If you can pick up some Hibiclens(blue bottle) they use it in surgery and we (I am a nurse) use it on MRSA patients. But I was wrong. My Mom is a nurse and I am an aesthetician so we know how to take care of skin that is for sure!! Unfortunately, we don’t all have access to marijuana since this is presently an illegal drug in the US. He explained that he cut the ends off because of all of the infection and and toxins from the stingray that what was damaged had died. Shark and sting ray specialist. No more antibiotics. After three weeks now, I was thinking that things were going to be okay with it, but it does have a swollen spot there where I was hit. It was not cleaned at all in the er, I was put on doxycycline and given a tetanus shot. Living within 4 miles of the ocean you would think the local hospital would know what to do! I can’t find much information on long term treatment. There was a repeat of wound culture, blood work with blood cultures. a long healing process and unsure of what will happen. You’ll most likely need antibiotics. Here is is December 23rd for me and mine still looks pretty much the same. Figure 3   A small puncture wound is see to the dorsolateral aspect of the foot consistent with a stingray envenomation.  The central puncture wound will have signs of tissue necrosis. I spent two hours in the office soaking my foot and also soaked it another hour after I left there. The wound was then loosely packed and the edges of the incision were loosely approximated. Today, 9/22 about 3:00 at work I noticed my shoe was feeling very tight. With Herbal medicine. I don’t think it would hurt to have someone look at it. Initially I thought I got bit by a crab or something, Then the intense pain began! The stinger barb is made of cartilage and the serrations are directed proximally. The had a poke around to see if there was any debris, but none seemed to be visible. Have you been using hot water therapy? Al- Now she is on IV drip for administering antibiotics here and samples of the tissue and blood are going to tell the rest of the story, and I hope it is for the best! The treatment seems unsuccessful with the wound and area becoming sorer! The swelling is down, the wound doesn’t itch and looks like it is healing. I kept thinking of Steve Irwin and I guess it could have been much worse!! No results. I’m a bit nervous, but will try to find some help. Lots of plain even after short walks. So, I would say, that x-rays are probably very non-specific in determining whether a barb is present or not. The tail will lash upward like a scorpion and penetrate a sharp bard in the lower extremity or foot. As soon as I got in the door I immersed it with the hottest water I could tolerate and scrubbed it with hibiclens. Steve Irwin was snorkeling in water and swam close to an Australian bull ray. hi kristen. we went back to the doctor/surgeon and have found out that her ankle or grwoth plates are injured and so are the tendons and ligaments surounding her ankle and now is in a cast and awaiting blood test results for internal infection of the bone. My husband squeezed it to get as much out as possible. It was quite impressive. We went up to our hotel room (all this happened in front of the hotel) and he soaked it in the tub with hot water. I have read all this CRAZY SCARY stories and IM FREEKING OUT …. Its been 2 months now. Checked out of hospital on 750 mg oral Levaquin 1/day and 100 mg doxycycline 2/day. It is 5 years since then and the top of my foot still hurts, it feels very stiff sometimes and at night I have to keep it sideways to keep the pressure off. If the stingray barb is still present in the wound, removing it will stop additional toxins from being released into the wound. And staying off the foot for at least ten days..9 months later my healed wound still gets itchy sometimes..but good luck I hope it heals up real quick. The first was a debridement and I have been wearing a wound vac for last 3 weeks without any healing noted. The boy was relatively asymptomatic and initially treated for a puncture wound to the chest and knee, but he died six days later from sequestered venom and myocardial necrosis causing right ventricular rupture and fatal cardiac tamponade. The wound was thoroughly irrigated with Betadine solution and Bacitracin irrigation. Private practice, Chief of Podiatry, Doctors Regional Medical Center. 