Flickr/Dave Keeshan
Most beach-goers in Australia swim at non-tropical beaches, and so are most likely to come across the more harmless, non-tropical stinger varieties such as the common bluebottle.
For the most part, bluebottles are just an annoying inconvenience and at the most will give you a fright and leave a nasty itchy rash.
For the average person, getting stung by one will present no harmful danger, however, for the very young, elderly, people allergic to them or in extreme cases, they can present further complications.
To treat a bluebottle sting:
- Find a place to rest with someone who can watch over you- Don’t rub the sting area
- Washing the site of the sting with vinegar is NOT recommended
- Pick off any remaining tentacles with fingers (a harmless prickling may be felt)
- Rinse the stung area well with seawater to remove any invisible stinging cells
- Place the stung area in hot water (at a temperature your can comfortably tolerate)
- If the pain is unrelieved by the heat, or if hot water is not available, apply cold packs or wrapped ice.
If the symptoms persist or for stings that cover a particularly large area, or across the throat & face call triple zero.
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20 Comments
The article is correct and the replies with various home remedies are misguided. A word about hot water. You (the first aider) should test the water as the victim can have poor perception of heat due to their pain. The water needs to be quite hot (about 42C) but be careful with the young or elderly.
ReplyInteresting they state NOT to put vinegar on the sting. I have surfed for over 40 years and have been stung by these little monsters countless times and for the last twenty odd years using vinegar has been the go to remove the pain quickly. Now, they are saying to just put hot water on it? Eh?
ReplyPcking the stinger off with the fingers is not painless! I was stung once and my initial reaction was to remove the stinger. Bad idea! I felt as much pain in my fingers as I did at the initial sting site.
Replywe tried the hot water and then the ice pack with no relief but good old stingose and some antihysteme made an instant relief, now we keep it in the first aid kit.
1 Replyso? why no vinegar? why have i been told for 30 years to use vinegar? why are lifeguards all issued with vinegar? how about some actual information?
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