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People, stop peeing on people.
This could prevent some awkward beach encounters this summer: Turns out, urine does not ease the pain from jellyfish stings -- regardless of what your "Friends" told you.
Actually, you're better off using vinegar -- or, if that's not in your beach bag, ocean water -- as urine just doesn't have the right chemical makeup to neutralize the sting, reports The Telegraph today quoting head of British Red Cross first aid Joe Mulligan.
“If people have been stung, they need to get out of the water to avoid getting stung again. Once out, slowly pouring seawater over the sting will help ease the pain.
“Doing the same thing with vinegar can be even more effective as the acid helps neutralise the jellyfish sting. But, unless you’re near a chip shop, seawater will probably be easier to find.”
Emergency physician Dr. Ryan Stanton, who's spent some time in Australia and is familiar with the country's venomous box jellyfish, agrees. The efficacy hierarchy here is this: vinegar, isopropyl alcohol, ocean water -- then urine, explains Stanton, now the medical director at UK HealthCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Ky.
The acidic chemicals in the vinegar, alcohol and even the seawater neutralize the sting and deactivate the nemotocysts -- the stinging cells that inject the creature's venom into your skin. The problem with urine, Stanton explains, is that it's just too variable: If it's concentrated, it may work OK, but from a well-hydrated person, it won't be much different than plain old water.
Next, rid your skin of the nematocysts. Wash them off with saltwater, or use something with a well-defined edge (like a credit card) to remove the cells from your skin.
In Australia, Stanton says, every lifeguard stand has a bottle of vinegar, as do many in Hawaii. But that's likely not the case at most American beaches.
"Basically, I recommend if you're going to a beach, it's not a bad idea to take a little bottle of vinegar; it's super cheap and it can be very helpful," says Stanton, who's also a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "But I would not recommend that you go to a beach and start urinating on each other."
Follow Melissa Dahl on Twitter: @melissadahl
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Leave a Comment:
Well do you tell them or not?
How much you wanna bet that rumor was started by someone really into 'golden showers'?
I think it started with Corporation, they think we've all be stung by jellyfish! Why would they be P**ing on everybody?
Urine works. It is acidic. Many times the vinegar bottle is empty. They are left in the sun in the open. My nephew got hit by one and urine reduced the pain. I got hit by one and urine worked. However there are deadly jellyfish in Australia and if you are hit by one of those. Nothing will help you. You have to administer cpr while someone goes for an ambulance. If you are lucky and get to a hospital there is a small chance.
As for sea urchins, they only hurt the first 15 minutes. The spines can not be removed. The spines have to be broken up under the skin. Anything that will do that is great. A stone, rolling a knife or fork over the area and you can see them being broken into small pieces. It is mostly calcium and the body absorbs the spines. Experienced diver with 30 years experience.
In Australia, jelly fish suits are sold with a head piece. It is a very light weight material, similar to panyhose but latex and it forms fit and very thin. Worth the $20.00. However the jelly fish for some reason are close to shore and if you want to go on the boat dive trips, the jelly fish are not found 20-40 miles off the coast. Most of the tourist cities have giant saltwater pools, like Cairns that filter out the jelly fish. In their summer, you can't go swimming due to the crocs. So anytime summer or winter swimming close to the beach is a bad idea any place north of Brisbane.
When you walk through or are swimming and step on a sea urchin and have the spines stuck in you, you would pee or soak the area with pee and the spines come out. It works in Polynesia.
peeing on them does not work. I took a friend out diving, first time and he got water in the mask and lost his head. He tried to climb out on a rock covered with short spined black sea urchins. Hands, knees, feet, legs covered with black dots. Pulled him back and brought him back to the beach. Took a plastic fork and ran it all over his body and broke up every one of the spines in 15 minutes no pain and no swelling. Of course he looked kind of funny in shorts for a month.
This pisses me off.
The Viet Cong pissed on bungee impalement sticks for a reason, to cause a nasty infection if the initial stick did not kill you. Amazing how folklore is still believed.
Having beach experience with this I would say vinegar is lame. See your doctor for inflammatory creams and medicine. Keep it clean with no pee pee............
It was called a punji stick,and they were dipped in excrement.and Bill ,what do you do before u see the docctor,how bout some immediate relief.
Oh, piss on it!
I fell on a sea urchin in Hawaii. It got my hand. The guy cleaning the sidewalk up said to urinate on it. I did. My hand still swelled up. I was glad I didn't land on my behind, or I would not have been able to urinate on it. I would have had to have my wife stand over top of me and do the job. I'm not sure it if worked or not, although I was told that was the standard procedure by many people, even the doctor I went to see afterwards.
You know that urine doesn't have to come fresh from the tap to work, right? You could pee in a bottle then pour it on the affected area.
Just doesn't sound as fun as peeing on someone.
Just pee in your hand and rub it on. I got stung right in the armpit while I was swimming. Now that is almost as bad as getting stung between your legs, but you got a bathing suit on. I was not bashful about peeing in my hand and rubbing it into my armpit. Took some sand and scrubbed off the jellyfish tentacle. Was real glad it wasn't the deadly type of jellyfish.
$20 to rent a hooker to pee on you. Prices may have gone up since the 70s.
One of those cases where the supposed cure may have been worse than the condition!
Leeches anyone?
So I've been peeing in the ocean for nothing?
Tony, this changes everything. Now I can't pee down people's legs any more and I do so enjoy doing it.
I thought I was protecting others this whole time, while raising the water temp. Win/Win
Real hot water helps but vinegar works good.
A paste of unseasoned meat tenderizer should work as well on jellyfish venin as it does for bee and wasp stings but I can't say that it does definitively since I've managed to avoid jellyfish despite all the years I spent on one coast or another.
