Skip to main content

Adder

An adder bite may be life-threatening. Small children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and older people are at increased risk of severe poisoning. Some of the bites may be dry bites, which means that the adder does not inject any venom to the site of the bite.

Kyy makaa heinikossa

Symptoms

The bite site is often sore, swollen and blueish black in colour. In addition to local symptoms, the person may feel nauseous, vomit and have disorders of consciousness. An adder’s venom may also cause an allergic reaction, in which case the symptom is a rapidly developing difficulty with breathing.

First aid

Try to keep the bite site as still as possible, for example, with the help of a splint or by carrying the person away from the place where the bite occurred. Moving enables the venom to spread into the circulation faster. The "adder tablets" are not an essential part of first aid as their effectiveness in the treatment of adder bites has not been proven. You can use paracetamol for pain, avoid anti-inflammatory analgesics.

Treatment

An adder bite must always be assessed by a physician.

The treatment given in healthcare is symptomatic. Depending on the severity of the poisoning, an antivenom may be used.

Feedback

Did you find what you were looking for?

Thank you for your feedback!

Thank you for your feedback!

Write your feedback on the website here.

Do not enter your personal information here. Please note that we do not respond to feedback sent via this form. Please visit our feedback site to give feedback on matters other than our website.

Write your feedback on the website here.

Do not enter your personal information here. Please note that we do not respond to feedback sent via this form. Please visit our feedback site to give feedback on matters other than our website.