Is it true that urinating on a jellyfish sting alleviates the discomfort? If so, who figured that out?

Answer 1

No I just completed a quiz this morning on msn.com and that was actually one of the question. "If you are ever unfortunate enough to get stung by a jellyfish, you'll have some small consolation in knowing that there is no need to add insult to injury by asking someone to pee on you. Experts recommend treating the sting with vinegar, baking soda, ice packs, salt water, hot water, or even meat tenderizer--but definitely NOT urine--then carefully scraping off any tentacles that have adhered to the skin."

Answer 2

You should flood the sting with vinegar since this will stop the nematocysts from releasing more venom. Vinegar will work for most types of jellyfish stings and is best if you don't know the type of jellyfish that stung you. Urine, baking soda, and meat tenderizer will work for one or two types, but can make the sting worse in most other types. Plus meat tenderizer will cause your skin to peel. If you are stung by a Portuguese mano'war, don't use vinegar, use fresh water or even salt water in a bind. After the vinegar, you should use a stick or gloved hand to remove any tentacles, apply ice, and go to the emergency room so they can give you a shot to prevent allergic reactions. They will most likely give you hydrocortisone cream to apply to it to relieve itching and recommend taking Benadryl for a few days.

Answer 3

Here- found this:
"Nematocysts are inactivated by vinegar (or dilute acetic acid 5-10%). NOTE: If no vinegar is handy, then human urine will do in a pinch. If you have a choice in the matter, use a man's urine rather than a woman's urine. This is because females are more prone to occult urinary tract infections, thus introducing bacteria. Male urine is considered sterile, since men are much less likely to have a urinary tract infection."

Answer 4

Nothing of that sort is true.
Guess you've been watching a lot of friends.
the first thing to do is remove the jellyfish, the poisons already in you, urinating might aggravate it if you ask me.
Try piercing your bellybutton and urinating on it.

Answer 5

At best, urinating on a jellyfish sting will do nothing. Experiments indicate that in some jellyfish species, urine actually sets off the remaining stinging cells, making the sting even worse.

The urine cure and other folk remedies miss the mark, anyway. The point of rinsing the wounded area is not to alleviate the pain. The venom’s already in you. Urinating on it will not help any more than it does to urinate on your thumb after you hit it with a hammer.

The point of the rinse is to get rid of any remaining tentacles or other jellyfish tissue that might still harbor stinging cells, or nematocysts, which could still fire and make the sting worse. (These cells, which are all over jellyfish, contain a tiny poison dart that shoots out at a touch or because of a chemical reaction; thousands of them typically fire simultaneously.) For the aforementioned reason, urine is a terrible candidate for the job.

Susan Scott, “Oceanwatch” columnist for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, has investigated jellyfish stings in the field (as well as in the lab) probably as much as anyone, having spent years visiting injured tourists and the like on Hawaii’s beaches. A registered nurse, she and husband Dr. Craig Thomas authored “All Stings Considered: First Aid and Medical Treatment of Hawai’i’s Marine Injuries.”

In her column in 2001, Scott summed up years of study on a variety of sting “cures”: “Nothing worked.” In an e-mail to me, she summed it up another way: “Anything works.”

This paradox goes to the heart of the urine myth. “Nothing worked” means that none of the main folk remedies—including urine, meat tenderizer and commercial sprays—did anything to stop the pain of a sting.

On the other hand, “Anything works,” because the vast majority of jellyfish stings are not severe and their effects disappear within a few hours at most, no matter whether you urinate on yourself or simply do nothing.

“Anything works for another reason”—mind over matter. “The placebo effect is a powerful treatment,” Scott said, referring to the common psychological phenomenon in which people who receive a useless treatment feel better simply because they think they have been medicated. In this case, believing you have been given an analgesic may well reduce your subjective experience of pain. (In addition, different people can have widely varying pain thresholds.)

Folk remedies for jellyfish stings can be quite exotic; Scott mentioned mustard, and minor studies have been done on Coca-Cola. But the urine cure is exceptionally widespread, found on beaches from Vietnam to Belize. It is also applied (equally uselessly) to other marine wounds, like coral cuts and sea urchin spike punctures. How did the idea get started?

Urine is an ancient folk medicine for a boggling variety of ills, and its main nitrous component, urea, does have some real medicinal properties (though not for jellyfish stings). Among many other things, it’s also a folk remedy for bee stings.

Scott had a simple conjecture for its application to jellyfish: “We think this is because it’s usually the only substance readily handy during jellyfish stings.”

The “anything/nothing works” warning aside, there are definitely things you should do to treat a jellyfish sting, and there are things you can do to prevent it from becoming worse. (The following information focuses on box jellies and Portuguese man-of-wars, which are the most dangerous jellyfish on bathing beaches; check with lifeguards at your beach for guidance on identifying local dangerous species.)

In all cases, immediately scrape off any remaining tentacles or other visible jellyfish tissue with a glove or some kind of tool—never with bare hands.

On box jellies, you can rinse the area with vinegar. Experiments have shown that vinegar chemically deactivates the nematocysts of box jellies, disabling any remaining cells from firing into your skin.

On Portuguese man-of-war stings, do not use vinegar; experiments show that in its species, vinegar sets off the nematocysts. Instead, just rinse the area with seawater. (Fresh water is probably OK, too, though some doctors worry it can also set off nematocysts by osmosis.)

Once the area is clear of any more nematocysts, you can attempt to deal with the pain. Gritting your teeth works. Scott said hot or cold packs, or hot baths, are the only treatments she’s seen work for anybody.

If the pain is severe and lasting, or there are any other symptoms such as sweating or faintness, go to an emergency room immediately. Some jellyfish are certainly capable of killing humans, and some people are highly allergic to minor stings.

If you touched the area with your hands before rinsing, make sure you wash up before touching yourself anywhere else, especially your eyes. An eyeful of nematocysts is unpleasant indeed.

Answer 6

I can't imagine what possessed the very first person to pee on that jellyfish sting.

Answer 7

Yea, it is in fact true, but washing it, and sprinkling a little baking soda on it is a less disgusting way!

Answer 8

ITS TRUE
all down to chemical reaction
acidity v/s alkaline

or down to the girl that pee'd herself when she got stung and felt relief!!

Answer 9

Yes thats what I've heard. I have no idea who figured that one out.

Answer 10

yes it is! and i'm guessin someone who was into golden showers and happened to get stung, it was probably a by product of their perversion