45 minutes later I had it in hot water. The stingray barb has evolved to go one way: Deeper into the skin. The stingray tail has a sharp, serrated barb along the proximal third of the… Most of the pain went away. I had no pain until he got to the nerves that were damaged. Oh no! Best of luck to you! As mentioned, avoid the tail end, turn them onto their backs if you want to get your hook out but i have found the best way is cut the trace close as you can to the hook and let it go. The problem was, I couldn’t get the stingray off my arm. Mw again,,,,, just wanted to say I left out how long I had to soak my foot. I’ve been using Vfend® 200mg 2x daily since 28AUG12 and clinical progress is evident. Today (Thursday) I am doing much better. The Bactrim was good but I was taken off these for the Doxy and Cephalexin. (I wanted to go but he kept telling me not to worry about it) Now I have a dark black coloring showing on my foot going downwards of the puncture site and what looks like possible necrotic tissue. I am hoping to go back to work next week, although I don’t know how well the 16 hours totally on my feet is going to go. I was wondering if I need to do anything else? Figure 4   Radiographic evaluation reveals soft tissue gas formation in the subcutaneous tissues of the dorsal foot.  No barb is seen on radiograph. We had two days of Disneyland scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, and I made it!! I’ll then upload them to this page. I have more or less exhausted the information I have on this subject, which is available in my open Facebook “notes”, the link of which is given above. All soft tissue was removed and sent for deep tissue culture. The stingray's toxins soon began giving him serious breathing difficulties and it was feared that the barbs had punctured a lung. At the hospital, the barb and remnants of stingray spine will be removed. The delay in initial treatment caused progressive tissue necrosis and secondary infection after injury. My daughter was stung today by a stingray at 1:00 on the big toe. Even to this day I still have trouble with pain from the injury. Ex ray the wound and saw the barb was 6 ” in bedded in my foot, decided to transfer me to the mayo clinic in Pensacola. [2] The wound should always be cleansed thoroughly with an antibacterial wound cleanser immediately after injury. The wound was then irrigated with 3 L of gentamicin- The patient had undergone multiple medical evaluations before an X-ray was obtained. Feel free to post your photos with us. Stingray Injury Picture #1 She happened to live in my hometown and her father brought her to my office. Don’t worry about the flack of scaring the tourists away, because had I been made aware of the darn things being so close to the edge of the water, it would not have kept me from going to the beach for my vacation. I feel like some of the venom may be trapped in there but realize that it is probably just long term damage. I’m not on any more meds. Moral of this story: If you get hit by a stingray barb, you need to go to the hospital and undergo surgery to open the puncture site. But, I am sure that some pain or discoloration of my skin would be evident by now. Hi how is ur daughters foot? If the injury is not life-threatening, it is important to quickly cleanse the wound and submerge the foot in hot water to deactivate the tissue enzymes that cause pain and tissue necrosis. It was recommended he go directly to the operating room for incision and drainage with exploration of the wound. Hello, I was walking out of the water at St Pete’s in FL and was almost at the beach, when it felt like someone had hit me with a ballpein hammer on the top of my left foot. did not look like blood, like serrous fluid. Last time I drank about 5 beers and 600 mg ibuprofen over 2.5 hours as a painkiller, starting about an hour after the initial puncture, and it did not seem to reduce the pain. Will keep you posted. It was bleeding and the cut looked like it was cut by a blade. It helps to know that I may be dealing with this for some time so I guess I won’t think that my foot will fall off any time soon. [2,6]. And I thought I was about to get infected. 2. Hexachlorophene in 70% alcohol (pHisoHex®) or Betadine solution will provide good antibacterial cleansing of the wound. Rapid application of heat will denature the enzymes causing the pain and limit the effects of tissue necrosis. He submerged the foot in water and his pain dissipated that evening. [6] The stingray venom contains the neurotransmitter serotonin and two enzymes; 5-nucleotidase, and phosphodiesterase. Whirlpool, wound care and hyperbarics also have indications in treatment. Thanks, Stacy. 4. I was then started in 2 unites of antibiotics and a prescription of amoxicillin. Had Xrays done, got a shot and another prescription. The healing has slowed to the point that it just doesn’t seem to be getting better…. The problem with these attacks is the stringray sometimes leaves some of the cartilage from their tail (it is made up mostly of cartilage) and it may be inside the foot still. 