Richard Schmidt's Surf Camp Beach the night of the now infamous jellyfish incident
Drumroll please….
For all of you who read my last post and are anxiously awaiting the answer to the age-old question, “should you urinate on a jellyfish sting to stop the pain?” the answer is no! And who the hell thought of that in the first place? I’m sure alcohol was involved in some way.
Do not pee on your friend’s jellyfish sting unless you are hazing them into your fraternity. And don’t spray Windex on the sting either. Both these “remedies” actually irritate the wound more, plus they make you smell bad.
The first thing I did after being stung was to rinse off with fresh water.
That was the first thing I did was wrong.
Here I am hobbling out of the water on my red, swollen, jellyfish-stung legs.
Jellyfish sting through nematocysts, which are tiny spine-covered tubules released from their tentacles. The spines anchor in your skin, and when the nematocysts fire, they inject various unpleasant chemicals into you. After coming in contact with a jellyfish tentacle, you may have thousands of these nematocysts attached to your skin, not all of which may fire right away.
When you pee on the sting or try to rinse it with fresh water, this changes the tonicity of the nematocysts, which causes them to fire, injecting you with even more venom. So, if you need to rinse off, always rinse with salt water first.
The second thing I did wrong was pouring vinegar on the sting.
You can apply vinegar to the sting, but it must stay on for 15 to 30 minutes, so you can soak a cloth and place it on the sting. In my case, vinegar didn’t help a damn bit.
If vinegar is not available, you can apply shaving cream, or use soap and make a lather, even a paste of sand or mud, then take a razor or credit card and shave or scrape the area to remove the stinging cells.
The third thing I did wrong was to spray Windex on the jelly sting. Windex, or anything with ammonia in it will further irritate the injury.
Most jelly stings are painful, but not dangerous. The box jelly, however, is a different story. Found off the coast of Australia, it can kill in a matter of minutes, depending on the age and health of the person stung. Medical treatment and antivenin are required.
Some people have allergic reactions to jellyfish stings, so watch for signs like difficulty breathing, hives, trouble swallowing, or loss of consciousness, and of course seek medical treatment immediately.
What I did right: I took two Benadryl. Antihistamines quell the body’s reaction to the venom.
My husband gave me some of this sunburn product about an hour after I was stung and it was a miracle, it completely took the pain away. I am expecting a case from the manufacturer for mentioning this product. But take my word for it. It works great!
Fun facts about jellys:
The jelly has no heart, no brain, no bones, and no other organs.
They cannot control what they sting, so they sting whatever they touch.
They are one of the few creatures that are multiplying and actually doing better with climate change as the oceans grow warmer.
It hurts like hell when they sting you.
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