I was in the water, and jumped inside a wave. I thought I hit some water junk at first, but a split second later I felt it stinging, I realized it was a jellyfish, and I ran to the clinic. I touched my face and there was this oily, clear fluid on me. Since it didn’t sting my fingers, I guess it was something from my body, which really scared me. Being a man and all, I told them to hold off with the ambulance. After 30 minutes of it only getting worse, they finally called one. They treat it with vinegear (and also the fancy hospital kind), so I’m guessing the burn was from a base. Yes, it burned, 1st degree burns on the entire left part of my face, and on my arm from the elbow up.
That was just a fun story for you, now here’s my question: When I woke up this morning (it happened yesterday), the affected side of my face had puffed up. My arm was the same, and there was non of it yesterday, and I thought liquid is supposed to fill only that part between the new and old skin… Can any of you tell me why that happens? And when am I to expect it to go down?
I got stung once, too, but luckily on the foot, not the face. And yes, it really sucked. Afterwards, I heard that Accent will help; supposedly, jellyfish venom is a protein, so the enzymes in Accent will break it down. Maybe the ER guys can provide some further guidance?
Everyone seems to know about the urine treatment. I came out of the water in Jamaica once, screaming from a jellyfish sting. It had wrapped around my arm. All the Jamaican guys on the beach whipped off their pants to help.
Now I pretend I got a jellyfish sting every time I go to the beach. - Jill
I’d always heard (can’t remember the reasoning behind it) that you should get a handful of sand and aggressivly rub it over the area that was stung. Anyone know about this?
The sting of a jellyfish is not a burn, and it has nothing to do with acids or bases. Many materials are used for emergency prophylaxis of jellyfish stings, including vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and meat tenderizer. Some say the ammonia in urine works; I’ve never tried the urine thing, but as urine has a slightly-acid-to-normal pH, and there’s no significant ammonia in fresh urine, I would expect it to be a crock. Urea has been used on burns, but jellyfish don’t cause burns-- their sting is caused by a poison injected by “stinging cells.” The alcohol or vinegar will inactivate the cells that haven’t fired yet, and the MSG (there’s no “enzymes” in meat tenderizer) will break down some of the toxins and may also help to relieve pain and swelling (like epsom salts).
The “oily clear fluid” was the body of the jellyfish; it contains no toxins, and that’s why it didn’t sting. Delaying calling an ambulance was incredibly stupid, by the way; prompt treatment can prevent much of the pain. If you’d been in Australia, you could be dead by now.
The very best treatment for some jellyfish toxins is hot water; heat breaks down the toxin fast, and heat penetrates better than anything else.
Immediately flooding the sting area with vinegar is to keep undischarged nematocysts from firing. This does not relieve pain, but prevents additional stings.
I just wanted to add that I ruled out allergic reaction because I was stung in the arm, as well, and that didn’t swell up. Actually what intrigues me is that it happened after the first night and ever since then it was like - getting better during the day, then worse at night. It also has been getting better in general, and soon I will be able to go out in public again, so I’m not too worried. But if anyone has any ideas on the worse-at-night thing, I’d be more than happy to hear about it.