weever fish stings

[doc]

just wondering if anyones had any bad reactions to weever fish stings?
got stung in wales a couple of weeks ago ,pain hot water etc,then 4 hours later after a couple of drinks, "bang", heart palputations fainting ,panic attacks ,sweating . still feel slightly affected 2 weeks later .
went to see the doc and he said i've got to be "careful" in future ,these people get paid!!
booties from now on!

[alunj]

have a google , what you describe certainly seems to be an occurrence.
How long did you use the hot water for. You should put your foot in a bucket of hot as you can stand, then add more hot as you become accustomed. You need 40C in the flesh to denature the poison. The recommendation is 45-90 mins !
I guess if you dont get it all then the toxin will give you the symptoms you described .

Nasty

PS they can sting thru booties !

[robertovillate]

Is a weever fish the same as a stingray?

If so...no, booties will not do a thing to stop the barb (unless they have steel plating).

As suggested before..IMMEDIATELY soak in the hottest water you can stand without burning your skin, soak and keep adding hot water for at least an hour, repeat if pain returns. This will denature the toxins and you probably will not have the other symptoms. I doubt a few shots of whisky would help, maybe even made it worse? It's amazing how effective the hot water is. And no, urinating on it does not help...perhaps for Jellyfish stings it does, but not stingray. Plus everyone has different acidity level in urine and that can influence effectiveness with jellyfish...I think vinegar is a much more reliable solution for that.

Anyway, the stingray wound needs to be kept open for a few days. DO NOT let it scab over because that traps infectious matter inside the wound. Let it drain, keep it clean and DO NOT go back into the water or expose it to other bacteria until the wound is completely healed - perhaps 2 to 3 weeks. I was stupid enough to let the worst happen, not wanting to give up 3-4 weeks of solidly booked lessons - I ended up paying out almost every cent I earned in that time for down-time, medical treatment, antibiotics, and a severe infection that could have led to amputation.

If possible go to the doctor immediately. If any parts of the barb are left inside they must be removed ASAP.

edit: failed to mention before - I was stung twice on the same foot within an hour during morning lessons (what are the odds?), soaked it for an hour and did afternoon lessons without much pain. If you are in cold water the potential for infection from other bacteria may not be as high, but you should still tend to - clean and dress the wound, antibiotics immediately if there is any sign of infection...and again, if necessary removal of barb by a doctor if it's embedded in tissue.

In FL they start showing up around beaches in April when the water warms up, not sure about other spots, cold water rays?

[azbree]

my mate was stung went bk out 45 mins later ridin no hot water no side affects at all just alot of pain for a few hrs

infact he was done 07 and 08 lol nothin as bad as mentioned above

[doc]

thanks for that !

[fishy]

Is a weever fish the same as a stingray?

No completely different, the weever has spines on it's dorsal fin, quite a small fish that hides under the sand. Stingray is a big flat ray, with a long whippy tail, that has a sting in the end, mind you, wouldn't fancy getting stung by one of them either.

[chipmunk]

This is a small fish (about 15 cm long). It has venomous spines along its dorsal fin.
It may hide under the sand at low tide.
The weaver fish sting can be extremely painful. Death is extremely rare, although respiratory failure and gangrene have been reported following infection.

Treatment
The affected limb or wound should be immersed in water as hot as can be tolerated comfortably for 15 minutes.
The venom is inactivated by heat and the intense pain should subside within a few minutes of treatment.
Simple painkillers such as paracetamol will also help to relieve the pain, antihistamines may also be helpful.
Obviously wet boots would probably be a way to go but its up to you