Ouch! Got stung by a Lion Fish this afternoon!

[The Chairman]

I've only shot a few lionfish and there was always someone who wanted to handle them when I did. A couple of days ago @Mermaid Stacy and I saw a few lionfish and had decided that they needed to die. So we headed back. I must say, it's been a few decades since I had used a pole spear: that was funny. Stacy tried a few times. I tried a few times, and then I nailed one. No, not very big, but Stacy wanted to taste one. We had decided ahead of time that we would clip the spines before we put it in the bag so we wouldn't get stung.

Great theory, but poor execution on my part. I had cleared almost all of the spines when it flicked its tail and nailed my thumb with a tiny spine at the base of its tail. It didn't hurt much at first but it bled a good bit. Then it started to ache. Ouch! Not enough to bring tears to my eyes, but I called the snorkel/swim even though Stacy hadn't had the chance to get hers yet. The has grown a bit and so I soaked it for ten minutes in the hottest water I could stand. It's still aching, though not quite as much. The surprise to me is that without much swelling my two thumb knuckle joints really, really ache. Just thought I would share my experience.

 

[cmulvaney]

Ouch, Sorry bud.

 

[KathyV]

Have you considered seeking medical advice? I think that you should; see the list below for reasons why you might consider it.

I once fell forward when exiting a shore dive on Bonaire and put my hand down heavily on an urchin. That hurt!

The guy at the dive shop told me to "pee on it" and to my annoyance my husband's reaction was "well, at least he didn't offer to pee on it for you!" I decided to skip the pee remedy and see a medical doctor instead. I am glad that I did, he was able to dig out tiny fragments that I would have missed and the wounds healed cleanly and without infection.


Lionfish Sting First Aid Treatment | Envenomation Response and Care

Seek Medical Treatment
While many people do not seek medical treatment for a lionfish sting, we HIGHY RECOMMEND that you do. Not only do treatment facilities have access to some really nifty pain medications that you WILL want, there can be other complications that aren’t immediately apparent, too:

• Severe pain can cause shock which may involves shortness of breath, weakness, fainting and cardiac arrest.
• Diabetics and those with compromised immune systems may react very badly to the venom and it’s systemic effects.
• There is a very real possibility that people who are allergic to the venom may go into anaphylactic shock. Many people die every year from anaphylaxis.
• There may be pieces of spine left in the wound that you cannot see without an X-ray or other inspection.
• There is ALWAYS the chance that any injury caused by a marine creature can become terribly infected.
• There has been at least one case of paralysis in both arms and legs of a home aquarist who was stuck in the finger. The paralysis went away completely in a short time, but it was a good thing he had sought medical treat when the symptoms of envenomation began to grow worse.
• Lionfish venom can cause tissue necrosis (tissue death) that has the ability to spread if not treated immediately when identified.
• Of course, there are many other issues that could come up. (We’re hunters NOT doctors.)

 

[gopbroek]

From experience it's a little beyond an ouch and more in the realm of $#! ₩ F¤<{!!!!
I usually leave them on the reef but if I bring one back and if there may be congestion at the boat, I sometimes trim them. I use Fiskers shears and the first thing I try to do is to snip the spinal column aft of the brain to try and prevent the very thing that happened to you.
Hopefully you nutrilized the venom (protein) in time but from every thing I have read the protein fully absorbs in about 30 minutes so any delay (like comming up from depth) seals your fate.
@ +10 -12 hours it normally gets better

 

[divad]

My parents were Lion Fish.

 

[The Chairman]

Right now, the ache is not so bad. I think the hot water caused my arthritis to flair up. Not sure, but there's a bit of tenderness at the sting site. I'm probably going to make it.

 

[gopbroek]

Right now, the ache is not so bad. I think the hot water caused my arthritis to flair up. Not sure, but there's a bit of tenderness at the sting site. I'm probably going to make it.

 

[The Chairman]

 

[RyanT]

Sorry to hear of your jab. I've heard the old hot-water technique as well, but in my experience, it doesn't help. I stepped on a scorpionfish at Bahia Honda and went to the hospital. I asked them for a bucket of hot water and soaked my foot for a couple of hours with replenished hot water. It didn't really help. After the pain and swelling subsided (a few days), I experienced arthritis in the joints near the wound for the next couple of months.

 

[Schwob]

No experience to offer for sharing, just a comisserating "ouch".