GALVESTON, Texas - What do gas prices, insects and jellyfish have in common? They all can sting beachgoers and warm-weather revelers throughout the summer.

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, Jon Thompson, director of the Southeast Texas Poison Center at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, suggests several ways to lessen the burn of stings from jellyfish and insects.

Thompson, who has more than 28 years of experience with insect and jellyfish stings, says, "Common household products combined with some quick and smart thinking can go a long way to provide relief and can help families avoid having to cut short a fun afternoon outing."

INSECTS

  • Scrape out the stinger. Don't squeeze the skin or use tweezers to remove stingers left behind from insects like bees. Squeezing and pulling can compress the venom sac and cause more venom to be released.
  • Use diluted bleach for pain. Burning and itching from insects bites - including wasps and fire ants - can be eased with a solution of 10 teaspoons of water and one teaspoon of household liquid chlorine bleach. Thompson recommends mixing the solution and putting it in a well-sealed container ahead of time; the solution should be effective for up to two weeks.
  • Keep baking soda on hand. Thompson says he has found sprinkling baking soda on the sting site to be much more effective as a pain reliever than meat tenderizer.

JELLYFISH

  • Safety first. Before treating a sting, Thompson advises helping the swimmer out of the water first and using a towel to avoid coming into contact with cnidocytes, the stinging cells of the jellyfish.
  • A splash of vinegar. Ordinary household white vinegar is the most effective treatment for jellyfish stings, says Thompson. It can be splashed on or applied to the skin with a paper towel or some other compress to deactivate the stinging cells. Thompson warns not to rub vinegar - or any other liquid - on the skin as this may further activate the stinging cells. Thompson adds that rubbing alcohol plus unseasoned meat tenderizer or baking soda, the 1:10 dilution of bleach, and even lime or lemon juice can also be used. But forget the common myth - urinating on a jellyfish sting doesn't work.
  • Tentacle scraping. After the stinging cells are deactivated with vinegar, apply a paste of baking soda or sand and scrape off the visible tentacles lengthwise, like shaving hair. Use a credit card or anything with a straight edge to scrape the skin lightly. Once clean, splash the affected area again with vinegar to deactivate any remaining stinging cells.

No matter what type of sting, Thompson says, it is important to watch for signs of a severe allergic reaction that might include difficulty breathing or generalized hives. If a severe allergic reaction is suspected, the person should immediately receive professional medical care. This also holds true for very young children with large sting areas or those with pre-existing health conditions.

Anyone with a question about poisons may call the national toll-free hotline at (800) 222-1222 to reach nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and physicians who have extensive education, training and expertise in the field of clinical toxicology or poisoning. The American Association of Poison Control Centers operates the hotline. It works similar to 911 in that all calls are directed to the nearest poison center, which is available 24 hours a day and has the capability to translate calls from a variety of other languages, including Spanish.