explain the pain

[Gary_Yngve]

I got stung 5 times on my right calf Sat afternoon and another 2 times on my right calf Sat evening (and one more on my right calf Sun afternoon).

 

I also received one sting on my left calf, which was for all practical purposes, unnoticable. I did not exhibit any allergic response. I do not have any history for hymenoptera hypersensitivity.

 

Sunday the circumference of my right calf was roughly 1-1.5 inches larger than my left. On my left calf you could make out the veins, muscle, etc., but not on the right. I'd feel tightness and pain in my calf when my knee would approach either end of its ROM.

 

But the freakiest thing was when I'd weight my right leg (especially more toward the toe than the heel) after standing still (or sitting/lying down) for more than a minute. The pain was intense, in the entire calf, approaching the screaming barfies. But I could relieve the pain by unweighting the leg. Once the leg got moving (usually after hobbling around for a minute), the pain levels dropped to just dull and annoying. I did not notice any circulatory problems in my right foot. Cold and elevation felt really good, but they pain would be just as sucky once I had to weight the leg again.

 

Can anyone explain what was going on inside my leg?

 

For the hike out, I downed 800mg Ibuprofen, which seemed to make me feel better. Didn't see any need to take Benadryl, as the problem didn't seem related to any immune response. Out of curiousity, any other medications that could have helped? OTC? Rx? Some sort of steroid?

[icegirl]

maybe some kind of compartment syndrome?

 

could be related to some kind of immune response. Your body will react to a beesting, just not "over-react"

[Collin]

I have an alerigic reaction to wasps. The last sting I received was to my biecept. It swelled from my elbow to just below my shoulder. My boss made me go to the doctors and they gave me steriod shots to relieve the swelling. He did say that benadryl would help the swelling. As for the pain when you put weight on it, it most likely is the blood pressure increasing making the swelled area tighter/more painfull.

[Norman_Clyde]

Gary, you're right that it has nothing to do with the immune response. The local swelling, which is usually a lot worse on the day after the sting, is due to the destructive effects of the venom. Of course your body does mount an inflammatory response, but this is response is secondary to the damaging effects of the poison. There is really nothing to do except ice, elevation, Ibuprofen. Steroids have not been shown to help local reactions.

I'm not sure why the pain was so intense in your case. In general, sensory nerve endings do not like being put under excessive pressure. Probably it had to do with local tissue pressures, already high from the swelling, increasing further in response to muscle contraction. Actual compartment syndrome from a sting is extremely unlikely.