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A Man o' War is nothing to fool with. It can actually kill a small human! They have a diaphanous body that floats on the surface. The body tends to be whitish/purplish with a ridge that runs longitudinally along the top. Then there is the business end: numerous tentacles that hang from the body into the water and have stinging cells all along their lengths. These tentacles will wrap around the prey and deliver stings...lots of stings. They run from a few inches to feet long and are both straight and curly!
The stings are painful and can cause massive swelling. I think that sometimes cortisone shots may be required.
For "home remedies" one can use vinegar or hydrocortisone cream. If the swelling and pain continue, by all means see a doctor.
Be careful, FK! I got stung (whipped, more like) by some kind of jellyfish a few weeks ago and I still have an L-shaped 5 inch long scar on my elbow. It doesn't hurt but it's still there....
When my mum was a little girl she swam into a school (think you's call it a school) of Man O' War. She got wipped from her neck to her ankles.....apparently it wasn't too nice.
If it doesnt go down soon, go and seek medical advice....its always better to be safe than sorry!
Under the sea, under the sea, Darlin' it's better down where it's wetter, Take it from me.
Up on the shore they work all day, Out in the sun they slave away. While we devoting full time to floating, Under the sea!
It looks like a piece of garbage flowting on the water. It has long tentacles hanging down, so if you'r diving shallow, and dont see the garbage on the surface, you may entangle into the tentacles without seeing them!
...of the Portuguese Man-Of-War. Looks like the National Geographic piece I remember. Also includes recommended first aid - basically to consider it potentially life threatening, pick off the stingers, rinse in water...
Terry
This info came from my wife. Not sure about the validity of it, but she swore it worked. She got bitten when she was younger and on the beach some lady that lived at one of the houses told her to wait while she went and got something that would take away the pain.
She came back with a bottle of Windex and sprayed it where she was stung. She claims that the pain went away and everything.
Now I am not promoting this as a cure or a fix, but in a pinch might be worth trying. Maybe the amonia in it does something? Anyone know anything more about why this would work.
Typical home remedies for jellyfish stings have included vingar (a weak solution of acetic acid) or Windex (a weak solution of ammonia, as you so sagely pointed out), but the post that terrydarc put up indicated that vinegar did not work for the Man o'War sting. Most dive boats carry some vinegar during jellyfish season and I have used it. It seems to have worked. However, it may have been a placebo!
Since vinegar is an acid and Windex is a base, the chemistry would be interesting to understand. I can only guess what it would be...
Ice is recommended and, in most first aid issues, that is to prevent or reduce swelling. It would seem like a good idea. We always carry hydrocortison cream with us in our dive kit and it works fine on stings of all sorts.
With the water temp at 82F I was sans exposure protection except for gloves and swimsuit.
The third tank dive of the day we stopped by “the beach” which was full of sea lions. My buddy and I were the first in the water. We swam out a short way and decided to dropped down and swim to the beach while seeing how many sea lions would play with us. My buddy had problems equalizing his ears so I waited at 25 feet. Looking around there were all these clear jellyfish floating just like the one that stung me the day before, so I swam up and around to avoid them.
Watching my buddy I rose to about 5 feet and then something hit me in the right arm, then my right thigh then ankle. I turned and watched this purple blueish jellyfish break apart as it hit my fin. I swam down to my buddy then realized I was in trouble gave my buddy the wide-eyed two thumbs up sign. On the surface I told my buddy that my entire right side was on fire as we were about 30 feet from the boat, my buddy helped me get to the boat and with my left arm tossed my fins on the boat and lugged myself aboard. The DM a small French guy was of little help to a large person as myself. I was soaked with vinegar while I dumped my equipment I went through a cycle of cold water and vinegar until I could function normally. Once I could move I put away my gear and soaked in vinegar. I felt pretty wimpy when a few other divers talked about being stung by jellyfish on the face and one guy while at the DECO bar kissed one in the safety regulator. I went to the furthest place from the food and people; because I felt wimpy for a large guy, then when my instructor asked what the jellyfish looked like and he told me it was Man O’ War did I feel somewhat better.
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I should add
