What’s Right for the Bite?

It’s a curious coincidence that we’ve heard reports of painful stings by rare scorpionfish or its relative, the stonefish, from sailors in both the Caribbean and in Mexico. The Mexican incident prompted lively discussions on cruiser blogs about the proper treatment — as opposed to worthless myths — of these and other stinger bites.

When young Josh Morrell was stung in the shallows of the BVI by an unseen creature, his parents instinctively applied ice to counteract the swelling. Turns out that was exactly the wrong thing to do. "You want to apply water as hot as you can stand it," says Dr. Kent Benedict of Santa Cruz. "The same is true for stingray bites." The heat, we’re told, breaks up the harmful elements injected by the stinger.

Jeremy White of the Portland, OR-based GibSea 106 Madeline was unlucky enough to step on a stingray, but fortunately learned about the hot water treatment, which he regards as a "miracle cure." 

Pamela Bendall of the Port Hardy, BC-based Kristen 46 Precious Metal tells of a terrible stingray bite last season at La Manzanilla, Mexico. "Finally a local doctor arrived, cleaned the hole, and stuffed mashed papaya (of all things) into the wound. The swelling subsided after three days and continual papaya maintenance. What was important in this treament was to keep the wound open and not bandaged. The healing has to go from inside out, and by covering it, infection and permanent damage to the joint could happen. I was amazed at how quickly he recovered." Apparently it is the papaya’s high content of proteolytic enzymes, especially papain, that make it so effective.

Cruisers headed south this season should also be aware of the simple precaution of shuffling your feet when crossing shallows in order to ‘announce’ your arrival and disperse bottom-dwellers such as rays.