1. It is recommended that immediate submersion into hot, but not scalding, water will also help to ease the pain of this injury. How long will it require me to take off work? Be careful as especially with children it can be very dangerous. The time between my husband stopping the hot water treatments on the beach and my brother’s bathtub was the toughest time of the ordeal! I immediately went to the hospital, as I was aware of the possibility of infection and skin necrosis if left untreated, plus I knew I would need stitches. However, she went to the ER the night it happened and was sent home with antibiotics and pain meds. Skin looked like it was going to explode, it was red, purple and black, started forming lots of pus bubbles and it was oozing clots of blood. She is 14 yo. mented in a healthy patient as a result of stingray injury [14]. :-(. I am wondering if this is normal or will I need to get it checked and have it drained? I would advise a qualified Woundcare Center with an affiliated Podiatrist. It’s been almost 5 months now and I have received three skin grafts so the wound is finally covered but still not filled in (the area still dips in) and the grafted area is still purple. I had no idea it would take this long and am shocked to see everyone’s stories!! I was put on bactrim ds. She has an inch and three qtrs of the barb in her Heal bone. He delayed initial treatment, continued to fish and developed cellulitis with a painful foot which required hospitalization and surgical treatment. This is only prudent since a majority of these inflictions can and will become infected. At time of surgery, it is recommended to inspect the wound for foreign material, remove any necrotic tissue, take deep tissue biopsy for culture and leave the wound packed open. Steve Irwin could have been SAVED if he hadn’t pulled out Stingray barb from his chest, US doctor claims A doctor viewing footage of Steve Irwin's death in … He is a mechanic so the surgeon said he would be out of work at least a month!!! I was shuffling my feet but still got hit on the inside lower portion of my foot. Getting barbed can be so tramatic in many ways. If the injury is not life-threatening, it is important to quickly cleanse the wound and submerge the foot in hot water to deactivate the tissue enzymes that cause pain and tissue necrosis. She kept boiling water and refilling for an hour. Both times I had scalding water on the wound within 15 minutes, and I kept my foot submersed for almost 3 hours. Well I thought I’d put my story in….10/31/09, out surfing in Solana Beach (San Diego, CA) and could see stingrays fluttering around everywhere. ©The Foot & Ankle Journal (www.faoj.org), ISSN 1941-6806 (This type of penetration injury should be opened from entry point to exit point) we took her to the Local ER (we are living in NC and were down visitinng)they did exrays and cleaned the wound and gave us a prescription for antibiotics and told us her ankle was fractured and follow up at home. Foot … This is the second time in three years that I’ve been hit, and my experience this time is slightly different than last time. I live in NE Florida and the PA at urgent care knew far less about stingray venom than myself. Tomorrow is Friday (5 days in hospital and 9 days since the sting) they will let him go home as long as his blood work is good, but it doesn’t stop there. Snorkeling presently in Roatan and give distance to “stingrays”. I was flying back to Canada the next day and we thought we would spend a day at the beach together. He hit me in the R front side of the ankle right between the joint bones. 1) The integumentary sheath that encases the barb also contains a venomous protein that is released into a wound when the barb strikes and the sheath ruptures. I do not live near the ocean and if I were to see a local doctor, they would have no idea how to provide post-treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of stingray envenomation has also proved to be beneficial. Question: Key West, stingray barb, water sports, local urgent care center…WHY didn’t someone “urge” me to “just get it checked out?”. I think my body just needed a little extra boost to heal. Initially it felt like a really painful burning pinch, I screamed out getting my husbands attention. I love to walk & be outside & I’m stuck inside with my foot elevated. