How to Treat Jellyfish Stings

Be Prepared with Jellyfish Sting Treatments

Jul 10, 2009 Sara E. Lewis

The stinging creature is a sign of the declining health of waterways worldwide. Be prepared with sting treatment that can save tears and time during beach vacation.

Swimmers are encountering swarms of jellyfish at beaches from the South China Sea to the Chesapeake Bay, even at some beaches where jellyfish have rarely shown up in the past. The jellyfish population explosion has been tied to global warming, overfishing of predators like tuna and salmon, and pollution from fertilizer in stormwater runoff.

No matter the cause, the result for the unwary swimmer is the same: searing and stinging pain. If left untreated, the pain can last for hours. The welts remain red and itchy for days. For families and sun worshipers enjoying a day, weekend, or week at the beach, a jellyfish sting can ruin a good time. In addition, municipal resources can be stretched when ambulances and safety personnel are called upon to sooth the victim.

Forewarned beach goers can be prepared for jellyfish and other dangers by taking precautions and bringing remedies to treat jellyfish stings with them.

Treatment for Jellyfish Stings

In Yorktown, Virginia, Fire and Life Safety crews use a blend of vinegar, baking soda, and sterile water to slather on the sting. Vinegar and baking soda break down the poisonous cells that cause the painful reaction that occurs when jellyfish tentacles meet human skin. The salve is removed after a few minutes and the sting area is cleaned with antiseptic and treated with anesthetic spray.

The Yorktown crew treated more than 100 beach goers for jellyfish stings during the 2009 4th of July weekend. Yorktown Beach is one of hundreds of beach vacation destinations on the Virginia and Maryland Chesapeake Bay, where 500,000 jellyfish stings are reported annually.

Individuals who are planning a trip to the beach should take vinegar and baking soda in separate containers. To treat a sting, wash the area with vinegar and immediately add baking soda to make a paste. Leave the paste on for about five minutes. Remove it with antiseptic wipes and spray on anesthetic.

By being prepared, citizens help save community crews and emergency vehicles to serve more serious medical conditions. But even so, serious medical conditions may arise after a jellyfish sting, so victims should be watched for any signs of allergic reaction that may require transport to a medical care facility.

Traditional Jellyfish Sting Treatments

Through the years, other home remedies for jellyfish stings in addition to vinegar and baking soda have included ammonia, meat tenderizer and urine. All of these are believed to relieve the sting. The relief is felt due to the properties in the treatment that break down the stinging cells.

New Treatment for Jellyfish Stings

A new patent-pending product that is sold under the brand name Jellyfish Squish is currently being promoted. The spray-bottle treatment may be a convenient item to pack for a trip to the beach right along with suntan lotion and insect repellent. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration-compliant product includes the active ingredient lidocaine, which is the anesthetic used by hospitals to treat burn patients. The manufacturer also promotes Jellyfish Squish to relieve bites from sea lice and sea nettles as well as the dangerous sting of the Portuguese Man-of-War.

Are Future Beach Vacations in Peril?

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has developed a program of information about jellyfish blooms, “Jellyfish Gone Wild: Environmental Change and Jellyfish Swarms." The organization reports that the blooms are ruining some of the world’s most beautiful vacation spots. In addition to overfishing, pollution and climate change, NSF adds non-native species and the presence of artificial structures such as oil and gas rigs to the list of culprits.

Monty Graham of Alabama’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab on the Gulf of Mexico has added, in summary, that large and frequent jellyfish swarms are “a symptom of and ecosystem that has been tipped off balance by environmental stresses.”

Jellyfish had been kept under control by tuna and salmon as well as prey species like turtles. All seven species of sea turtles that eat jellyfish are endangered. Jellyfish are proliferating in the absence of their natural enemies.

Jellyfish Role in the Ecosystem

Jellyfish do play an important ecosystem role as food and their tentacles provide hiding places for some other species of sea creatures.

It should also be noted that most jellyfish species are not harmful to people.

The copyright of the article How to Treat Jellyfish Stings in General Medicine is owned by Sara E. Lewis. Permission to republish How to Treat Jellyfish Stings in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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