I have been hit by the shrimp tail or horn numerous times in the past, with nothing but a little red mark on the wound. I got stabbed yesterday, but I woke up this morning to a throbbing finger, achy joints, headache and severe chills. 102.5 fever and my achy finger feels like a water balloon that won’t bend.
A visit to the Doc in the box, tetanus shot, antibiotic shot, antibiotic pills for 10 days.
And now my neighborhood POA will probably write me a nasty gram since my boat is in my driveway for too long, oh well.
Clean those wounds and protect them from more bacteria.
I carry a bottle of peroxide and tell everyone to use even for the smallest cut…there be some nasty stuff out there.
The same exact thing happened to me last year while I was shrimping!my finger swelled up and I had to squeeze the infection out and clean with peroxide every day for about 2 weeks. every time I get cuts or stabs now I clean whenever I get back in
wash up your hands with a mixture of bleach and water when ya get back. buddy shared this with me last year, I do it every time now
“mr keys”
-
Apply a topical antiseptic to clean and disinfect the wound until you can get to a clean comfortable place to apply further treatment - hydrogen peroxide is a good start, and neosporin is good to apply to the area as well. As with other types of wounds, keeping the urchin spine injuries clean is good to do.
-
Soak the injured area in a pot of very warm water (obviously not so hot that you scald yourself…but the hotter, the better) - you should submerge the affected area until the skin is ‘pruned’ or well soaked (about 20 minutes). If you have some epsom salt handy, it helps to add some to the water. Do this several times a day until the injury is resolved. The hot water helps with the pain, keeps the wound clean, and helps the body push out the embedded spines as it softens the skin (which makes it easier for extraction once it dries out a bit … see step 5).
-
You can try to remove the spines with pliers or tweezers, though the spines may be too flush with the skin to get good purchase. For simple punctures that look like the spines are protruding and can be easily pulled out, gently remove them. Also, as mentioned earlier, the spines can be very brittle and may be very hard to remove without breaking. Still…it is worth a shot, so if you do so, try and be careful not to crush the ends with the tweezers and break them, and though it is painful to pull them out, it makes the whole recovery period a lot easier!
-
Soaking the affected area in some vinegar helps alleviate the pain from venom. (some people apply urine when vinegar is not available…) - not all sea urchin spines have venom (in fact, only about a dozen or so species of sea urchin emit venom) -if you don’t feel the venom ‘sting’ then obviously don’t bother with this step. Vinegar does not dissolve the spines, it only helps to counteract the effects of the venom.
-
If you are experienced with using a needle or a pin to dig out splinters and thorns, this technique works well with urchin spines. Make sure that you use a sterilized n
Keep an eye on that finger. Make sure it is responding to treatment and if it’s not go back and let the doctor look at it again. If you need help moving your boat just let me know. I live on James Island.
Dorado II
Carolina Skiff 25DLV
When I worked the cockpit in Fl I always kept a bucket with saltwater and bleach next to the fish box. The mates there in S Fl were always getting fish poisoning from the slime that got on their gloves or in open sores. As soon as the fish was boated, the gloves and my hands went into the bucket. Never had a problem with poison or infection since I started doing that. I also kept a supply of peroxide for cuts.
Ken
bleach!!! The best friend on the boat! Have had fish poisoning a couple of times, and it is very painful. Large doses of Keflex and other antibiotics. We always wash all cuts with bleach / dawn and it seems to work.
.
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
A little of base but my brother told me to use bleach when you get stuck by a catfish .I have been stuck twice in my 60 + years fishing.
The last time we happen to have a bleach bottle in the boatwith very little bleach, a few drops . But it seemed to help with the sting .
I DONT HAVE A BOAT
BUT LOVE TO FISH> HINT
Back to doc today. Red streaks in the arm, not good. IV of antibiotics, a medical puncture and lots of SQUEEZING of the finger. If it doesn’t calm down by tomorrow, to the hospital. Got the boat put away, thanks for the offer anyway dorado. I am going to have a ton of sterilizing supplies and gloves on my boat before it touches the water again.
man sorry to hear that, hope you get better quickly.
just to add
for catfish we always rubbed the belly slime on the puncture, let that set for a few then get it cleaned up. that was what papa tought us.
i do miss the little slivers of livi garrett he would slip us
Gotcha Boatfly, let us know how it’s going.
Dorado II
Carolina Skiff 25DLV
Infection and swelling decreasing, no hospital visit needed, another puncture with SQUEEZING. Finger looks and feels like it lost the fight with a hammer, but it will heal. Whew! Don’t want anyone to experience this.
glad you are on the downhill side of this thing…with shrimp baiting season coming up this is a great time for a safety/handling reminder! do you think part of the horn was stuck in your finger? I wonder if an allergy complicates that type of injury because I can’t tell you how many times I have been stabbed in the hand, fingers, toes, top of foot, etc and never have I had an experience like this…thanks for sharing boatfly!
The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org
The iodine in the shrimp might have caused an allerege reaction,Glad you are getting better.
Double D.
Not allergic to shrimp, at least I wasn’t a week ago, I can eat them them, cooked, like a 170 pound redfish. The finger was x-rayed on Sunday with no findings, and it didn’t feel like anything was stuck in the finger. I saw the guilty shrimp ■■■■■ me with its tail, it stung right away and bled. But the bacteria could have come from trout, mullet, or my castnet, who knows.
Today I bought some heavy vinyl gloves at Lowe’s that are waterproof and cover up to mid forearm, $7, more important than the net and Boca grip. Not giving up fishing or being on the water.
I can’t believe this post and no pictures of a big puffy finger.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
The pictures by no means represent all of the other complications, but for those that gotta have proof, here you are, it was time to practice with Photobucket anyhow:
http://s659.photobucket.com/user/boatfly/library/Shrimp%20stab%20infection
Yep, it sucks. I got micobacterium marinium (I know the spelling is off) about three years ago while bottom fishing in the winter. I got to see an infectious disease doctor, took some antibiotics used to treat tuberculosis, and had to finally get my finger operated on. The finger is still numb to the day. As Sells said, bleach, bleach and more bleach is the easiest and most effective thing in a boat, especially offshore.
“The problem that infuriates you the most is the one you are meant to solve.”
I went down the same path as Got2Go. I found a small lump under my forearm and noticed it getting bigger. Went to an infectious disease doc, spent 3 months on an jumbo antibiotic, and had the lump cut out of my arm, it looked like a pink jelly bean. It was tested and it was that marine borne infection. I keep peroxide and alcohol (medicinal kind. . . ) on boat, and I use it on the slightest cut or scratch. I say don’t try to treat it yourself; this is a serious infection.
“Faster Cars, Younger Women, Older Whiskey and More Money” [Tom T. Hall’s secret for happiness.]