beachmama

I've seen this topic lately on other message boards & I never gave it much thought until I was stung 2 years ago. And on a shore excursion we were warned about the jellyfish. This can put a damper on a nice beach trip. Was wondering how many others have encountered this problem to a point severe enough to keep out of the water?

caribedon

Hello beachmama! usually the jellyfish are worse in the winter than any other time because the water gets rough and it washes them up. If you do get stung again, vinegar and meat tenderizer with a squeeze of lemon will kill the sting. I have been hit plenty before. When the water is rough is when you have to watch for them. When the water is smooth I have never had a problem though. They do sting, itch and hurt though dont they!! Cut a lemon in half, squeeze it on the sting,then put some meat tenderizer and vinegar on it and it wil go away pretty quickly.That is a trick some of my St. Thomas local friends showed me and it really does work.

beachmama

Thanks for the tips caribedon. I guess I'm just a coward where the anticipation is as bad as the sting. Unfortunately when I got stung it was Day 1 of a 7 night Club Med stay & it really made me unable to relax in the water after that. It was mid-June & calm water too!

poss

There's a product called SafeSea, and as far as I know it's the only thing that gives protection from jellyfish (as well as sea lice). www.nidaria.com

By the way, our Hopkins dermatalogist happens to be one of the world's leading researchers on jellyfish and other sea stings, and it's been determined that all the home-remedies-- meat tenderizer,pee, vinegar, etc-- have no genuine effect; they're all placebos. As we know, of course, placebos do "work" in a sense (for some people). whatever you do, be sure NOT to rub sand on stings. But hopefully you won't be stung. (We've been going to various Caribbean islands for 4 decades, in the winter months, and only place we've ever been hit was once in Jamaica. Good luck.

beachmama

Thanks poss, I'll check into that product. To add to the placebo thing, I think my fear makes the sting worse! Thanks again.

DanOO

Hi there! I was stung by something swimming in the Caribbean last week. Its a 'S' shaped sting and I immediately assummed it was a jellyfish. (It really didn't hurt very bad. I was stung previously in Virginia, on the arms and chest, which was a very painful experience.) It has now been over a week, and my sting has become re-inflamed. It has gotten much darker in color, and itches particularly bad. Have you or anyone reading this thread, experienced similar reactions?

Could this be something other than a jellyfish?

Danoo