# stingray treatment



## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Is there any on the beach treatment for getting "hit" by a Stingray, or is it always straight to the hospital. I have never considered wearing leggings in 20 years of bay fishing, but am considering it now that I have started Surf fishing. Having to drive 40, or 50 miles down the beach, and then to the hospital could really ruin your trip. What do you more experienced Surf Fisherman think.


----------



## Marsh Monkey (Jul 16, 2004)

Unfortunatly if you get hit by a sting-ray you will need to go to a hospital. The only thing you can do to help lessen the pain is apply heat. Heat breaks down the poisen and keeps it from spreading. The worst thing you can do is put ice on the wound. Take a rag and get it wet and put it on one of your exhaust manifolds in your car to get it hot. If you are in a boat put a rag under the water discharge from the outboard to get it hot.

Fortunatly I have never been hit but have been with someone who was. It was a very painful experience for them and had them on crutches for a week or so. Luckily we were able to get someone at the hospital on the cell phone who told us about the heat trick explained above to help until I could get him to the E.R.

I started remembering to shuffle my feet after seeing what kind of pain those guys can inflict.


----------



## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Thanks M. M., I would have thought there were more people with advice on this.


----------



## shrky2413 (May 22, 2004)

I will drop Yakmon a line and get him to tell you about his experiance with getting hit last year. I think his wound up getting infected. I was a real bad deal.


----------



## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

If the barb is lodged should one remove it or leave it alone?


----------



## shrky2413 (May 22, 2004)

I would say leave it alone. Have you ever handled a stingray bard? If not they have serrations down each side that act like barbs. They stick real well. I had to cut the barb off of one last year to get it out of a net. I can assure you pulling it out would be a whole lot more painfull than it going in.


----------



## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

*ray*

Some of the tough old timers would clean it out and ride it out if the barb dont stick. I would seek treatment. The manual says apply heat and seek treatment if neccessary.


----------



## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

shrky2413 said:


> I would say leave it alone. Have you ever handled a stingray bard? If not they have serrations down each side that act like barbs. They stick real well. I had to cut the barb off of one last year to get it out of a net. I can assure you pulling it out would be a whole lot more painfull than it going in.


You are probally right. I break the barb off every one I catch. I figure that you never know,this practice might help the next guy.I don't cut off the tail though. I was wading last Wednesday and I saw two that had obviously been caught before because their whole tails were missing. Does the barb grow back? Just wondering if breaking it off reduces the odds.


----------



## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

It grows back, it just takes a while.


----------



## Snagged (May 21, 2004)

Just to let you know I caught one with two barbs.


----------



## Yakmon (May 26, 2004)

*Re: Treatment*

Hot water is the only thing that worked for me. I was stuck in the bottom of my heel and the barb broke off near the bone. I had to stay out of the water for several months, and had wound care at the hospital every day for about a month. It took 6 months to heal, and the total bill was 17,000.00. OUCH. I think it would have been better to be stuck in the leg than on the bottom of my foot.

I bought some stingray boots, but they are so hard to walk in, I just wear my tevas and pray I don't get stuck again. It took me 35 years to get stuck once, so maybe my time won't come up for a while!

Always seek treatment. These can make very nasty infections.

Shuffle!

Yakmon


----------



## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

*Yeah, Shuffle*

Thanks everyone for the replies. Now I know that heat, and emergency medical treatment is the way to go. I think I will keep " shuffling ".


----------



## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

fer sure don't put ice or cold water on a stingray injury. I found out the hard way. Turned a very minor stick into a major pain.


----------

