Jellyfish - The Facts

[limbos]

For box jelly fish, vinegar is the best solution, before seeing a doctor/physician.

DAN's "Diver Alert" magazine has an update an article in the May/June 2008 issue called; "Sting Update" with the surprise recommendation not to use vinegar on jellyfish stings other than the Indo-Pacific Box Jelly*.

Current suggestions for jellyfish stings include...

1-Flush with sea water, not fresh water;

2-Soak in hot water or hot shower around 113F/45C for 30 to 90 minutes ASAP;

3-Remove any remaining tentacles with tweezers;

4-Shave with shaving cream and razor or scrape with credit card;

5-Apply hydrocortisone cream or ointment;

6-Monitor for reaction or infection;

And more, you also carry antihistamine tablets and include those in your personal treatment and suggestions.

There was a special note on Men-of-War: No vinegar! It actually causes those nematocytes to discharge.

*The one exception given is for the Chironex fleckeri of Box Jelly found in some waters between Australia and Asia. This one is probably the most deadly animal for its size other than man, but if you survive long enough to get back on the boat - do use vinegar on that wound.

[Foreverford]

For box jelly fish, vinegar is the best solution, before seeing a doctor/physician.

DAN's "Diver Alert" magazine has an update an article in the May/June 2008 issue called; "Sting Update" with the surprise recommendation not to use vinegar on jellyfish stings other than the Indo-Pacific Box Jelly*.

Current suggestions for jellyfish stings include...

1-Flush with sea water, not fresh water;

2-Soak in hot water or hot shower around 113F/45C for 30 to 90 minutes ASAP;

3-Remove any remaining tentacles with tweezers;

4-Shave with shaving cream and razor or scrape with credit card;

5-Apply hydrocortisone cream or ointment;

6-Monitor for reaction or infection;

And more, you also carry antihistamine tablets and include those in your personal treatment and suggestions.

There was a special note on Men-of-War: No vinegar! It actually causes those nematocytes to discharge.

*The one exception given is for the Chironex fleckeri of Box Jelly found in some waters between Australia and Asia. This one is probably the most deadly animal for its size other than man, but if you survive long enough to get back on the boat - do use vinegar on that wound.

Been stung twice in 5 years and don't swim if there is any wind on the water (you can swim and create a perimeter to enjoy an early morning swim when it isn't obvious JF time). 1st sting I didn't do too much and it didn't heal very well with a small (gone now) scar on my wrist. talked to my friend a doctor and he had similar suggestions from above. First get wet sand and rub on area to remove the stingers off the body (at a few hundred yards from the beach a quick dive can start this process immediately). Urinate on it directly or into something you can pour on the area (your hand will work) get vinegar on it asap. Now one of the keys to this is to treat the wound as you would a burn. I've seen people with mosquito bites that look as if they have leprosy, ugly huge deep wounds. YOu got to keep the area dry (yes this is the hot huimid tropics and that takes abunch of discipline and lifestyle change) forget swimming in the ocean or swimming pool for a while. I did all this the second time and the wound was nothing like the first and responded well to the treatment no scarring at all. As the above post stated treat for reaction and infection. People die from bee stings but with box jellies there is a good chance of possible death for anyone I'm not sure these types have migrated up from Australia but have supposedly heard of some found in the Phuket area. If you know you are in P Man of War waters and know that is what got you "Diver's Alert" info is the one exception to the rule. Always swim with googles and fully clothed or wetsuited.

[stingertale]

To get the latest facts on treating jellyfish stings in Thailand follow this link

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2664851

The bottom line is forget all this stuff about scraping tentacles with cards, urinating on stings, morning glory paste when it comes to immediate treatment to stop the stinging, the only thing to use is VINEGAR.

Have some handy when you're next at the beach or on a boat.

[duister74]

Hi All,

at the moment all I can do is confirm a very similar occurance. I was Kite surfing in Chantaburi. As the wind died down a bit I went just for a swim in the waves. In water about 80 cm deep only I felt a quick sharp sting just at the lower part of my chest. It really hurt enough to get me walk out of the water right away. At first I didn't see anything but after a few minutes a light pink color started showing. A triangular shape only the size of guitar plectrum. It doesn't cover the whole area but looks more like a small tattoo of a bunch of grapes on my chest. But it really hurt! I didn't think much of it and though it kept stinging I went on with my business. Over the next few days I noticed the pink color turning more red and the wound developing like it was a burning wound. Small pieces of the skin let go and brown crust appeared very lightly over the middle of the area where a tentacle must have touched. Now I'm 8 days into it and there is a yellow area on my wound. Almost like puss wants to come out but since my wound is very little it just shows a white/yellowish color on the surface. I also notice my wound now became 3 dimensional and a little piece of my skin gone.

