Lionfish sting treatment

The steven liu

The steven liu

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Important: Do not Ice

Hopefully this will help you if you ever get stung by your beloved lionfish.
I work in a LFS and this happened when I was cleaning the tanks. I am usually careful with chasing fishes to the otherside of the tank if I am doing one end. But I wasn't so careful this time and I got stung by a fuzzy dwarf lionfish. and this is the smallest lionfish of them all. Some literature suggests that a sting from lion fish is as bad as a bee sting. Well, personally this is 100time worse than when I was stung by a bee.
All I can say about the experience was graving pain. My finger begun swelling and the pain feels like a stab with every pulse of my heart. I took the advise from my boss and rinsed my finger with water as hot as I can endure until we ran out of hot water, then simply placed my finger on top of the metal halide fixture. The pain retrieved after three hours of heat treatment. That's what worked for me. If any one of you have similar experience and knows other methods of treatment please share with us.
 
i have been stabbed 3 times now, by different types of lions. Adult fuzzy, juvi spot-fin and Adult volitan. the spot fin hurt the most so far! he stuck me real good.

i have read some resources that state some lions actually have a more powerful venom... Radiata is meant to be the worst. dont know if this is true but it has gave me a reason to wear gloves while cleaning my radiatas tank
 
yeah I was lucky my boss knew what to do. I can see lionfishes are getting more popular (my store alone sold 3 in the past month) so I thought maybe it's a good idea to be aware of the treatment in case anyone gets stung by one.
 
Patchy just to let you know the gloves are not going to keep you from being stung again. The stinger will pierce the glove like a hot knife through butter. The gloves just keep your body chemicals from entering the water.
 
hey patchy how was the dwarf fuzzy compared to the other 2 lions? I have a dwarf fuzzy, but i'm really careful, if i'm going to be working in the tank for any amount of time i take him and put him in my sump, just incase lol
 
The gloves wont protect if they try to stab you but they have stopped when i have accidently brushed them. Some of our tanks have 3-4 lions in them. so its hard to keep a eye on all of them

Fuzzy least painful. he didnt really get me that well i kinda brushed him while moving rocks. As other stings i have had have them going defensive and trying to sting
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6921295#post6921295 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Patchy
Fuzzy least painful. he didnt really get me that well i kinda brushed him while moving rocks. As other stings i have had have them going defensive and trying to sting
Click to expand...

You got lucky. As far as the lionfish go, the smaller species, especially dwarves, tend to pack more of a punch. The spines are much shorter, and so are closer to the actual gland which contains the venom. So if you get an equal hit from a large lion, such as a volitan, and a dwarf, the dwarf will deliver more venom than the larger fish. Most people who have been stung many times will tell you that the dwarves are worse. And according to Auerbach's work, they deliver more venom per sting (he's an expert in wildlife emergency medicine).

While it's true that a stinger can get through a glove, it will still give some protection, especially if it's a thicker PVC glove like the ones that Coralife makes.

Once you're exposed to lionfish venom, there is some risk of you developing an allergy to it, making the next sting much more dangerous, so beware of that.

Dave
 
good info thanks. I didn't know that the more you get stung the higher chance you have to develop an allergy to it, wow I'm really going to careful with my dwarf.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6929802#post6929802 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wolverine


Once you're exposed to lionfish venom, there is some risk of you developing an allergy to it, making the next sting much more dangerous, so beware of that.

Dave
Click to expand...


Really??? i didnt know you could develop allergies, thought you were born with them. Im use to stings and bites. try living in Australia. everything here is venomous is some way or another
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6931635#post6931635 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Patchy
Really??? i didnt know you could develop allergies, thought you were born with them. Im use to stings and bites. try living in Australia. everything here is venomous is some way or another
Click to expand...

Nope, just the opposite, in fact. Your immune system has to be exposed to something for you to develop the IgE antibodies responsible for an allergic reaction. Then the next time your exposed you get the reaction.

Some people are born with a stronger tendency to develop allergies (there's a lot of research going into the basis of this), but are not born with the allergies themselves. Most people develop more allergies as they get older. I've seen a lot of people who start getting dust mite and mold allergies after they've retired.

cwb, basically any time your body is exposed to a potential allergen there's a chance of developing an allergy to it.

Dave
 
I was just about to get a Lionfish for my 92 Corner and you guys have scared me silly - and you said those arm length Coralife gloves dont help? Is there anything you can wear to prevent a sting?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6934488#post6934488 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lapizzaro
I was just about to get a Lionfish for my 92 Corner and you guys have scared me silly - and you said those arm length Coralife gloves dont help? Is there anything you can wear to prevent a sting?
Click to expand...

They will help if you just brush against a lion accidently, which is how most people get stung, IME. They won't help if it's a full dive-bomb attack.

Dave
 
exactly, like i net mine and put him in the sump of i'm going to messing with the rockwork ect, plus just make sure that you know where he is at all times. Don't reach blindly behind a rock :D
 
I've decided to go with a dwarf lion and just use caution in going about my business. The fish is too cool looking to eliminate from stocking list. Thanks
 
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