Jellyfish have been around for millions of years and live in oceans all over the world. There are many different types of jellyfish. Some just look like small, clear blobs, while others are bigger and more colorful with tentacles hanging beneath them.
It’s the tentacles that sting. Jellyfish sting their prey with them, releasing a venom that paralyzes their targets. Jellyfish don’t go after humans, but someone who swims up against or touches one — or even steps on a dead one — can be stung all the same.
While jellyfish stings are painful, most are not emergencies. Expect pain, red marks, itching, numbness, or tingling with a typical sting.
But stings from some types of jellyfish — such as the box jellyfish (also called sea wasp) — are very dangerous, and can even be deadly. These jellyfish are most often found in Australia, the Philippines, the Indian Ocean, and central Pacific Ocean.
Jellyfish stings leave thousands of very tiny stingers called nematocysts in the skin. These stingers can continue to release (or “fire”) jellyfish venom (poison) into the body.
It’s best to rinse a sting with vinegar. Vinegar is a weak acid that might keep the stingers from firing for some kinds of stings (especially from dangerous types like box jellyfish). Rinsing with cool fresh water can make more stingers fire. Also, rinsing a sting with seawater had been thought to prevent them from releasing more venom. But now, some experts say that can actually make a sting worse.
Also, do not scrape off any stingers still in the skin. This also used to be recommended, but now is thought to make stings worse.
Credit : KidsHealth
Picture Credit : Google
