Comments on: Man-O-War Stings Man on Sand Key Beach

By: beachhunter

beachhunter — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:21:31 +0000

Anthony, thanks for sharing your story. Sounds like a scary experience. A large man of war can be a dangerous beast. I’m a bit surprised to hear that they put rubbing alcohol on the sting. Vinegar is the currently accepted treatment for jellyfish stings, including man of war. The application of heat–113 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes–has also been demonstrated as effective in relieving the pain. The swelling and purple welts persisting for weeks is typical for MOW stings, and I don’t think the breathing problems are all that uncommon.

By: Anthony Hartman

Anthony Hartman — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:10:10 +0000

I was stung in St. Augustine by a Man-o-war. The pain was undescribable and kept stinging untill a Lifeguard poured on rubbing alcohol and removed tentacles with a towel. 20 minutes later I had difficulty breathing and was taken to the hospital. I had swelling and purple welts for weeks.

By: beachhunter

beachhunter — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 03:11:53 +0000

Angela, usually vinegar is the best thing to put on the sting right away. It’s probably kind of late to do that now, but you could give it a try. For a man-of-war, applying heat (113 degrees) for 15 or 20 minutes helps. Hydrocortisone cream may also help the itching/burning. It should be fine. Could have been one of several types of jellyfish–sea nettle, lions mane, man of war…

Where did this happen?

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:39:01 +0000

I believe I got stung yesterday but I’m not sure. There were signs saying that they had manowars. I didn’t even know I got stung. I thought it was a salt burn (my skin is sensitive to salt water) but normally they clear up after I get out of the water. It burned for a few hours and certain spots were raised on my skin (sort of like scratches) now there is just a few bumps and a scratch around my kneecap. I’m guessing the scratch is were I got stung (if I did) one of the employees at the resort I was staying at said that it could have been a sting because of the way it had spread down my leg. He put some stuff on it too keep it from swelling up later. I just noticed on the scratch it looked like it was bleeding (idk if it was blood or not) it burned when I cleaned it off……….should I do anything or just leave it??

By: beachhunter

beachhunter — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:01:56 +0000

Sorry you got stung Olivia. Where were you? In Florida? On Sand Key? The general belief is that vinegar may not be as effective on Man-of-War stings as it is on other jellyfish stings, as you noted. It may make it worse, which you can testify to. The most important thing seems to be to get the tentacles off as quickly as possible by rinsing with salt water and by scraping them off with a credit card or other edged object. Some have suggested picking them off with your fingertips, which apparently are not as sensitive to the sting. Others suggest grabbing a handful of sand and using that to scrape off the tentacles. Using fresh water to rinse is not a good idea, since the change in salinity makes the remaining tentacles sting more.

Afterwards, either heat or cold may help. Try both. Don’t hesitate to see your doctor right away if you are not feeling well or if your continue to be uncomfortable.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:09:16 +0000

I got stung yesterday by one, and went to the doctor, but at the time they all thought it was a jellyfish sting, but once I left we looked it up on the internet (the sting on my arm changed the way it looked then it did at the hospital) and we found out that they never should of put vinegar on it, because the vinegar bursts other tentacles from the manowar and continues to inject venom. I was telling them the vinegar was making it worse, but they never thought of it as a manowar. but my sting looks really strange it’s purple where the stingers hit me. it looks like my blood went down to where the stingers hit me, and it’s very tender.

By: beachhunter

beachhunter — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:16:37 +0000

Yes, Tiffany, that sounds fairly normal. Each person reacts a bit differently to jellyfish stings and physical symptoms like skin lesions vary a lot from person to person. Some people also experience delayed skin eruptions that can occur two weeks or more after the original sting appears to have healed. If you are concerned, why not have your child’s pediatrician have a look at it?

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:38:30 +0000

We were recently on a family vacation in Gulf Shores Alabama. My 10 year old was stung by what I think was a manowar. The pain was terrible. It wrapped around his waist with whelps. Now, 6 days later it looks like burned or scabbed over skin. Is this normal?

By: beachhunter

beachhunter — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:13:25 +0000

That does look painful Becky. I’m glad you went to the doctor for treatment. Everyone reacts differently to jellyfish venom and you sure had a strong reaction. Thanks for sharing that info with us.

By: Becky Mirando

Becky Mirando — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 02:42:37 +0000

Boy it sure got worse before it got better! I think it’s on the mend now. I went to the doctor 8/3 and she put me on steroids, antibiotics & 2 different antihistamines. I also had to soak the stings with vinegar and use Caladryl and aloe. Different things work at different times. Each day it goes down a little. Starting to peel.. Check it out at http://mirandomania.blogspot.com/2009/08/looks-feels-little-better-today.html