Remedy that worked extremely well: Wash area stung with soap and warm water. Apply neat TCP(see
below). The pain was effectively gone in a couple of hours, about six hours later the welts
were gone too.
This was the treatment I applied after I had received a really bad second sting in two days. I was
about 100m out body surfing, and had popped about half a dozen blue bottles (I assume they sink when
the air sac is popped - maybe not, and this is why I got stung). I am always careful when surfacing
after diving under a wave as I am really scared of getting stung near my eyes, but this one got me
while I was swimming (head up, water-polo style) against the sidewash in clear water. It got me
across my cheek, neck, chest, under the arm and across the shoulder blade. I scraped it off
furiously for a few seconds (never did see the air sac) then struck off for the beach. I had had a
bad sting two days before (see below) so was worried that I might get a limb seizure as I had
previously.
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Once on land I asked at the life-guard tower for some vinegar (this is provided at beaches at the
Great Barrier reef for same - I will quote an article tomorrow that claims this is ineffective,
which suggested meat tenderizer instead {I remember when I was a child my father used to say use paw-
paw skin, apparently some enzyme therein helps}). The life guards had a tube of white cream, I asked
to see what it was, the name was not memorable - something pretty generic and uninformative. I most
remember them asking me to leave the tower as I was dripping on their floor!
I made speed back to the holiday flat, fortunately only a few minutes fast walk. By now my cheek and
underarm were stinging violently. Once there I did not try any of the previous remedy that had not
worked, instead took a warm bath and soaped off all the stinging areas. On a whim I tried neat TCP,
applied liberally to all these areas. TCP is an antiseptic product produced by Pfizer Laboratories,
containing 6% Chlorinated Phenol 2% Phenol (Isn't this the stuff mothballs are made of - it
certainly smells thereof) 1% Iodinated Phenol ½% Sodium Salicylate.
I am not sure whether it was the soapy wash or the TCP, but the results were dramatic compared with
the previous treatment I attempted. As I said above, 6 hours later no pain and no marks.
The previous sting referred to above, occurred when walking at the surf's edge on the beach. Being
aware of blue bottle presence, I was watching out for them, and had been fishing them out and
burying them. A lifeguard's opinion was that the stinging tails remain active for about 12 hours
after removal from water - any one have corroboration of this or alternative information?
Anyway, out of the blue I got a stinging tail wrapped around my ankle. The first priority was to get
this off - no sticks or implements around so I scoured it off with sand (the article I will cite
tomorrow also says this is a no-no, what else can one do though?). Then I got some ice from a beach
vendor and held this on for about 10 minutes. The latter is my universal treatment for all injuries
bar frost-bite, and generally it works very well, particularly for cuts, burns, bruises, insect
bites etc.
So I sat on the beach, watching everyone else continue swimming in blue bottle riddled water (as I
was to do myself too, prior to the incident above) waiting for my remedy to take effect. Well it
didn't, I started developing a mild seizure in my hamstring and also began to feel dizzy. I stuck
this out for about 45 minutes, with the side effects getting worse, then decided to get back to
flat. I doused it with methiolate there (a mercurochrome based product) and had a few cups of warm
sugary tea, but it took most of the day before I felt up to doing anything, and it was painful for a
couple of days.
The contrast between the two recoveries astounded me. I realise one probably gets variation in
virulence between bluebottles, but given the initial pain of the later sting being as much, if not
more, pronounced than the sting on my ankle, I doubt this could explain the different reactions.
The final anecdote I have was the only other time I had a serious blue bottle sting - the tail
wrapped a couple of times round my forearm. I don't think I put anything on that, if anything it was
only something like Dettol. I can't remember how long the stinging lasted, but the welt was visible
for 8-10 days.