As someone from Southern California I was always told growing up if I ever got stung by a jellyfish, I should just have a friend pee on me and be done with it. Although, as one of the few who has never actually been stung by a jelly, I do wonder does pee really relieve the sting?
Mission Beach, San Diego
Jellyfish stings come from “specialized cells in the surface of its tentacles calledcnidocytes. Each small, bulb-shaped cell holds a barbed, threadlike tube, called anematocyst, filled with venom. On the outside of each cell is a tiny hair called a cnicocil”, and when it stings you as you either play in the tide, body surf, or swim that is a result of a tentacle detaching itself from the jellyfish and latching onto the skin of the victim. Symptoms of the sting happen right away, where “the pain radiates from the sting site and starts to itch, burn and throb as it blisters”, according to Joseph Burnett, a dermatologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center
When stung by these cute little creatures, it’s important to know that urinating on your friends isn’t a good idea because urine contains salt and by peeing on them the salt in your urine could actually make things worst. It would “[throw] off the salt balance between the outside and inside of the cell, can also can also cause the stingers to fire”, causing more harm than good for the victim stung.
So instead of peeing on your friend in need, go to your nearest lifeguard and alert the of the situation. Most likely they will offer you vinegar, which 5% acetic acid, to rinse the affected area, and even if that doesn’t work warm seawater is a good trick to keep the stinging down.
Work Cited:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/31427/does-peeing-jellyfish-sting-actually-help
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-urinating/
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-23502032
So I was really curious after reading this blog post because there seems to be a mixture of ‘treatments’ mentioned here. Some people are saying salt water, but if the salt in urine is bad for the string then surely this is contradictory? Some people are saying vinegar but, in the article below it says vinegar is not a good idea. I guess if I ever get stung by a jellyfish I’m just going to have to call for professional help so as not to risk hurting myself further.
http://www.uamshealth.com/?id=11935&sid=1
I found this post just a little humorous, I guess because I never even heard of that theory. But this was a unique post. Way to use your hometown experiences in picking a creative blog topic. I looked further into the subject and found more information supporting your theory here.
Cool post, I’ve always been curious about this. It’s crazy that something like this which is believed by so many is not even true. I read in an article (http://www.livescience.com/34012-pee-jellyfish-sting.html) that urine would only be of use once the nematocysts are deactivated, but really any warm liquid would help soothe the irritation…and urine definitely would not be my first choice.
It’s interesting to this topic. I always heard people talk about this but never take a thought if that’s right. One episode in Old Friend then further firmed my thought that peeing can release sting is supposed to be right if TV say so. In your article, you suggest people to use vinegar to the Jellyfish’ sting, I want to say that if the wound caused by Jelly is really hurt and the vinegar cannot make you feel better, people should go to the nearest hospital. Last year, one girl dead because of the Jelly’ sting, since she thought it was fine to leave the wound alone.
This is interesting I always thought that peeing was supposed to alleviate the pain. Im curious though, if the reason that urine isn’t good for the wound is the salt in it doesn’t that mean that warm seawater which has a lot of salt would also irritate the wound further? So i decided to look into this further and it turns out that regular water causes the nematocysts ( the toxins causing the pain) to continue to release their toxin. You can read this article for more information.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/jellyfish_stings/page4_em.htm#jellyfish_stings_treatment
This post reminded me of when my sister got stung by a jelly fish while on vacation in the Bahamas, although no one peed on her sting, it wasn’t bad and she was okay after pouring clean water from a water bottle onto the sting. But if urine is detrimental to the wound because of its salt content, as you say, then why would salt water be beneficial? I think the effects of chemicals in urine would be more harmful than the salt. This article has more information on how peeing on jellyfish stings is an old wives’ tale and how water could be helpful, but rejects your suggestion to use vinegar as well. http://www.uamshealth.com/?id=11935&sid=1