After getting stung on the thigh on a night dive, the boat captain treated the site with meat tenderizer. By the time we got back to shore the sting was gone and the welts were nearly gone too.
I got stung by a jellyfish once. Once.
Anyway, that out of the way, it was one of our wimpy American ones not the evil psychotic Aussie ones and apparently, it barely brushed me so, no need for the pee treatment. Yay. And after this news, double yay.
So much for Golden Showers at the beach...
I used a spray of the neosporin spray on my daughter and it worked fine...and its small enough to carry anywhere.
Thanks for the tip.
Since when do the Brits know anything. There medical care is so far below standards it's unreal. And there dental care......Don't even go there.
Don't worry. Jellyfish sting or not, I'll still pee on you at the beach, if you want me too.
Preparation H works too; we keep it in our beach bag. It's what the lifeguard put on my son after he was stung(but not before we tried the urine first!)
You mean I've been pissing on myself all these years for nothing? Sheesh.
It amazes me how little "learned" people know on some subjects (particularly subjects that they never studied). There are papers published by scientists at marine institutes proving that urine, vinegar, ammonia, meat tenderizer, baking soda, warm or cold water and all other ridiculous home remedies don't stop the pain from jellyfish stings. In fact, say the scientists, they actually cause the remaining Nematocysts (sting cells) left on the skin to fire into the skin and discharge their toxins. The home remedies can't neutralize whats already been discharged into the body. Lidocaine, real medicine, applied topically, quickly reaches the nerve receptors and stops them from sending pain signals. It also paralyzes the remaining nematocysts on the skin so that they'll never discharge. Sorry to plug a commercial product, but there is one, tested by the scientists, that contains 4% Lidocaine. That product is Jellyfish Squish. It has many endorsements. I heard about it while on vacation in the Gulf and thoroughly researched it before buying and using it on my family. It works and is real medicine. Again, sorry, but it just aggravates me to no end when I see all of the drivel out there on jellyfish stings for things that don't work, while so many children suffer from the terrible pain of jellyfish stings.
I do believe that I qualified my remark regarding meat tenderizer and was very specific that I had never tried it as I managed to escape being stung despite spending many years on one coast or another.
The papain in the meat tenderizer will neutralize bee, wasp, and hornet venin simply because it breaks down the protein in it. Theoretically the same would happen with the venin from jellyfish AFTER the stingers have been removed. Again, theory is great but doesn't always work as well in practical application and that is why I qualified my remark in my initial post.
Retired RN-439841 is correct.
The pH of urine is typically neutral. Acidic urine can increase the the risk of kidney stones in some cases. From first hand experience, unfortunately, meat tenderizer works. I ws stung on a night dive and the captain treated the site with meat tenderizer and by the time we got back to shore the pain was gone and the welts were nearly gone too.
Cloudy ammonia DOES work, and it works very well. The lifeguards in Newport Beach, California used to have bottles of it on hand for jellyfish stings whenever the tides brought them in proximity to swimmers. I used it myself and it is instant relief from the excruciating pain and itching of jellyfish stings. NOTE: It MUST be cloudy ammonia to work, I don't know why.
I was stung by a man-o-war in Hawaii years ago, the friends I was staying with knew about ammonia and got it out right away. As soon as it hit my skin all effects from the sting disappeared.
Aw come on guys! Everytime we get a good prank going, some doctor comes up with a study to debunk it. We have so much fun with the tourists in Acapulco when they step on a spiny urchin. There's nothing like having a video camera ready and someone that looks like a local to tell the mark that pee is only way to make the stinging go away. You have to tell them that it's important to pee on the wound as soon as they can before the toxins spread. Guys peeing on thier girlfriends, girls peeing down thier legs. The locals get such a kick out of us that they will follow us around so that they can enjoy the show. So come on doc give us a break and let us have our fun....
Damn it! Now I need to find another excuse to pee on people.
That was R Kelly's #1 pickup line for picking up 14 year-olds at the beach.
Just so there's no misunderstanding, vinegar doesn't neutralize the sting. Once you are stung, that venom is in you and vinegar doesn't do anything for that.
What it does do, is to keep any nemotocysts that haven't fired from going off and adding more venom to the sting.
This is for people who could be susceptible to anaphylactic shock from venom. I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that using vinegar is all you need to do.
Mitchell
Given the ph of vinegar - it seems one could just as easily use a cola product, or even lemonade, which is slightly higher.
Since alcohol is their 2nd choice - a Mai Tai , any tropical liquor drink or a rum & Coke should be fine too!
Adolphs meat tenderizer,just sprinkle on the skin while wet has worked great been diving for over 30+ years.won`t leave without it
Adolphs meat tenderizer.Just sprinkle on wet skin.works quick.Been diving over 30+ years won`t leave home without it.
That's the Ticket!!
Shark approved!
Well, my goodness, I do believe I've just been vindicated LOL.
Really? You mean when Joey stepped up to the plate it was all for nothing?
I hope Joey doesn't find out.
To be serious for a moment. If you were stung by a jellyfish and everyone told you that urine would ease the pain. It probably would ease your pain. The placebo effect has been shown to be as potent as some of our most potent drugs. however any one who runs across this story will no longer be helped by urine when they are stung by a jellyfish. A century ago it was believed that chewed tobacco or snuff taken from someone's mouth and directly applied to a bee sting took away the stinging pain, and I had a great granduncle who remembered my great-step-grandmother doing exactly that for him from the porch of her cabin. The more the world changes the more it stays the same. But each generation forgets everything the previous one knew.