If you have mushrooms or cynarina, look inside

chrisstie

chrisstie

Premium Member
So I am typing this with 9.5 fingers.

I am completely at fault for my own ignorance- I typically only wear gloves and eye protection etc when fragging corals where the guts of a coral can really affect you..

So Im walking by my tank and see my cynarina a little too close to some mushrooms.. it tends to expand pretty large somehow shifts to the left over time and every once in a while i have to scoot it back into place.

i'm not sure if it was the mushroom or the cynarina that did this (mushes have chemicals, cynarina have mesenterial filaments) but i had a cuticle that hadn't completely scabbed\healed and you could consider an open wound.. Of course i never felt it or anything or even realized it until after I put my hand in the tank to move the two offending parties apart but I was like "hmm saltwater kind of burns when it gets into your cuticle"

Shortly after I was like holy cow saltwater doesn't burn that much!!

I'm not sure if it was the chemical slime from the mush or the little nemotocysts from the guts of the cynarina that can sometimes squeeze out by the base and flesh of the coral but OW.. felt like 5-10x worse than a bee sting.

I flushed with fresh water, soaked in vinegar, repeated.. tried ice and milk to numb it.. put a little orajel on it.. still hurt.. Called Marcye (THANK YOU!) to see if she had any more advice with her years of experience with weird stuff like this!.. did more fresh water \ vinegar baths.. Finally subsiding now and I can kind of type .. still very sore.

No swelling, finger is red at the tip, though. Plan to monitor my temperature for the just in case case. Going to keep an eye on my fingers and try to use gloves more often after this ow ow ow!

If you have a cynarina please be very careful if you grab it from underneath to move it. Same goes for shrooms, and if you frag them wear gloves just in case

Here's a cool article about it i found from wet web media
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/trachyphyllidfaqs.htm
 
Ouch, siounds rough. Keep an eye out for future exposures, reactions can intensify exponetialy from exposure to exposure. If you ever notice tightness in your through or SOB seek care right away. Hope your feeling better:)
 
"tightness in your through or SOB seek care right away"

Sorry, Through is really throat, cant type today. Also SOB is shortness of breath.
 
I figured that out :) And thanks for the tips and fortunately I've done enough reading and grew up getting cuts and scrapes from oysters and barnacles I pretty much know the drill by heart.

I think even for the next day or so I will monitor my temperature just in case there are any signs of infection that present. Fortunately there appears to be little or no swelling at the site of contact and I feel normal besides, well, the pain part of it. Like putting lemon or a salt on a wound but a lot worse.

I know that our tanks are basically biological soup, though, so I will definitely keep an eye on myself. Now i get to force Kevin to help me finish todays tank maintainance :)
 
No it isnt :) He's the one out of the pair of us who is employed at the moment soooo he definitely pulls his weight :) haha
 
You women have it too easy not having to work. What I would do to not have to work. I don't think I'd ever be able to get my wife to work again.

Hope all gets better. Definetly some scary stuff out there.
 
Hey I've been employed for the last 3 years I just quit my job so I can finish this semester uninterupted! I'll have a real career in a year I promise.. Until then maybe someone has a job venture they'd like a smart computer and reef savvy female engineer to get her hands onto...

It's not like I'm going to turn into a baby factory or anything (no offense to those of you with children) I have a lot to do in life before I even consider.. my 3 cats are quiet, less smelly, and i have one that vacuums up the others vomit so they're really quite self sufficient :)
 
I'm just messing lol. Good job finishing your degree. I decided to finish up my last couple classes. I'll be done hopefully in November.
 
Cool congrats! I think I will be finishing up in the spring. I don't know why but I really like animals and adults more than kids. Perhaps its because 2 years of my work was teaching college freshmen? :)

The good news is I really am almost having full feeling return to my finger and no swelling. I really think the orajel is what made it feel weird for so long. I can think of so many pranks to pull with that stuff in my house it isnt' even funny
 
Wow, that sux, i never wear any protection and have never had anythig bad come from it, but i will from now on.....ouch, sorry that happened to you, i bet that hurt!
 
Yeah, I have a bad case of fish handler's disease...for about 3/4 of the year(on and off, but about 9 months if compacted down) my fingertips are dry, cracking, peeling, and literally breaking skin in pieces. The pain it puts me through sometimes is horrible...I wear gloves as much as possible, I sometimes have to wear gloves of cortizone or neosporin to bed so that my hands are protected. Luckily right at this moment both of my hands are not sliced, cracked, or broken, but you can still definitely see the different layers of skin...

Needless to say it gets pretty nasty and very painful...there are times when I can't even grab the lining to take out the trash because it hurts so bad. I feel for your pain completely.
 
Wow that's crazy - is it truly diagnosed as fish handler's as you handle fish\shellfish and its a cause of that or something with basically the same symptoms?

I have had skin dry out like on my foot from wearing flip flops 98% of the time (its Florida for crying out loud) and have had to use some weird perscription topical creams to nurse my skin back to health. Even then my heels are kind of like... senseless and calloused.

My grandmother also has to take very delicate care of her hands and has for a long long time because of some of the resulting skin\nerve effects of diabetes. not fun stuff at all!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9696289#post9696289 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisstie
my 3 cats are quiet, less smelly, and i have one that vacuums up the others vomit so they're really quite self sufficient :)
Click to expand...

How did you teach your cat to use the vacuum??:lol:
 
Well, it seems to be definitely some sort of cellulitis(eczema, psoriosis, FHD, something). Since I handle fish, rocks, bristleworms, etc about 2-5 hours a day, I generally assume it's FHD. Then again, it could be drying due to salt, but I highly doubt that from the way my skin gets and the amount that I moisturize(no I'm not a girl, but it helps a little) and the way it still forms.

I could see it being some other type of bacterial infection other than FHD, but it is my best conclusion that it is a form of cellulitis.
 
It sounds like a bristle or fire worm was under one of the corals. I'm not sure, but I may be right behind Marcye on amount of times stung by corals/inverts/fish. I also had fish handlers', but worse than that was being badly stung by fire coral.:(
 
My fingertips just break, turn all red, crack, open cuts from the cracks, and become so painful that I really can't describe. I know and do not mind most pains, and this is definitely not the worst pain that I have felt, but it is by far the most annoying pain I've ever felt...it's not one of those "good" pains like working out or a muscle pull...it's more like taking sandpaper across your hands until they are raw and then trying to do any daily activities. That would probably be the best way to describe it. I used to work as a dishwasher for four different places over a three year span. My hands would always peel twice a year(like shedding skin), but would never get raw like they do now...it may be something carrying over from that, but either way, it sucks...
 
Yuck! stinging in any form is not fun!

You know its funny how guys can seem embarrassed about being moisterized and what not but I mean, first of all we live in a state where it may be humid enough to not have dry flakey skin but the sunlight'll rip that moisture right back out of you.

Besides its grooming and a very civil thing, generally what I consider good :)

I'm wondering what you use- anything with shay butter? My dad has to use this stuff that is like industrial cream on his knees because they bother my mom. The perscription stuff I have has like horse urin in it but it really really does the trick for my elbows\feet

I also am wary of when and what I moisterize with because of getting my arms and what not in the tank I have to be sparing or rinse it off before I jump in there... I love the scented stuff from bath and body but i have Aveeno's natural unscented stuff that is good for putting on tattoos when they are healing that i find comes in handy more often.. easy to get on, easy to get off, and from the ingredient list minimal pollution if i miss a few specks of it and it gets in the tank
 
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