Best Way to Treat a Jellyfish Sting
Monday, August 20, 2012 at 6:10AM
It’s beach weather, which means that you could have a run-in with a jellyfish. The stings from these weird-looking creatures can ruin your day unless you know how deal with them. In spite of what you may have heard, having someone urinate on them is not the best treatment; neither is meat tenderizer. Studies have shown that vinegar or a paste made with baking soda and water help, but that research was done on jellyfish native to Australia and Indonesia. Here’s what investigators from the University of California, San Diego, found after searching the medical literature on jellyfish stings: the most effective treatment is hot water, followed by cream containing lidocaine, a pain-numbing drug. This approach will take the pain from the sting out and the heat from a hot water soak will help disable the venom sacs jellyfish leave behind. If you don’t keep lidocaine in your beach bag and hot water isn’t handy, the researchers suggest removing the venom sacs very carefully with the edge of a credit card and then washing the area with saltwater. The study was published online June 8, 2012 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Reader Comments (4)
I have always used meat tenderizer. It works for me!
Dont under estimate jelly fish anywhere you travel! Be prepared! I went to Isreal one summer and got a type of poison in my body. Burns over my body like from scalding . Resulting in scabbing .
Swollen legs and had a hard time to walk. The doctor visited me to my In Laws home. Gave me a
Cortisone injection. Anyone who saw it couldn't believe it was from a jellyfish. The blue jelly fish give a venom like poison and heat up your body . Like your being lit on fire. I'm a Mother of four and screamed in pain for 3hrs. I'm only grateful it was me and not them!
We take a bucket to the beach with us to hold salt water. The Sun heats it up and if we don't get stung we can just dump the water before we leave. Aloe with lidocaine is always in the bag.
Hi! I had an horrible jellyfish sting when I was a young 9 year old child. I just layed on the beach in pain until it went away. It took awhile and was very painful! LOL