Scooped again, lol!
I got an email yesterday about these critters washing ashore so decided to do a short thing about it in
RPTides, then rushed in here to tell everyone and wouldn't you know it, YOU DID IT FIRST! What a letdown, hahaha.
But since you already know all about it, I'll just contribute the part about what to do if you're stung and won't even make you go to my blog for it. I'm that nice of a person.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE STUNG:
Research suggests that in the normal course the best treatment for a Portuguese Man O' War sting is:
(a) to avoid any further contact with the Portuguese Man O' War and to carefully remove any remnants of the creature from the skin using an object such as a credit card or some similar thin, rigid object, or even a seashell, to scrape them off. The nematocysts are on all sides of the tentacles, so do not use your hands and do not rub the area. I repeat:
Take care not to touch them directly with fingers or any other part of the skin to avoid secondary stinging; then
(b) to apply
salt water to the affected area (not fresh water, which tends to make the affected area worse);
If eyes have been affected they should be irrigated with copious amounts of room temperature tap water for at least 15 minutes and if vision blurs, or the eyes continue to tear, hurt, swell, or are light sensitive after irrigating, or there is any concern, a doctor should be seen as soon as possible;
(c) to follow up with the application of hot water (45°C/113°F) to the affected area, which eases the pain of a sting by denaturing the toxins; and finally,
(d) to apply ice, preferably in the form of an icepack as this should be effective at suppressing any swelling and pain through reducing the activity of the toxins and reducing the sensation, and therefore pain, of the area of skin around the ice. Additionally, ice constricts blood vessels, reducing the speed at which the venom travels to other parts of the body.
Do not use vinegar! Vinegar dousing has been shown to cause discharge of nematocysts from the larger Man O' War species (that is, increasing the toxin and worsening the symptoms) while the effect of vinegar on the nematocysts of the smaller species (which has less severe stings) has been mixed.
Note that the makers of
Jellyfish Squish(TM), a product developed by J.C. Grayson to reduce the effects of jellyfish stings, claim that an independent study in May 2009 showed the product also works for Portuguese Man O' War stings. Applying Jellyfish Squish(TM) on a Portuguese Man O' War sting paralyzes the unfired nematocysts, preventing them from continuing to fire their toxins. Its ingredients include the maximum amount of lidocaine (a topical anesthetic) allowable without a prescription. You can see their press release here:
Popular Jellyfish Sting Treatment Also Proven Effective on Stings From Portuguese Man-of-War
Jellyfish Squish(TM), produced by Coastal Solutions, Inc. in Savannah, Ga., can be purchased online and at select stores including drug stores and beach supply stores.
There. That's my contribution. Nice video, Seadweller, I'll add a link to it. Happy Sunday, all.
