Advice on Sea Urchins

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BIGJIM
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Advice on Sea Urchins

Post by BIGJIM » Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:49 am

Realise this should be in the injuries section but was after some quick advice.

Was on the way out this morning through the rocks, slipped on rock and ended up with a handful of nasty f#cken urchin needles in the hand. Had to pull about 8 match size c#nts out and head back in as the pain was huge. they all came out in one piece bar a few litter splinter bits around the big holes in my palm :shock:

Any tips besides getting it all out and betadine solution :?:

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chrisb
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Post by chrisb » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:42 pm

Getting them all out is the difficult part.

I trod on an urchin up on a Central Coast reef when I was about 17. Thought I had pulled all the spikes out until a pussy bump formed about a week later. When I burst it out came the final spike.

Try your best to get them all out (I hope it's your non-dominant hand or that your'e ambitextrous) and apply betadene or a similar antiseptic.

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tallguy
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Post by tallguy » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:50 pm

piss on it.

seriously, it works to get rid of the poison/infection.

just make sure you wash your hand before you next eat.

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ric_vidal
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Post by ric_vidal » Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:51 pm

LEAD: To the Editor: I was surprised by the first-aid piece by Betsy Wade (Practical Traveler, Dec. 20) in which she recommended using tweezers or a needle to remove sea urchin spines from your skin.

To the Editor: I was surprised by the first-aid piece by Betsy Wade (Practical Traveler, Dec. 20) in which she recommended using tweezers or a needle to remove sea urchin spines from your skin.

I was a sea urchin victim and thought I could treat the spines as splinters but found out the hard way that this was the wrong thing to do. The spine is living matter and breaks off as soon as you attempt removal in this way. The native Barbadian experts treated the sole of my foot with hot wax from a candle, over and over, until most was drawn out.

I don't recommend this unless there is no other alternative, but I would recommend soaking in warm water and applying Icthammol ointment, which has drawing power.

The most important thing is not to try to remove the spines as if they were a thorn or splinter. Should a piece of spine remain under the skin, it will dissolve into the system in a few days.

Best advice: Stay away from rocky areas (that's where urchins live) and never pick at the spine. LAUREL LANINO Woodside, Queens :roll:

Source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A96E948260

Jimbo: Had one in the sole of my foot I couldn’t extract with scalpel or tweezers, hobbled around for a while and would hit the roof every so often as it hit a nerve, but ultimately, localised infection around it enabled a reopening with my scalpel :shock: and for the offending piece to pop out. Took about 6 weeks if memory serves.

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ric_vidal
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Post by ric_vidal » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:04 pm

Rockin' Ron wrote:magnoplasm
it sucks :wink: actually it doesn’t, tried it and it didn’t work.

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DucksNuts
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Post by DucksNuts » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:24 pm

yeh, if all else fails Jim, let them be.
had a few lil buggers in my foot a couple of months ago, and after leaving them for a week or so, the puss will generally push them out (with a little bit of help on your behalf, by perhaps cutting the skin, and digging)
also, dont push the skin around the spines, like trying to get a splinter out, or pop a pimple: you have to pull the skin apart, else they go deeper

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Post by still here » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:33 pm

fill a bucket with piss (urine) (may require help from your mates - and usually they'll happily oblige ) . Submerge the affected area initially for an hour or more and then keep dipping it until they dissolve .
Works a treat . ...genuinely !!

BIGJIM
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Post by BIGJIM » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:03 am

thanks gents for the advice. Pretty bloody tender this morning, twas an interesting arvo shift last night working with inks and solvents. Did a bit of surgery with my knife before starting work, and managed to dig around and under a few bits to get em out. Your right about em breaking up as you dig at em, almost like a self destruct mode :x

Will see how the affected areas go over the next few days, as i cant tell if there is any left, could be the dettol bath coming up salty...

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marcus
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Post by marcus » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:13 am

If you put them in your fish tank, keep an eye on them.
Because they only move about 1 foot per day, sometimes they can die and you wont know untill your whole tank is a cesspool and your lounge room stinks.
oh and if there are any rocks in the tank, a sea urchin can knock them over slowly.
Little fish absolutely love sea urchin guts.

slowy
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Post by slowy » Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:57 am

Mate these urchins suck!! But it is a wonder that more people don't get nailed, as on a really low tide it is clear that some places are full off them. Whenever I try to pull them out I always get some "invisible" bits left behind that eventually work there way out.
One thing is, do not apply betadene, I got slight reef cuts ages ago and after cleaning it up used betadene and the area became very infected. I was told that this was due to the betadene having a component derived from coral in it. So since the bacteria on the coral were in my skin it was like feeding the little bastards. This could be the same with the bacteria on the urchins spines..so just use another alternative to be safe..there are heaps out there.
Cheers

Felix
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Post by Felix » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:39 pm

Look in the Health, Injuries etc. Forum.

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ric_vidal
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Post by ric_vidal » Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:01 pm

slowy wrote:So since the bacteria on the coral were in my skin it was like feeding the little bastards.
Sorry Slowy, but that just appeals to my warped sense of humour. :lol:

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