so today i was surfing a rather fun little reef break and the water levels were getting down there, about 1-2ft of water, so on one of the bigger waves i get caught under the lip and fall, seeing as below me its almost dry reef i get a little worried, and to my dismay i go feet first onto this razor sharp reef and to make my day better there were some rather nasty sea urchins hanging around that area. I now have a hamburger were my foot used to be, and some little broken off barbs stuck nice a tight in there and a 15hr plane ride home. so far from what i have read the best thing to do is vinager? any ways just wanted to start a discussion on marine encounters and “possible” treatments for them. feel free to share experiances, storys etc…
(researched the issue could’nt find any great info so started a new thread)
You do not want to leave urchin spines in your skin. Reef rash is a good recipe for infection, and urchin spines are even worse. You do not state the location of this incident. But, if you can get medical attention before traveling, by all means do so.
Howzit richard, If you don't have vinegar just piss in a bucket and put you foot in it, uric acid will disolve the spines as good as vinegar, I have done thisa few times when in a pinch and you want to disolve those spines ASAP. Aloha,Kokua
Have used Urine, Vinegar, peroxide. They don’t magically make the spines disappear, but it’s all worth doing. The peroxide will kill bacteria. Leave your foot in the vinegar for at least 30 minutes and stay longer if you can. I think I soaked my foot for an hour and didn’t really see immediate changes. Did that several times for a couple of days.
Sometimes the spines will fester in there a while then just pop out from an infected spot. Had that happen a couple of times too. Just make sure you follow up with peroxide.
The worst part is if the spines are in the spots of you feet that contact the floor. They will hurt for a while and be pushed in deeper. That’s when it’s time to get a sharp needle and start digging them out. I’ve had over 30 spines in my foot once and they were all right where I step. It was worth the pain of digging them out, than letting them stay in. Just dig in at and angle and try to get under the spine, then pull them out. You probably have tiny particles left, but vinegar and peroxide will take care of that.
piss works the best brah,guarants, especially coming from a pretty lady.Somehow warm piss just relieves the pain .follow up with alcohol(take care of injury first,n drink after!) When we were kids,we used kerosene,it worked great,even on hook stabs and cuts,really don’t know what it did to our insides,but it worked.
iAll of the above. Vana's a bitch. Peroxide is the best cheap form of disinfectant to keep handy anywhere tropical. Pour some on. If it foams it's bacterial and infected. It's not necessarialy a cure , but it will fight infection back until you can get to proper medical care.,
Hey guys thanks for the response’s! i just got off the plane from a nice warm australian summer swell to a unbelievble miserable snowy area i like to call home. good news is surfs up this weekend. i used the hot water and peroxide and it seems to help but im headed to the hospital in a day or 2 for various other reasons so ill have them check out my foot as well! any one else got some gnarly stories (not saying mine is haha) of rays, coral, urchins etcc…?
if you ever see this bad dude,don’t touch it,you could very easily lose your finger tip,as has happened to a friend of mine who was dumb enough to go and touch it.they are often colorful,to attract dumbasses!
A few years ago, I was in Puerto Rico, sort of off the beaten path, at a spot somebody told me about. If you’ve been down there, you know about the Long Spined Sea Urchins that they have all over the Caribbean. They’re particularly nasty, because they have very long, slender spines that tend to go very deep before they break off. Some years they just encrust everything. Other years are not so bad.
Anyway… the paddle out spot for this reef break was very sketchy. It was a very narrow opening between two large rocks, that was very shallow. You had to paddle up to the opening, then time it as a wave passed through so it would be deep enough to paddle. Once you were through, you could paddle out to the reef no problem.
Well… I saw this American guy make a big mistake. He didn’t paddle through at the right moment, and got stabbed in the hand as he was stroking. Then, he stops, looks at his hand… and gets off his board to stand up! Yep… both feet. If he wasn’t in such pain, I’d have laughed my ass off.
Low tide, no leash, Wana. Not a good combination. I have a couple of boards with no leash plug, I gotta learn to leave them home when the tide is low.
Had days when I couldn’t swim anymore because I was laying on the reef. Don’t want to stand up, but then you hit a Wana with your hand and get so pissed you stand up and take it in the feet. Just had a day a couple of weeks ago where I was bottoming out on the reef swimming for my board. Luckily I wore a west suit top, so I just laid on the reef and let each passing swell push me a little bit further until I got the board. You know your screwed when the fin keeps your board from going further in. I scratched the bottom paddling out of that mess, but it was an old board.
Howzit kava,Yep that's the one and the real bad part is how it breaks off in the bottom of the hole and you have to et out a needle and twezers and dig out the pieces to keep it from getting infected or orse ,start growing in the hole.I had one that started growing and got out the alcohol, razor blade and tweezers and My room mate Bobo Ham Young (local Hawn boy) walked in the door as I was cutting into my foot and almost fainted since he couldn't believe that I was doing surgery in the living room. Actually the hole looks more like a horseshoe shape and they are a nightmare for sure. Aloha,Kokua
I like t piss on sea urchin injuries as said above but if that doesnt work, use nail clippers to cut away any skin surrounding the urchin spine. Also use a clean needle to prod the spine side to side. The use the nail clippers to grip on the urchin and it often comes out pretty soon. its not painless but works.
Also pissing on your feet often in the shower daily toughens up your feet and you get less cuts from reef and maybe evn sea urchins.
if you ever see this bad dude,don’t touch it,you could very easily lose your finger tip,as has happened to a friend of mine who was dumb enough to go and touch it.they are often colorful,to attract dumbasses!