Tips on What to Do, If You Get Stung, While Swimming in the Sea

This past week I got stung either by a jelly fish, or a stingray. I was swimming in the sea, at Treasure Island beach, and I felt a prick, on my right big toe. I continued to swim, because at that point it really didn't hurt me.

Upon returning to our timeshare apartment, my toe was slightly red, and a little swollen. I went onto my laptop computer and brought up both jelly fish, and stingray stings. After reading about both of them, I still wasn't sure which one it was. I sometimes see jelly fish on the beach, and here in Florida, we do the stingray shuffle when going into the water.

Later that night the nail on big toe started to look a 'blue color' and this was on of the symptoms of a stingray sting. Therefore I got a bowl of really hot water, and put my toe into it. Well, it was most of my toes because it was impossible to do just one.

The reason for this comes from wikiHow, they state:

"Soak the affected limb in the hottest water tolerable for at least an hour. Because stingray venoms are composed of heat-labile proteins, doing this will alter the tertiary structure of the polypeptide protein molecule by denaturing and thereby deactivating the poison. Ultimately this means that the venom will have less effect."

My toes were on fire, but I wanted to do the best I could for my toe. Throughout the night I had throbbing in my toe, and it continued on, and off the following day. My toe was swollen, and the nail lifted slightly, making it difficult for me to wear shoes.

So I read again about stings, and this time I checked out jelly fish. Again it stated about soaking in really hot water, so I ignored that one, as it had already been done. Next it stated to use plain white distilled vinegar, which is acetic acid. I soaked a cotton ball in the vinegar, and wrapped it around my big toe.

When I got home from my weeks vacation my toenail was still a gray/blue color. It was lifting slightly from my toe, and the toe was still a little on the puffy side. When I touched the toe it wasn't as tender, but I still had problems with being unable to wear fashion shoes.

A neighbor of mine, who is a nurse, suggested that I soak that foot in Epsom Salt. She told me that it has worked in decades, and will continue to be used in helping stings, sprains, and minor ailments.

I purchased a 1 lb box from C.V.S. for $1.77, and came home and put 2 cups of Epsom Salt into a bowl, containing one gallon of warm water. I kept my foot in it until the water went cold.

This really did sooth my toe, and I am planning on doing this once a day.

There is no quick cure for getting stung in the sea. If I had felt any of the major side effects of the sting such as, extreme pain, bleeding, dizziness, muscle cramps, seizures, irregular pulse, or low blood pressure, I would of course, gone to the E.R.

Self treating may not be for everyone, but this old lady can put up with pain, and just gets on with life.

Source: About.com