Got stung by a jellyfish

A few days ago, I ended up with this bright red imprint of her leg right across my face... now I'm wondering what I should put on it to make it fade faster?

Calendula, chamomile ointment, or maybe something else altogether?

Casey Palmer5 said:A few days ago, I got a nasty red mark from her leg right on my face, and now I'm wondering what I should rub on it to make this go away fast?

Aloe vera, calendula ointment, or something else entirely?

Honestly, the best thing you can do is pee on it immediately after you get stung—the urine actually helps neutralize the toxin.

Where on earth did you run into a jellyfish? It’s way too early in the season for that... unless I'm totally losing track of the calendar...

Walter Myers4 said:Honestly, you should just pee on it right after the sting happens, because the urine actually helps neutralize the venom.

🤣 😂 ....Setting aside whether that advice actually works or not, I’m just curious about the "logistics" here... Are we talking about peeing directly on your own face... having someone else do it... or are we gathering it all up in a little container to use as a wash?😂 ....

Scott Allen10 said:🤣 😂 Look, I’m not even gonna get into whether this advice actually works—that’s a whole other debate. I’m just looking at this from a purely technical standpoint here... Like, how is this even supposed to happen? Are you seriously suggesting someone should just drink this stuff straight onto their face? Or is someone else supposed to do it for them? Or what, are we collecting the liquid in a bowl just to splash it on like some weird DIY facial? It sounds ridiculous.😂 ....

Look, that was obviously just a joke. But let’s be real—it's common knowledge that urine can actually neutralize most toxins.

Walter Myers4 said:I was totally kidding, obviously. But everyone knows urine can neutralize most toxins.

hehehehe...😍 ....

I’ve been alternating between Panthenol and calendula ointment.
Once that scab finally falls off, you really need to protect that pale scar from getting sun damaged 😍 (personally, I swear by Clinique Superdefence if your skin is super dry—it handles the hydration and packs an SPF 25 boost).
Now, if you notice the area is starting to get a bit thick or fibrotic, try using St. John's Wort oil under an occlusive patch overnight (just soak a small piece of gauze and cover it up).

Walter Myers4 said:it was obviously just a joke—though, it is widely believed that urine can neutralize most toxins.

It feels more to me as if you were just being reckless and now you're trying to backtrack... 😬
Whenever I've been stung by a jellyfish or something similar in the Atlantic Ocean, I've always just applied alcohol and left it alone. I suppose the priority should be getting those animal stingers out of the skin as quickly as possible.

Zachary Rodriguez32 said:I think you just went out on a limb there and now you're trying to backtrack... 😬
Whenever I get stung by a jellyfish or something out in the Atlantic, I just slap some alcohol on it and leave it alone. Honestly, I think you just need to get those stingers out of your skin as fast as possible.

No, I'm right. Just ask anyone who lives on the coast. Urine is alkaline, if I remember correctly, which neutralizes the acidic toxins.

Check out the left column—it breaks down exactly what you're supposed to do if one of those venomous fish stings you.

Walter Myers4 said:No, I believe I am correct here. If you ask anyone living along the coast—and I suppose they'd know—urine acts as a sort of buffer to neutralize those acidic toxins.

That isn't quite what I meant! 🤣
My point was actually about how she rushed into things by suggesting urine as a remedy, especially since Casey Palmer5 ended up getting stung right on the FACE by a jellyfish. That is what I am focusing on—not the actual effectiveness of using urine in those specific situations.

Don't assume urine is always alkaline—it really all comes down to your body's overall pH balance.
If your system is leaning more toward the alkaline side (meaning you're short on hydrogen ions), your body ends up flushing out those extra bases through your pee, making it alkaline.
It works the exact opposite way when your body is running acidic. 😍

As for the whole thing about peeing on wounds... honestly, that's just old-school folklore. You see stuff like that in certain rural superstitions, like using some "natural remedy" for psoriasis—maybe picking ivy growing on the north wall of a cemetery at midnight during a New Moon. 😈

Trust me, we're talking about life here. If you actually gave a damn, you'd look in the mirror and realize how much you've messed up your own face...😉

I actually thought about that urine trick too because man, the pain was unreal. I had just stepped off the boat and was struggling to get out of my scuba gear when—bam—this stinging sensation just hits me right in the face. It hurt so bad that half my face went numb. Honestly, though, peeing on it wasn't really an option since there were way too many people 😁
Down in Thailand, they use vinegar for jellyfish stings, and it worked wonders—the burning stopped almost instantly.

Anyway, it’s looking way better now. I got back from my trip yesterday, and since I didn't have anything else on hand, I slathered some lavender oil on it overnight. That should help with the healing process, too.

The good news is there aren't any blisters, no scabbing either... just this light redness shaped like a tentacle, maybe slightly raised from the rest of my skin. After using the lavender this morning, the redness definitely calmed down by at least 50%.

I think I'll pick up that stuff Susan Martin24 recommended, too.

Thanks, everyone! 🙂

By the way, the water is a pretty comfortable 57-63 degrees, depending on how deep you go...🙂

Walter Myers4 said:Your best bet is to pee on it right after you get stung—the urine actually helps neutralize the venom.

Look, this isn't some joke—it’s an old-school, traditional way to handle first aid for jellyfish stings or those nasty sea nettle burns... I've personally tried it more than a few times. If you had just done that immediately, the scarring would be way smaller and would have faded much faster. Since you didn't? You're looking at a real chance of having those sting marks still visible next year, depending on which jellyfish decided to kiss you.

It was kind of a brownish color, maybe leaning a little toward purple... Is that one particularly nasty?

I knew I had to get my face documented right away... 😁

Casey Palmer5 said:It was kind of brownish, maybe leaning a little purple... Is that one dangerous?

I knew I had to get my face documented right away... 😁

Based on how you described it, I can't say for sure which one it is—but if you're looking for the absolute worst, there's the "Sea Moon Jellyfish." It looks roughly like this: usually the cap is about 4-8 cm wide, sometimes hitting 10 cm if it's a big one. It has these thicker tentacles around 10-15 cm long, but then there are those thin, almost invisible ones that can stretch out up to 4 meters (or even longer). Those invisible ones? They’re the real nightmare. The sting feels just like an electric shock. Color-wise, they're mostly translucent purple, though they can look sort of brownish-red too. And those scars? They can stick around for years.

It was a pretty small one—I wouldn't say the legs were even a few inches long. The color is spot on, though. Hopefully, this passes a bit faster next time...

Casey Palmer5 said:It was a little guy—I wouldn't say the tentacles were more than a couple of inches long. Color looked right. Hopefully, this clears up fast.

Look, almost no other jellyfish you run into in the Atlantic causes any real pain or leaves scars—except for that nasty Sea Wasp. It can be tiny, maybe just an inch, and they usually lose those long tentacles in the shallows, but even what’s left behind is lethal. Just a heads up: do everything you can to treat it immediately, otherwise you're looking at a permanent mark. Seriously, the skin pigmentation changes, and you'll be stuck with a pale tentacle print on your body for years.

Man, jellyfish leave these nasty dark spots behind after they sting you... hopefully you didn't get hit on the face though... and seriously, go see a doctor ASAP!!!