{"id":51878,"date":"2025-04-25T21:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T01:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/mayo-health-library\/jellyfish-stings\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:01:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:01:48","slug":"jellyfish-stings","status":"publish","type":"mayo","link":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/es\/mayo-health-library\/jellyfish-stings\/","title":{"rendered":"Jellyfish stings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"container mx-auto   wordpress-block wordpress- core-\">\n<p>Jellyfish stings are fairly common problems for people swimming, wading or diving in oceans. The long tentacles trailing from the jellyfish can inject venom from thousands of microscopic barbed stingers.<\/p>\n<p>Most often jellyfish stings cause instant pain and inflamed marks on the skin. Some stings may cause more whole-body (systemic) illness. And in rare cases they&#8217;re life-threatening.<\/p>\n<p>Most jellyfish stings get better over a few days or weeks with home treatment. Severe reactions likely need emergency medical care.<\/p>\n<p>Symptoms of jellyfish stings include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Burning, prickling, stinging pain<\/li>\n<li>Welts or tracks on the skin &mdash; a &#8220;print&#8221; of the tentacles&#8217; contact with the skin<\/li>\n<li>Itchiness (pruritus)<\/li>\n<li>Hinchaz\u00f3n<\/li>\n<li>Throbbing pain that radiates up a leg or an arm<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Severe jellyfish stings can affect multiple body systems. These reactions may appear rapidly or several hours after the stings. Symptoms of severe jellyfish stings include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stomach pain, nausea and vomiting<\/li>\n<li>Headache<\/li>\n<li>Muscle pain or spasms<\/li>\n<li>Faintness, dizziness or confusion<\/li>\n<li>Difficulty breathing<\/li>\n<li>Heart problems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The severity of a reaction depends on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The type and size of the jellyfish<\/li>\n<li>The age, size and health of the person affected, with severe reactions more likely in children<\/li>\n<li>How long the person was exposed to the stingers<\/li>\n<li>How much of the skin is affected<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>When to see a doctor<\/h3>\n<p>Seek emergency treatment if you have severe symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>See your health care provider if your symptoms worsen or the wound shows symptoms of infection.<\/p>\n<p>Jellyfish stings are caused by brushing against a jellyfish tentacle. Tentacles have thousands of microscopic barbed stingers. Each stinger has a tiny bulb that holds venom and a coiled, sharp-tipped tube.<\/p>\n<p>When you brush against a tentacle, tiny triggers on its surface release the stingers. The tube pierces the skin and releases venom. It affects the area of contact and may enter the bloodstream.<\/p>\n<p>Jellyfish that have washed up on a beach may still release venomous stingers if touched.<\/p>\n<h3>Types of jellyfish<\/h3>\n<p>Many types of jellyfish are fairly harmless to humans. Others can cause severe pain and a full-body (systemic) reaction. These jellyfish cause more-serious problems in people:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Box jellyfish.<\/strong> Box jellyfish can cause intense pain and, rarely, life-threatening reactions. The more dangerous species of box jellyfish are in the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Portuguese man-of-war.<\/strong> Also called bluebottle jellyfish, Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish live mostly in warmer seas. This type has a blue or purplish gas-filled bubble that keeps it afloat.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sea nettle.<\/strong> Common in both warm and cool seawaters.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lion&#8217;s mane jellyfish.<\/strong> These are the world&#8217;s largest jellyfish, with a body diameter of more than 3 feet (1 meter). They&#8217;re most common in cooler, northern regions of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Conditions that increase the risk of jellyfish stings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Swimming when jellyfish appear in large numbers (a jellyfish bloom)<\/li>\n<li>Swimming or diving in jellyfish areas without protective clothing<\/li>\n<li>Playing or sunbathing where jellyfish are washed up on the beach<\/li>\n<li>Swimming in a place known to have many jellyfish<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Possible complications of a jellyfish sting include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Delayed skin reaction, causing blisters, rash or other irritation<\/li>\n<li>Irukandji syndrome, which causes chest and stomach pain, high blood pressure, and heart problems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The following tips can help you avoid jellyfish stings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wear a protective suit.<\/strong> When swimming or diving in areas where jellyfish stings are possible, wear a wet suit or other protective clothing. Diving stores sell protective &#8220;skin suits&#8221; or &#8220;stinger suits&#8221; made of thin, high-tech fabric. Consider protective footwear, as stings can also occur while wading in shallow water.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get information about conditions.<\/strong> Talk to lifeguards, local residents or officials with a local health department before swimming or diving in coastal waters, especially in areas where jellyfish are common.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid water during jellyfish season.<\/strong> Stay out of the water in jellyfish areas when jellyfish numbers are high.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Diagnosing jellyfish stings generally doesn&#8217;t require a visit to a health care provider. If you do go, your provider will likely be able to diagnose your injury by looking at it.<\/p>\n<p>Your health care provider may collect samples of the stingers to help guide treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Treatment for jellyfish stings includes first-aid care and medical treatment.<\/p>\n<h3>First-aid care<\/h3>\n<p>Most jellyfish stings can be treated as follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Carefully pluck visible tentacles with a fine tweezers.<\/li>\n<li>Soak the skin in hot water. Use water that&#8217;s 110 to 113 F (43 to 45 C). It should feel hot, not scalding. Keep the affected skin immersed or in a hot shower until the pain eases, which might be 20 to 45 minutes.<\/li>\n<li>Apply 0.5% to 1% hydrocortisone cream or ointment twice a day to the affected skin.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Steps to avoid<\/h3>\n<p>These actions are unhelpful or unproved:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scraping out stingers<\/li>\n<li>Rinsing with human urine<\/li>\n<li>Rinsing with cold, fresh water<\/li>\n<li>Applying meat tenderizer<\/li>\n<li>Applying alcohol, ethanol or ammonia<\/li>\n<li>Rubbing with a towel<\/li>\n<li>Applying pressure bandages<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Medical treatment<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Emergency care.<\/strong> Someone having a severe reaction to a jellyfish sting may need cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), life support or, if the sting is from a box jellyfish, antivenom medication.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oral medicine.<\/strong> A delayed rash or other skin reaction may be treated with oral antihistamines or corticosteroids. You may also be given oral pain medicine.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eye flushing.<\/strong> A jellyfish sting on or near the eye generally requires immediate medical care to control pain and flush the eye.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn more about prevention and first aid for these painful injuries that are common among people swimming in seawater but are rarely life-threatening.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[1686,1685,1682],"class_list":["post-51878","mayo","type-mayo","status-publish","hentry","tag-anatomical-structure","tag-condition","tag-person-group-concept","content_type-diseases-conditions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jellyfish stings - Hancock Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/es\/mayo-health-library\/jellyfish-stings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jellyfish stings - 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