Beach danger series: Avoiding and treating stingray stings

May 18, 10:01 PMWorld Beach ExaminerBarbra Stuter

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Stingrays enjoying Sanibel Island Florida

As I noted in my introductory beach dangers article, you can find stingrays in the shallow coastal waters of temperate seas, exactly where we like to swim and wade.  During a recent trip to Sanibel Island Florida, I saw hundreds of them swimming along the shoreline in ankle deep water. This picture was taken as I waded in the water collecting shells.  Along with sharks and jellyfish, stingrays hold the bottom spot on the "Top 5 beach dangers list" and it is a certainty that you will be sharing space with these marine animals if you wade in the water.  That being said, it is also fairly easy to avoid a stingray sting. 

LIfeguard stand warning flags

Preventing Stings

First of all, know your area.  If you are swimming at a patrolled beach, look for the dangerous sea life flag  (it will be purple or dark blue) or a sign like this one telling you there are stingrays in the area.  If you decide to enter the water with the rays, do the “stingray shuffle” as you are entering the water to avoid stepping on the animals.  This simply consists of shuffling your feet along the bottom to avoid stepping on the rays and to scare them away.  Don’t think you are safe by wearing sandals or beach booties, the spine can easily penetrate this type of footwear.  Most stings are actually on the ankle or the top of the foot, due to their defensive reaction of whipping that barbed tail around when stepped on. 

Closeup of a Stingray barb 

Treatment for stings

Getting stung by a stingray is really two events: the puncture wound or laceration received from the spine, and the poison released when the sheath surrounding the spine is ruptured.  What I have been calling the stinger is a modified fin spine located at the base of the ray's tail that has rows of incredibly sharp one-way barbs resembling the serrated blade of a knife. First aid should be performed on the injured person at the scene or as soon as possible, and deep wounds or wounds to the chest or abdomen require immediate emergency medical attention.  No matter the extent of the pain or injury, a medical evaluation needs to be obtained as the risk of infection from a sting is very high.  A big thank you to Jan Loomis, RN for this very helpful information. 

The first thing NOT to do is to plunge the injured extremity into ice water, which according to my Dad (who was stung on the thumb while fishing) increased the pain of the sting tenfold!  The right thing to do as soon as possible is to immerse the wound in hot water or apply hot compresses.  The venom from the sting is inactivated by heat and applying heat will greatly reduce the pain.  Other symptoms you may experience are fever, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and loss of blood pressure. 

1. Irrigate the wound with fresh clean water.  Don’t use seawater (it is full of bacteria) and peeing on a stingray wound will not help, contrary to popular belief. 
2. Remove any foreign matter, especially if any stingers or pieces of them remain – preferably while soaking in hot water. 
3. Again, you should immerse the injured area in water as hot as you can stand it, which will lessen the pain.  Change the water frequently to maintain the temperature.  In the absence of hot water you can use hot sand, but try to protect the wound.
4. After cleaning the wound and soaking with hot water, apply a dressing and change daily.
5. Your doctor or health care provider will most likely prescribe antibiotics, as infection is quite common with stingray injuries.