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Over a week ago went on my first dives in the Florida Keys. I had heard all of the stories about fire coral and did my best to avoid it. However, I did not realize that there was a parasitic soft fire coral and I managed to brush up against some it. It has been over a week now and my leg still has a nasty rash on it from the fire coral. It does not burn or anything, but it itches like crazy. Does anybody have any home remedies that will help take this away?
My knee had the same experience as you on Bonaire. It stayed red for about a week, then it disappeared. For the bad stinging the people from the diveschool gave vinegar at first, that helped at bit. (Now I'm always going to take a little bottle of that stuff with me when I'm going to be some distance from a store).
For the rest of the week, I found that putting ice on the spot relieved the itching feeling. Never read that anywhere, but it worked for me. Hope it does for you too.
This might be trivial but my son got nailed by it a couple of years ago in Naussa.
During our briefing we were told that we could hold on to the mooring line for our safety stop.
Our boyancy skills were fine but my 12 year old boy held onto the mooring line because the DM said it was OK in the briefing.
Turns out that that old line had young fire coral or something just as nasty living on it.
Dillon hurt his hands but stings and irratations don't last long in my bloodline so he was OK after about 40 minutes.
Itching and pain can be handled by generous appilcaiton of Americane hemorroid cream, or any other cream with 20% benzocane. Won't do a thing to heal it, but it makes it stop for a while so you can get to sleep!
The nice thing about Americane is it's JUST benzocane in a clear jel skin penetrating carrier that works as an air shield. None of that "other" stuff you don't need. Orajel is a similar product, but flavored a bit for the "other end".
Bllprk, first, make sure that you don't have an allergic reaction. You need to consult
a doctor about that. Assuming you don't have an allergic reaction, then the
following treatment is recomended:
* Hydrocortisone cream may be applied 2-3 times daily for itching. Discontinue immediately if any signs of infection appear.
* If there are no signs of allergic reaction, pain may be relieved with 1-2 acetaminophen (Tylenol) every 4 hours and/or 1-2 ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) every 6-8 hours.
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Originally Posted by FredT
