Saturday, August 25, 2007

Be careful at the beach

Last week when I went snorkeling I noticed a few orange jellyfish. They are interesting to watch but they can sting so you have to be careful not to get too close. The tentacles are long and hard to see so you really have to keep a safe distance. For some reason along the coasts of Libya the jellyfish population explodes in mid to late August every year.

Today the kids got up early and went to the beach with their father. While swimming they all managed to get stung. They had fun regardless of their encounters.


So what do you do if you happen to get stung?

  • rinse the area with sea water. Do not scrub or wash with fresh water which will aggravate the stinging cells. Do not pour sun lotion or spirit-based liquid on the area.
  • deactivate remaining cells with a vinegar rinse. If no vinegar is available use urine! Really! Preferably male urine as it's considered to be more sterile.
  • lift off any remaining tentacles with a stick or something similar.
  • if cells still linger, dust with flour and carefully scrape off with a blunt knife.
  • after all tentacle sections have gone, pain can be treated with a cold pack and/or a local anesthetic such as a sunburn lotion or insect bite treatment that lists '...ocaine' as an ingredient.
  • if there is continued swelling, or itchiness, apply a light steroid cream e.g. Hydrocortisone eczema cream.
  • if muscle spasms persist see a doctor.

9 comments:

  1. Best thing to do is to apply heat; the heat dissolves the poison in the skin. Use hot water, or if stung on feet, walk on hot sand.

    Aaaaaakh - you are so lucky to be able to snorkle around in the sea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. in Tunisia we use to apply fresh tomatos. it contains a natural antihistaminic that calm body réaction to poison.

    things are changing with the global warming. and the jelly fish invade the coasts from july.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Salam
    Glad to Post a comment in this Wonderfull blog
    Infact I saw alot of people got stung by Jellyfish and We're doing like bugsbunny by putting tomatos

    That fish'll secrete its poison ,,Our body'll secrete histamine whcih'll make many things one of them redness of our face
    Tomatos will blockade this histamine and things gonna be better en sha Allah
    Fe aman Allah

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the info...These things sting really nasty, and you're right this is their time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ohh what what what !!!
    Do you mean if I get jellyfish stung, I have to let someone pee on me!! ????
    Thanks for information sis. Khadija, but Nooooooo, I would rather die stung than let that happen ...

    @ Safia speaks: I think, it doesn't always work, instead heat would be harmful and it could worsen the situation

    keep on fresh tomatos and better to keepsmile :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. The best thing to take the sting out of a jellyfish bite is to urinate on it. Really, it works!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Keepsmile and rosebud; the reason urine works is because it is hot.

    Believe me, I know what I´m talking about: hot water dissolves the posion from jellyfish and many other ocean posions.

    Click to read more...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey hey! 'comm on Safia URINE!
    I have seen this on Discovery chanal, but yet they convinced me
    Fresh Water is ok, but Urine! Nooooooooo

    ReplyDelete
  9. عندما قرأت هذا الموضوع تذكرت عندما لسعت من هذا المخلوق المائي الصغير
    اللسعة كانت منذ سنوات طويلة و أنا طفلة
    لكن أثر اللسعة مازال موجودا
    رغم هذا مازلت احب البحر و اسبح حتى في الخريف او في مواسم كثرة قناديل البحر على الشاطئ

    ReplyDelete

Guidelines for submitting comments

You can rant, you can rave, you can question. I ask only that you are thoughtful about what you write.

Comments are reviewed by me before publication. I don’t edit comments, but I do reserve the right to delete comments that violate my guidelines.

These are the kinds of comments that I think are not appropriate for publication:

- Defamatory or libelous remarks
- Abusive, harassing, or threatening language
- Obscene, vulgar, or profane language
- Racially, ethnically or religiously offensive words
- Illegal or encourages criminal acts
- Known to be inaccurate or contains a false attribution
- Infringes copyrights, trademarks, publicity or any other rights of others
- Impersonates anyone (actual or fictitious)
- Off-topic or spam
- Solicits funds, goods or services, or advertises



Please submit comments in English.


Thank you

My Link List