Question about Jellyfish stings

Evil Phil

We've been discussing jellyfish stings over on Outdoor Pursuits and have been wondering why Urine works as an antidote to certain jellyfish stings. Does anybody now why?

John

The ammonia in it breaks down the venom as far as I know.

Celticfire

**Apply acetic acid 5% (white vinegar). This will inactivate undischarged nematocysts and the toxin and will help to decrease symptoms.**

I'm sure if you did a PH test on urine you would find it slightly acidic

DrIndy

someones been watching Friends!

How does the rhyme go again. cure for Bee Stings is Bicarbonate and for Wasps, Vinegar.....

John

Celticfire wrote:

I'm sure if you did a PH test on urine you would find it slightly acidic

According to Google, normal urine varies wildly between pH 4 and 9, so can be acidic or basic depending on many factors.

Seems urine does nothing according to most of the sites I found. One site had a marine biology PhD student saying that he'd never even heard of it before and that vinegar is used (as Celticfire said). The quoted paragraph below is from a different site but I liked the last line in it so I decided to quote that.

http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq6704.html wrote:

At best, urinating on a jellyfish sting will do nothing. Experiments indicate that in some jellyfish species, urine actually sets off the remaining stinging cells, making the sting even worse. The urine cure and other folk remedies miss the mark, anyway. The point of rinsing the wounded area is not to alleviate the pain. The venom’s already in you. Urinating on it will not help any more than it does to urinate on your thumb after you hit it with a hammer.

Capt'n Midnight

DrIndy wrote:

someones been watching Friends!

How does the rhyme go again. cure for Bee Stings is Bicarbonate and for Wasps, Vinegar.....

Winegar for Wasps

Ants use formic acid so Bicarb should be good for them.

Or you could just wear a pair of tights

Bill Bryson, Down Under wrote:

But all of these are as nothing compared with the delicate and diaphanous box jellyfish, the most poisionous creature on earth. We will hear more of the unspeakable horrors of this little bag of lethality when we get to the tropics, but let me offere here just one small story. In 1992, a young man in Cairns, ignoring all the warning signs, went swimming in the Pacific waters at a place called Halloways Beach. He swam and dived, taunting his friends on the beach for their prudent cowardice, and then began to scream with an inhuman sound. It is said that there is no pain to compare with it, The young man staggered fro mthe water, covered in livid whip-like stripes wherever the jellyfish's tentacles had brushed accross him, and collapsed. Soon afterwards emergency crews arrived, inflated him wiht morphine, and took him away for treatment. And here's the thing. Even unconcious and sedated he was still screaming.

breadmonkey

Strange, I always thought it was bicarbonate for wasp stings.

Celticfire

Treatment of Skin injuries from Jellyfish & Portuguese man-of-war.

First remove any adherent tentacles that will cause further delivery of venom. The tentacles should be lifted off the skin (don't scrape them off -- this causes further stings). Use a stick or some other object to remove the tentacle(s) so as not to get your fingers stung.
Next, rinse the affected area with sea water to wash away any adherent nematocysts. DO NOT use fresh water, since this will activate the nematocysts. DO NOT scrub as this will only activate the nematocysts and cause further venom delivery.
Nematocysts are inactivated by vinegar (or dilute acetic acid 5-10%). NOTE: If no vinegar is handy, then human urine will do in a pinch. If you have a choice in the matter, use a man's urine rather than a woman's urine. This is because females are more prone to occult urinary tract infections, thus introducing bacteria. Male urine is considered sterile, since men are much less likely to have a urinary tract infection. If there are any nematocyst still adherent after rinsing with sea water and inactivation with vinegar/ urine, then try the following to remove any remaining nematocysts:
Dust the area with baking powder, or flour, then carefully scrape off with the dull back edge of a butter knife....
Or use aerosol spray shaving cream to coat the area, then shave off any remaining nematocyst
Symptoms of pain can be treated with topical anesthetics; these are generally contained in sunburn preparations; look for the active ingredients like lidocaine or benzocaine.
Persistent redness, inflammation or itchiness can be treated with topical steroid cream like Hydrocortisone 0.5% cream.
If you begin to develop persistent muscle spasms, seek medical attention; your doctor will need to administer intravenous calcium gluconate.
Secondary bacterial infection may set in, especially if vesicles form. If this happens you will need to see a doctor for antibiotics.