Allergic reaction to marine life

Could be a delayed reaction to something you touched on land.

Dan, I've been following the thread and it seems the condition has worsened. I strongly recommend seeing a doctor or going to urgent care at this point. If you have the sensation of the skin wanting to burst, the underlying dermis is highly inflamed. At this point I suggest medical attention to avoid any complications. I had a similar situation many years ago (15+) and tried the over the counter stuff with little help. My sister who is a nurse set me straight and sent me to my doctor who administered two shots (injections). I do not recall the other but on was a tetinus shot. Hope you feel better soon.

Dan, this is no time to be a badass. Get it checked....if you were my son, I'd kick you in the ass. :laughing:

Dan, if you start seeing liquid under the skin you might want to rethink the trip to the doctor. In some cases the toxins act like some snake venoms and can damage tissue. If you think I trying to scare you the answer is yes. No time to screw around. :nono:

They'll call him "dan The one Hand Man"

Quote from sdeisen

They'll call him "dan The one Hand Man"

I hope not, but I can see the making of a song out of this…."he could gut a fish…..drive the boat while opening a beer can…..they called him Dan…..the one hand man….."….. A Legend is born…..

Quote from hank

I hope not, but I can see the making of a song out of this…."he could gut a fish…..drive the boat while opening a beer can…..they called him Dan…..the one hand man….."….. A Legend is born…..

You better copywriter it. I know you've been messing around with the Fender too

All marine venoms are thermosensibles and with a alkaline pH.

Maybe it's too late, but very hot vinegar does wonders.

Good luck!

Maybe you need to use someone else's urine dan. Call a buddy or do what I'd do.... use it as a new pickup line in the bar.

Quote from Dan

I never want to go through this again.

What.....the sting? or all the bullshit you had to take after posting it here? :laughing:

Nice deflection Dan! Glad to hear you are feeling better. :thumbsup2:

Well if this thread ends up being used as a reference for anyone it would be useful to mention that the hot water treatment does little to treat the underlying cause. It only helps to temporarily alleviate the pain. Some people wrongly believe that the hot water works to "denature" the proteins. It takes a substantial amount of heat for this to work and any water hot enough to do this will also cause serious burns (denatured protein in your skin). Hot water out of a sink is generally about 120 degrees, thats only about 20 degrees above your body temp and yet feels extremely hot.

Another helpful tidbit is to describe how benedryl and hydrocortisone cream works. Benedryl is an anti-histamine. It blocks one of the bodies responses to foreign bodies. Basically taking benedryl is telling your body "calm down this isn't a big deal." Hydrocortisone works in a similar way by blocking the bodies immune response locally. However if the pain is being caused directly by the toxin, i.e. directly attacking nerves or tissue neither will be of much help. Hence nobody takes benedryl or uses the cream for a snake bite.

Since both of those have failed it's probably safe to change the diagnosis from "allergic reaction" to "sting, bite, venom." Unfortunately in the case of a venom there is little most hospitals/doctors can do especially if they can't identify the source. anti-venoms can be hit or miss even when the species/source is known. All that can be done is to monitor the patient and treat symptoms as they arise and allow the body to naturally filter the toxin.

In Dan's case he's probably safe at this point to ride out the pain. If it continued to get worse/there was no change, or a new symptom appeared then it would be a good idea to go to the hospital.

Sorry Dan. Hope it passes quickly.

couple of thoughts from an ER doc on marine skin surface stings

Although hot water immersion HWI (104-110f) mechanism of action is contraversial the efficacy for pain control is not and should be utilized in conjunction with decontamination for any marine surface stings. Decontamination with shaving cream or baking soda will stop further release of nematocysts. removal of cream / soda with razor or edge of blade will then complete process. This process can be repeated during initial first aid. Rubbing effected area with hand or towel is not recommended for it can facilitate further nematocysts release. Using salt water for HWI is preferred over fresh for same reason. water discharge from motor combined with ocean water works well and is easily adjusted for appropriate temp. If pain persists beyond a few hours likely a secondary inflammatory response is responsible and the use of NSAIDs, steroids, oral or topical will be helpful. Oral are much better but not over the counter so go with what you have. A secondary bacterial infection is not likely to show itself for a couple of days with surface stings and in general will not be considered a cause of pain during first 24-48hrs. But if pain and or rash escalates over 2-3 days you may have an infection as well.

1) decontaminate with HWI, shaving cream/soda
2) continue HWI for pain relief as needed
3) ibuprofen, and steroid cream, +- on benadryl go with oral if you are going to use it.
4) once back on land consider being seen by MD if pain not controlled , oral steroids and pain meds may help
5) pain escalating beyond 24-48 hours is a red flag
5) anaphylaxis although not common can happen, epipen on boat not a bad idea.

adding a few thing to first aid kit may help next time
Ken

fyi, urine not hot enough to work but always entertaining to watch crying friend pee on himself