I must also say that I had a sudden event of diarrhea for only the 2nd day after I got stung. Now I can't confirm if this was to to with the jellyfish sting or something bad in the food I ate that weekend. I can be sure I've not had diarrhea for at least 6 months so I found it quite surprising.

I've never had anything like this, I'm definitely back in my Lycra pants and shirts now! 8 days in the wound still itches and is sensitive to touch. I'm going to buy a bottle of vinegar and put is as standard with my toilet bag and 1 bottle with my kite surfing gear. I guess I'm lucky it covers only such a small area.

Joost

[DaamNaam]

As a diver for a living i can tell you the only thing to do is cover-up. Prevention is better than cure (and all that jazz).

Rash vests / leggings (rashies) are available everywhere (Lotus, Big C, etc..)and are a must for kids.

Otherwise take a bottle of vinegar down the beach with you, apply ASAP to the burning area, usually does the job.

Be safe..

Cheers.

Edited August 24, 2009 by DaamNaam

[yabaaaa]

great totally conflicting advice, use vinegar dont use vinegar?????

[Mrjlh]

You can try gleaning info from these two web pages. Pretty much matches all the different responses so far.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/jellyfish_s...ngs%20Treatment

Vinegar came up as the most widely accepted "first aid" remedy, except for use on the Portuguese Man-o-war. Box jelly's are now showing up in Phuket (Markham ?? Bay) and they are the most dangerous. They a very small and cause a lot of damage.

[zigistar]

i am living in Petchaburi and altough some parts of the year we got jellyfish around here its now way worst since they built those ugly looking dams to hold the waves taking sand from the beach.So its not only an ugly sight it also atract so many jellyfish because there is simply not much current anymore in those arias....i used to go there many times but thats over for me,i simply not gone take the risk.....

[brd]

swbailey.

thank you for your report.

A simple recommendation when a jellyfish sting any one just use your own urine or any one else as the ammoniac cool down the pain

and of course it is unpleasant but a smart trick tested in real life thousand times successfully.

Do no expect to know season or not when they are it is a question of tides as well.

Cheers

PS : You know why now why so many Hotels need beach front swimming pools.

[JemJem]

Let me have this confirmed. The rainy season is the riskiest time of the year for Thailand regarding getting stung by jellyfish.....and, the Hua Hin area is quite a risky area. Correct ? I guess I will NOT swim if/when I go to Hua Hin soon.

Another question...how is the situation regarding jellyfish in Koh Lanta ? Anyone here have any idea ?

Cheers,

Jem

[supaprik]

Not that I have used this but....my sister lives in far North Queensland Aust and ALWAYS takes a mixture of 95% pure white vinegar mixed with 5% hydrogen peroxide, she swears by this and says..that if anyone is touched by a jelly they use this concoction and supposedly it does 2 things, 1.the vinegar removes any attached tentacles which continue to inject venom and 2. the peroxide mildly burns out the stingers from the skin pores and thus minimizes the effects. Myself these days i stick to swimming pools or freeze my nuts of at Melbourne beaches

[phillies]

For the last few weeks I have been getting these little stings that are not painful but annoying when going in the ocean. Today it was too much and after 10 minutes left the water. Does any one know exactly what is in the water, some kind of microscopic lice or what ??

[Ciocco]

For the last few weeks I have been getting these little stings that are not painful but annoying when going in the ocean. Today it was too much and after 10 minutes left the water. Does any one know exactly what is in the water, some kind of microscopic lice or what ??

Could be "plancton" in the water.

Sometime during scubadiving i felt the same, always in waters with lot of plancton...

[andyinasia]

My experience with jellyfish is that pee, vinegar and other substances with a little bit of ammonia in it will help will help initially, you can also use a knife to scrape the surface of the affected area, this should help remove some of the tentacles left by the jellyfish. but my advice is to go to the hospital immediately. they have experience with jellyfish and will clean it properly so you avoid further complications or that the "burns" get worse.

by the way a fisherman told me that when it is cloudy or it has been raining the chances for the jellyfish coming up to the surface is bigger.

[kutjebu]

Box Jelly [Chironex fleckeri and 20 near relatives] is found off the shores of Northern Australia, PNG, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. This marine animal has a boxy bell head the size of a basket ball and three metre tentacles that can kill a man in a couple of minutes, though there are recent reports of much smaller Box jellies that are just as deadly.

I paddle every day with my sea kayak at sea in Cha-am.In the dry season I see almost every week box jelly fish.Last year a woman died here on the beach in Cha-am.

Like ow in the raining season I see every day hundreds of them.When you like to swim for an hour at sea,your chance to get bitten is almost 100%.

