"Painful "rash" from contact with mooring rope?

[dandean]

First time poster here.

Spent a couple of days at Montego Bay, Jamaica this past week. Made three drives on a reef near the airport.

The dive boat utilized an underwater mooring that was marked by a floating buoy. The divemaster told the group to jump in and then assemble near the bow of the boat and wait until all the divers had entered the water. We were to use the mooring rope to hold onto while we waited.

The underwater portion of the rope was coated in seaweed and barnacles and other aquatic growth. Without hesitation, I grabbed on and held tight until we got the signal to descend.

After the dive, we climbed back aboard the boat and that's when I noticed it: an intense stinging on the palms of my hands and on the areas of my fingers where I had gripped the mooring rope. It felt like sharp barbs going into my skin.

A day later, my palms and fingers turned red and became extremely sensitive. There was reddness, swelling and extreme sensitivity.

Three days on, the sensitivity and redness is still just as strong. It's very hard to pick up objects without a degree of discomfort, and the sensitivity makes it hard to do simple things like grasp a cup of coffee.

Does any of this sound familiar to any of you? Does anyone know what I could have touched to cause this? Any idea about what sort of aquatic plant or creature could cause these symptoms?

Thanks for any advice or information you can share!

 

[rongoodman]

Lots of critters live on mooring ropes--I wouldn't touch one without gloves. Sounds like you need to seek medical attention.

 

[herman]

Sounds like fire coral or some form of hydroid, both are very common on buoy ropes. It will eventually clear up but it's nasty stuff. My best advise is, unless it's the anchor rope dropped from the boat or an absolutely necessity never grab anything underwater without gloves on. Most of the stuff down there bites or stings.

 

[Bratface]

Coral and other things collect on mooring lines. It can be quite painful. Probably too late now, but warm compresses will help. See your doctor if you are still bothered. It can take some time to work it's way out.

If you find yourself in the same situation again, circle the line with finger and thumb and try not to touch anything or carry a small piece of line in your BC and wrap it around the line. You will only have to touch your line on the ends and avoid the nasty stuff.

 

[DevonDiver]

As others have mentioned, stuff lives on permanently fixed ropes.... and some of those organisms can sting in self-defence when 'big fleshy monsters' seek to crush them to death.

The solution is to either wear gloves, or get your buoyancy perfected so that you can use the line as a visual reference only

 

[g1138]

Probably Fire coral or something of the like.
They have tiny microscopic stinging barbs called nematocysts which penetrate skin and fire their toxin.
Fresh water will usually trigger any that's left on neoprene or skin.
You probably have gotten rid of all of them within those three days, or at least fired off the rest.
If it makes you feel more comfortable, lightly wipe your hands with a dry or damp cloth to get rid of any that's left (unlikely since it's been 3 days)


If the skin is raw or broken then disregard what's written below and go straight to a doctor.
Some vaseline on your hands will help with the pain.
If you're out of the tropics and in a place where it's not humid I'd suggest putting latex, nytril, or vinyl gloves over your vaselined hands for a while to keep the vasoline on and prevent anything from getting lubed.

You'll still want to see a doctor in either case.


As for how long the stinging will last. Hard to say.
Over here in Monterey we have Chrysaora jelly fish (Jelly fish sting with nematocyst as well).
Get stung by them and you're pain free by the next day, but you'll have a red spot for about a week.
Over in the Northern Mediterranean they have Pelagia. Get stung by one of those and you'll have pain for a day, but tenderness for a week and a red spot for a month.

 

[DevonDiver]

What's the rationale behind vaseline as a treatment for this??

 

[g1138]

What's the rationale behind vaseline as a treatment for this??

Keep a layer between the hands and the outside. It'll keep the pain away.
I do it whenever I get a light burn from fumbling with baking pans.
Like I said though, in a humid environment this may not be the best thing to do.
And it's pretty safe if you still have all your layers of skin.
If not then better to consult a doctor before proceeding with this.

 

[dandean]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and observations. I visited the doc yesterday who prescribed a strong topical steroid (ointment). It's too soon to tell if it's effective, but we shall see.

It's been six days and, unfortunately, there hasn't been much let up in the sensitivity and pain.

Think it's time to invest in a pair of gloves for my next dive......I think I've learned my lesson!

 

[aquaregia]

In general, I'm more worried about staph than fire coral. But I hate [large numbers of venomous] jellyfish.