A lionfish is a marine animal that can cause a very painful sting if you happen to get tagged. Here is the home remedy for treating its venomous sting.
Coyote Peterson is a wildly successful YouTube wildlife enthusiast with more than 8 million subscribers. He's known for taking a slightly different approach to wildlife encounters.
The shtick that's earned him fame is that he allows various animals to bite or sting him, and then he describes the pain he endures and the treatment for it.
In this episode, Peterson forces a venomous and invasive lionfish to "barb" him on the hand. The pain he experiences is intense, and Peterson is rushed back to his home to treat the excruciating wound.
Once he's home, Peterson immediately puts a large kettle of water on the stove and brings it to a near boil.
"Hot water, as hot as you can stand," he says. "That heat breaks down the peptides and proteins in the venom."
While he waits for the water to get hot, he douses the wound with hydrogen peroxide to clean and sterilize it. Then, he pours a few teaspoons of epsom salts into a pan of warm water and soaks his hand.
"That salt will also actually help break down the proteins in the venom. It also soothes, it also kills bacteria..."
He soaks his hand in the hot water for several minutes. The pain subsides a bit, though it still hurts.
Peterson maintains that everybody reacts differently to such stings. If you're allergic, you could go into anaphylactic shock, so you must be cognizant of that possibility.
Once the pain becomes more manageable, Peterson applies a bit of Neosporin to the wound. He also takes Benadryl as a precaution against an allergic reaction, and he recommends Ibuprofen for basic pain reduction.
While there is an element of theatrical drama to Peterson's videos, a lionfish sting can indeed be quite a painful experience. The tips and treatment he suggests here should prove helpful to anyone unfortunate enough to be stung by the spines of a lionfish.
Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by David Smith at his facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.
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