The best time is from April to August,like this year.I swum almost every day about half an hour without problems.

[Ijustwannateach]

The jellyfish that I've seen in the oceans around Hua Hin are pretty easy to spot and are obviously there when in season (there're swarms of 'em, often as large as dinner plates, and usually a kind of medium brown with white speckles). I saw a victim of one of these once, and it wasn't minor- there was a half-dinner-plate-sized red, inflamed scar on his side, and he confirmed that the first few hours were very, very painful.

I think the only good thing that can be said is that if they're there, you'll probably notice them. Though one caution might be that they may only show up during one kind of tide, in which case you could get caught unawares while swimming...

[Schtroumpf]

I tried to swim in the sea in Bang Saphan and Ban krut (south of Huan Hin) and almost immediately I started to be itching to the point that I had to get out of the water after few minutes.

I noticed that there are a lot of jellyfishes in the water and on the beach.

I wonder if the itch does not come from baby jellyfishes or jellyfish larvas.

I am not sure that a lycra will help because it was itching even under my swimsuit (ouch..).or maybe a zentai lycra that make you look like an allien.

Also I have concerns about the presence of the deathly jellyfish that have been reportted in the Andaman sea

thaiboxjellyfish dot blogspot dot com

Has interesting info and also a link to a thai government jellyfish awarness document in thai (can be usefull to show when hit by a jellyfish and communication is a problem )

I was planning to go next to koh tao, will I find the same problem over there?

[docspinoff]

i walk along Hua Hin beach nearly every day and there seems to be jelly fish washed up every 100 meters why is this are they dead? if so why have they died?

some times there is 3 or so in the same spot .some very small but other bigger then dinner plates ,do they all sting ?

[hhfarang]

I think they probably just get caught left on the beach when the tide goes out or by wave action, and yes they all sting as far as I know but some have stronger poison that other types.

[Mantana]

Disregard the urban myth about peeing on a jellyfish sting. In the absence of vinegar, pour sea water over the affected area. It is nowhere near as effective as vinegar, but better than pee!

[davofromoz]

never mind the jellyfish , i have just watched a man who catches small fish every morning in front of our condo with a hand thrown net land a 3 metre long grey snake. it was struggling to free itself from the net.

the fisherman stood well back ,then went to get a big stick and killed it.

Wow, what beach has snakes ? Was it a python?

[mynextgig]

Attaching a photo of my my son, this photo is 6 days after a jellyfish sting in Hua Hin. 2 hours into our holiday, i took my 3 children into the sea after checking with the local security guard that the beach was safe. Within a few minutes my son started screaming that he had been stung by a Jelly Fish. I was able to put vinegar over his leg and arm and then took him to the local Bangkok Hospital where they covered him in steroid cream and then wrapped him in bandages which we had to return to re-dress every day.

This happened in July 2013, now all the scabs have gone and he has deep scarring on his leg and arm, i think they will be with him for the rest of his life.

The hospital, the staff at the hotel and the medical staff at Suvarabhumi airport were all very unsurprised by the state of my sons injuries, i suspect this is alot more common that you would think.

Be very careful during the wet season around the waters of Thailand. I dont know what kind of Jellyfish stung my son, but his inuries are as much as a warning as anyone would need i think.

[hhfarang]

Attaching a photo of my my son, this photo is 6 days after a jellyfish sting in Hua Hin. 2 hours into our holiday, i took my 3 children into the sea after checking with the local security guard that the beach was safe. Within a few minutes my son started screaming that he had been stung by a Jelly Fish. I was able to put vinegar over his leg and arm and then took him to the local Bangkok Hospital where they covered him in steroid cream and then wrapped him in bandages which we had to return to re-dress every day.

This happened in July 2013, now all the scabs have gone and he has deep scarring on his leg and arm, i think they will be with him for the rest of his life.

The hospital, the staff at the hotel and the medical staff at Suvarabhumi airport were all very unsurprised by the state of my sons injuries, i suspect this is alot more common that you would think.

Be very careful during the wet season around the waters of Thailand. I dont know what kind of Jellyfish stung my son, but his inuries are as much as a warning as anyone would need i think.

Sorry about what happened to your son. I hope those scars heal over time. But yes Hua Hin is rife with problems going into the water. Besides the jellyfish, many people are treated in local hospitals each month for severe lacerations from sharp underwater rocks. None of this can be seen as the waters near Hua Hin are not clear, and part of that reason is direct dumping of city waste into the ocean (another reason to stay out of the water). If swimming and good beaches are a holiday priority, I would go well south of Hua Hin or to the islands where there is clear clean water.

