Stung by Stingray
The sting of stingray is one of the most common incidents in the Bay of Puerto Vallarta so in this brief article we’ll aboard the issue of what to do in case of been stung by stingray.
Introduction
First, let’s talk about the behavior of the stingray. They are marine animals that used to live in the seabed buried in the sand to hunt and protect, are animals that are not aggressive and only attack when provoked. They have a stinger in their tails that they use only in defense and some species can also have glands that produce poison, luckily on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta there are no poisonous species.
When the attack occur?
As already mentioned, the stingray only attack when they are disturbed and this happens when we accidentally step on one that is buried in the sand so that the stingray instinctively attack what is above his back.
How to avoid been stung by stingray?
If you do activities on the beach commonly as part of your work we recommend the use of plastic boots to avoid the maximum injury, but if your approaches to the beach for vacations the use of submersible shoes could decrease the possibility of wound on the sole of the foot, but leaves the ankle exposed. Another very good recommendation is that when walking on the beach do not step hard in the water, but walk by dragging your feet so you can warn of your presence at the stingray and it has time to move and go to another place for the safe of both.
What to do in case of a stingray attack?
If despite the recommendations you find yourself in the painful situation of being attacked by a stingray here we leave a short tutorial to do so you do not panic.
- Keep calm, remember that there are no poisonous stingray in Puerto Vallarta
- It washes the wound very well, the water of the ocean is not exactly clean, it is full of bacteria and a wound in contact with these pathogens could be complicated and more if they are diabetic or immunocompromised patients
In addition to cleaning you may need to remove remnants of the stinger from the skin - Go to medical service, the pain generated by the sting is usually very severe so you need painkillers either orally or injected to alleviate, the sting of the stingray is full of bacteria that can easily cause an infection so You’ll need prophylactic antibiotics to avoid complications.
The sting is home to many bacteria - Fight the inflammation, once you made the previous steps and you only have to recover, the inflammation is one of the things that remain to attend and is very easy to do, you just have to elevate the limb when you find yourself resting and applying ice.
- Note: Within the Vallarta population there are some home remedies that involve some herbs or the use of hot water to alleviate pain, these methods have not been corroborated at 100 percent and do not replace any of the above steps
With these 4 steps you can be carefree of complications and you will have a quick recovery.
Remember that in Doctor At Home PV we put a doctor to the door of your house, apartment or room to solve this and many more health problems, just contact us
