jellyfish and stingray stings

[m4shawn]

What are the useless myths about how to treat these and what are the truths?
Does Windex and/or vinegar really help the pain? Ice? Not ice?
What should I have in my fully equiped first aid kit for these two dangers?
Should medical attention be sought immediately? Is the danger just the pain, or is there venom involved?

 

[PitiquitoRosy]

Urine. Don't know if it's a truth or a myth, but that's what they say. Awhile back I wrote in the RPNO about a 15-yr old who got stung on the foot by a stingray. The Red Cross took care of her and she seemed fine at dinner later that day. Turns out that she got an amoeba from the sting and she also has two toes with permanent nerve damage.

 

[Ladyjeeper]

Adolph's meat tenderizer. Make a paste out of it and apply. Takes the pain away.

 

[Mentiras y Traición]

Ditto LadyJeeper. It works.

 

[MIRAMAR]

A friend of mine who is an ER doctor in Tucson went to a medical conference in Penasco, and she was told for stingray hits, soak the foot in as hot of water as you can stand for 30-60 minutes which neutralizes the venom. We've done this on my husband and son and it works. I didn't ask her about jellyfish.

 

[La Huerita]

Here's the best, most thorough advice I've seen.

#1. Seek medical attention. The barb from the sting ray often breaks off in the victim and this needs to be removed. In Puerto Penasco, the red cross will treat your sting ray wound with an anesthetic injection, this will relieve the pain. If you can't get to treatment soon, soak the extremity in fresh water as HOT as you can stand. Heat denatures the poison. This will relieve the pain.

#2. Meat Tenderizer, urinating, tooth paste, rubbing sand into the wound are all anecdotal and may even serve more harm than good. Heat breaks down the poison, ultimately relieving the pain. I know this works from personal experience. Soak the wound in as hot of water you can stand and change the water often to keep the water hot. This will relieve the pain.

#3. Sting Ray wounds are known to produce cardiac dysrhythmias, convulsions, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps etc. If you are prone to anaphylaxis due to bee stings or other allergic reactions, seek medical attention immediately. Heat breaks down the poison, ultimately relieving the pain. I know this works from personal experience. Soak the wound in as hot of water you can stand and change the water often to keep the water hot. This will relieve the pain. Better yet, don't run the gauntlet.

And carry a good, strong pain reliever. You'll have to google to find out what kind.

Read the whole thing about this guy's stingray adventure at http://tinyurl.com/nezy3b

Don't know about jellyfish, it may depend on what kind since a man-o-war is much more dangerous than box jellyfish-- or so I've been told. I do know that in Hawaii lifeguards carry bottles of stuff that is essentially windex, and that seems to help when tourists get stung.

I bet they know all about this stuff at CEDO. Maybe you should ask them?

 

[JayT]

A great resource on this topic is a book called All Stings Considered. A lot of people think their jellyfish remedies work because the intense pain disappears so quickly.
http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/alsting2.html

 

[m4shawn]

Great resources guys - thanks!

 

[rockyptjoe]

Benadryl works somewhat on jellyfish stings....I've used the ointment and spray.

 

[Dezracer]

Scolding hot water for sting ray hits and vinagar for jelly fish

 

[mexicoruss]

I got stung a couple of years ago out at encanto, I thought I was going to be fine but my foot swelled up like a balloon. We got back to my house (in town) and the pain was awful. My wife boiled water and I put my foot in and she proceeded to open a bottle of Herradura Tequila and I took that for the pain, a lot of pain = a lot of Tequila - several hours later when I woke up I felt fine. The hot water does the trick on getting the poison out!