Is Peeing on a Jellyfish Sting Necessary? Is There Any Truth to This First Aid Treatment?

Getting stung by a jellyfish can be extremely painful especially since they're often hard to detect and come as a surprise. As such, an old folklore has been claiming that the way to administer first aid treatment to these stings is to pee on the area.

Is Peeing on a Jellyfish Sting Necessary?

The stinging pain of a jellyfish can result in some beachgoers doing what they thought they would never allow to be done to them: getting peed on the affected area. In fact, popular shows like Friends include segments where the believed treatment for a jellyfish sting is getting peed on.

Experts believe that peeing on a jellyfish sting isn't actually effective and doesn't come with any benefit. While it's commonly believed that urine should be a form of first aid treatment for a jellyfish sting, the truth is that it could even make things worse.

Jessica Colla, the Maui Ocean Center of Hawaii's director of education, says that the myth tries to justify itself by the fact that urine comes with ammonia and urea, which supposedly gives a slight basic pH.

Jellyfish stings activate venom cells from its tentacles, giving a painful prickly feeling when it touches the skin. These venom cells are called nematocysts and come with structures shaped like a harpoon, which the jellyfish uses to inject venom.

Why the Right Liquid Matters

It's very important that when a jellyfish stings a person, they only apply the right liquid since the wrong one could activate more venom discharge. Ideally, the right liquid should have a drastically different pH or salt balance.

Richard Clark, the California Poison Control System's San Diego division medical director, said the myth was based on the idea that pee came with basic pH and was more indicative of seawater. The thought was that the urine would be able to rinse the nematocysts without any stimulation.

Because urine is often diluted, it is often closer to fresh water than salt water; but using fresh water to wash the sting could make the pain worse. If the urine is also too diluted, it could cause the nematocysts to continue releasing more venom.

Proper Treatment Administration

The best first aid, according to other studies, is to use vinegar with a 5% acetic acid to neutralize the nematocysts from the jellyfish stings. Another option is to simply use seawater which is preferred if the type of jellyfish that stung the person remains unknown.

Another important thing to do when dealing with a jellyfish sting is to remove the tentacles and nematocysts to prevent further pain. However, this shouldn't be done with one's hands since this could cause further harm to the one administering treatment.

Instead, use tweezers to try and remove the nematocysts or something flat and stiff like a credit card. Lastly, if the pain is severe or fatal and causes nausea, swelling, and other severe side effects, it's recommended that the person see a doctor right away.

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