Jellyfish Sting Relief

JellyFish Facts
Jellyfish Safety
Jellyfish Sting Relief

One can find jellyfish in almost all the oceans of the world and they are known to inhabit surface waters near most beaches. The jellyfish is a fascinating creature and there are about 200 known species of jellyfish in the world today. The tentacles of a jellyfish are armed with thousands of stinger cells called Nematocysts, which are filled with venom. Although a totally non-aggressive creature, the jellyfish will sting as a result of a reaction to certain stimuli. The jellyfish is without a brain and will only sense some basic stimuli. The skin of most living organisms have certain chemicals and this is what the jellyfish senses as a threat and the tentacles will inject the venom.

Many species of jellyfish do not have a harmful sting, but there are some whose sting will cause excruciating pain and other allergic reactions. Stings of certain jellyfish are also known to cause death in a few minutes. It is important to provide jellyfish sting relief, as soon as a person is stung, because the person will be in a lot of pain.

The first thing to do when a person is stung is to get him out of the water as the pain can be too much and he wont be able to swim. Calm the person down by telling him that all the jellyfish stings are not fatal. If there are any tentacles, remove them carefully from the person's body. Then with a tweezer remove any stingers that are sticking on the skin. This will prevent any more venom from getting injected into the body. The main jellyfish sting relief will be felt by the person only when his pain subsides a little. For this one has to neutralise the venom, to the extent possible. Acetic acid is known to be a good neutralizer, and this acid can be found in a good percentage in any vinegar, especially white vinegar. If vinegar is not available you can use sea water as the next alternative, as it too is known to have a certain neutralising effect. Meat tenderizer is also known to work just as effectively as vinegar.

Now there are certain lotions available which are known to provide jellyfish sting relief by neutralising the venom. One such Gel is called Sting Mate and has acetic acid and menthol as its ingredients. The consistency of this gel is such that it does not run off the skin, as is the case with vinegar. The acid in the gel will suspend and neutralise the nematocysts and any which are still on the skin can be scrapped off with a card. The menthol content of the gel gives a cooling effect on the affected skin. This gel has been tested for stings of the sea nettle jellyfish. Volunteers were stung by the sea nettle on about 10 inches of skin on the forearm. After the gel was applied, majority of the volunteers felt relief from pain within minutes and the pain had completely gone in about a couple of hours.

Find jellyfish sting protection and relief products on Ebay (best price) or your local diving supply store.

Learn more about Jellyfish Stings and Jellyfish Sting Safety

Learn more about Jellyfish, different Jellyfish Species, general Jellyfish Information, Jellyfish Pets and Jellyfish Safety

Written by Nathan Dickerson and Sudarsana Sinha.