused by a hornet sting is.

In addition, some parts of the body are more sensitive to pain than others, so that the pain caused by a hornet sting depends to a large extent on the location of the sting. In most cases, however, a hornet sting is quite painful and more intense than a bee or wasp sting, for example. However, this is not due to the poison (hornet venom is even weaker than bee venom), but to the longer sting of the large hornets.

With this sting they penetrate deeper into the skin, so that even deeper lying pain receptors are irritated. In addition, hornets emit the messenger acetylcholine when stung, which also leads to an amplification of the pain signal. How long the pain lasts after a hornet sting depends on various factors.

On the one hand, the duration depends on the location of the sting and on the other hand on the amount of poison secreted by the insect. The sting itself usually causes a bright, biting pain. Due to the effect of the poison and the messenger acetylcholine, a dull, throbbing pain will soon set in.

The pain usually lasts for a few days and slowly subsides. However, the pain can be alleviated by various measures such as cooling the affected area. If the pain is particularly severe, an anti-inflammatory painkiller can also be taken for a short time.