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Stingray Envenomation of the Foot: A case report, Photo Quiz: Bone Lesion to the Neck of the Talus, http://blog.erinmstewart.com/2009/08/18/stingray-sting-and-online-medical-information/, Photo: Initial Presentation day of injury, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFnwnNnZaY0&feature=share&list=UU1X-SlzJ6vFIZV9SCm-3sCA, https://www.facebook.com/notes/christopher-trench/stingray-contact/10150972813316434, http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/08/15/sting-in-holiday-tale-coast-man-thought-he-would-d/, Staged surgical intervention in the treatment of septic ankle arthritis with autologous circular pillar fibula augmentation: A case report, Surgical treatment of a large plexiform neurofibroma of the lower extremity, Charcot foot management using MASS posture foot orthotics: A case study, Divergent Lisfranc injury with dislocation of great toe interphalangeal joint: A rare case report, Osteochondromas of the subtalar joint: A case study, Foot anthropometrics in individuals with diabetes compared with the general Swedish population: Implications for shoe design, Effects of medial and lateral orthoses on Achilles tendon kinetics during running, The D-Foot, for prosthetists and orthotists, a new eHealth tool useful in useful in risk classification and foot assessment in diabetes, Squamous cell carcinoma of the foot: A case report, Pulsed Radiofrequency Combined with Continuous Radiofrequency Ablation for the Treatment of Morton’s Neuroma: A Case Report, Photo Quiz: An unusual swelling of the foot, Surgical Correction of Subluxing Peroneal Tendons Utilizing a Lateral Slip of the Achilles Tendon: A case report, Dorsalis Pedis Aneurysm: A Case Report and Review of the Literature, Brachymetatarsia: One-Stage Correction using a Cadaver Bone Allograft, Look Beyond the Obvious | afootdoctorsjournal, Leiomyosarcoma of the Foot: A case report, Hardware Related Pain and Hardware Removal after Open Reduction and Internal Fixation of Ankle Fractures, Clinical Review of Adhesive Capsulitis of the Ankle: An introductory article and clinical review, Plantar Fascial Rupture of the Foot: A case report. The pain is like nothing else you will ever experience beleive me I’ve been through labor. You can send your pictures JPEG files to picomstaff@hotmail.com. A woman stung by a stingray in Peru had to live in agony for nine months before surgeons finally removed the last pieces of the animal. During that time the outside if the wound was closing. got stung one week ago, and has similar developments, Surgical exploration revealed soft tissue necrosis through the subcutaneous layer from the initial envenomation. Now I’m spending a lot of time going to appointments with a plastic surgeon that is cutting open the wound to drain it frequently and I will need a skin graft because of dead tissue. Please let me know if you needed additional treatment or not. Thanks for the input Cliff. I said, I thinks something has hit my foot, it hurts and and limped to shore as the pain was pretty bad. All stingray injuries should be medically assessed; the wound needs to be thoroughly cleaned and often surgical exploration is required to remove any barb fragments remaining in the wound. Routine radiographic evaluation showed an area of gas in the region of the puncture wound, but no sign of barb. I was then started in 2 unites of antibiotics and a prescription of amoxicillin. Corpus Christi, Texas, 78411. tincures, compresses ,exc. Foot Ankle Int. If mine had been treated right, according to another doctor, I wouldn’t have ended up with CRPS. I put the towel on it to stop the bleeding thinking it may be a vein. ( Log Out /  If treatment is delayed, infection from marine bacteria often requires hospitalization including intravenous antibiotics and surgical treatment. Lots of plain even after short walks. By that time I was in agony, soaked in hot water for 90 mins then no pain. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. took a few seconds to realize what had happened to me. Barb removal is common practice in all public aquarium touch pools. Although not usually aggressive, the stingray will use its stinger in self-defense when accidentally stepped on, secreting a venom into the victim's wound. [2] In most cases, stingray injuries are not life-threatening, but can cause long-term complications. American Family Physician, February, 2004 [Online], 6. sorry about the misprint…the dressing is called “wet to dry” Hope you have a speedy recovery in the New Year…. They gave him a pitcher like they use to steam milk for lattes, filled with hot water. then i had to get into a really hot car for about 30 minutes (104 degrees) and suddenly my ankle opposite of where i got stung and my calf swelled up. Thanks for sharing this story and a speedy recovery to your husband. I only do that if I’m keeping a stingray for shark bait. 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