[Tanami]

I got stung by a jelly fish on Chonmon Beach in Koh Samui 25 September 2013. I was maybe 100 meters from the beach. I am from Australia and know all about jelly fish. I had it wrapped around my neck, arms and back. There was no help on the beach, no vinegar or any other support. My wife drove me to the shop and bought vinegar and morphine for the pain. Never again. Shame on Thailand for being so ignorant.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Tanami

[JemJem]

Attaching a photo of my my son, this photo is 6 days after a jellyfish sting in Hua Hin. 2 hours into our holiday, i took my 3 children into the sea after checking with the local security guard that the beach was safe. Within a few minutes my son started screaming that he had been stung by a Jelly Fish. I was able to put vinegar over his leg and arm and then took him to the local Bangkok Hospital where they covered him in steroid cream and then wrapped him in bandages which we had to return to re-dress every day.

This happened in July 2013, now all the scabs have gone and he has deep scarring on his leg and arm, i think they will be with him for the rest of his life.

The hospital, the staff at the hotel and the medical staff at Suvarabhumi airport were all very unsurprised by the state of my sons injuries, i suspect this is alot more common that you would think.

Be very careful during the wet season around the waters of Thailand. I dont know what kind of Jellyfish stung my son, but his inuries are as much as a warning as anyone would need i think.

Sorry about what happened to your son. I hope the scars will heal; at least, as much as possible.

And, thanks for coming to the thread and pointing out the risk to us.

The last time I went to Hua Hin, I didn't swim at all. I guess that was a good decision. Note: On my former 2 visits, I DID swim; although only 3 times in total and only about half an hour each time. I wasn't stung but I guess it could have happened.

If I go there again, I am pretty sure I won't swim again. For beach activities, barefoot-walking along the beach, and sitting down-and having a few beers while reading a book, at one of those beach bars should suffice !

Just a bit off-topic, but let me ask, in case someone has an idea : How is the jellyfish situation in Koh Tao in the period November-February ?

Edited October 5, 2013 by JemJem

[jonnyscot]

Sorry about your son mynextgig , hope he heals up soon,,,

I know it's not related to this area but back in Scotland when I was a commercial fisherman, we used to pull in our nets by overhead hydraulic powered blocks (rollers), when the jellies (scalders we called them) were in season at the areas we fished we sometimes wore face masks, although it didn't stop you getting hit by them from above as you were pulling in the nets, but most of the problem we had were from the thin saliva looking substance which was what gave us the burning sensation on our faces,, this saliva stringy stuff dragging on behind the jellyfish is virtually invisible in the water, but I'd guess depending on size of jellyfish it could be as much as 2 or 3 meters or more behind the jellyfish, I know I'm possibly referring to a different species, the ones we had probs with were nearly all purple in colour, but just posted to mention to keep a good distance away if you do see them

[kekalot]

yo guys, I had read this thread quite a while ago and JUST read the newest entries.. I myself live in Cha-am North and have been living here for about a month. I had NEVER seen one jellyfish at the Cha-am beach regardless of rains..

FYI, this story is boring and has no punch

but last weekend, I had a lady over from Bangkok and she did not know how to swim very well.. so I got her an inner tube and dragged her a little further than she would usually go (she is 5"1) and we had a good time.. at one point I was pushing her back closer to the shore so she could get rocked by the waves a little more as she seemed to enjoy that and was laughing every time.. and after one or two of those.. I looked down around where she was and there was a whole bunch of those little Jelly things.. I do not know if they are called jellyfishes or not (they are different from the ones we have in Canada, the purplish ones).. but there was a lot of those little white/clear jelly things swimming all over the place.. I told lady to lift her legs up from the water and dragged her somewhere else.

now, I had never seen those little thingies before.. and I read about the kind of jellyfish you don't want to get tangled with (long trails).. but since last week, every single time i go to the beach now i see them all around the place.. yet i had never seen a single one since September 7th (the day I got in Cha-am)

I asked the locals about it and they said that they would make you itch a little bit but they weren't dangerous, but that the darker ones were bad news.

does anyone have any information on this?

also I noticed there are a whole lot of little dragonflies swarms in the area (I never seen much of them before)

thanks to anyone who can help, I haven't been feeling very well in the last week and avoided swimming.

Edited October 5, 2013 by kekalot

[Sheenasilkymink]

So is it confirmed the white ones are harmless. Beach in front of where I live was covered with huge white jelly fish. Yuck! But nobody seemed bothered and kept swimming. I was told in Indonesia that if you see a lot of bubbles in the water get out because it means jelly fish but then again not always easy to see when its soo choppy.

[lucifer666]

Every diver i have met, recommends vinegar or at a push urine, preferably your own

[lucifer666]

Every diver i have met, recommends vinegar or at a push urine, preferably your own