cougar
Contributor
:doctor: I was hanging out watching a turtle in a cave located in a sort of tunnel area at Palancar reef in Cozumel when I got surprised by a current that knocked me sideways and headed me into a huge tower of live coral.
I was wearing a suit but no gloves. Didn't want to body slam the coral and commit coraliside...so I reached out with my left hand to deflect the impact.
The minute I got back from the dive I washed the hand in vinegar....over the next few days the area got a little red and ten days later I had a flaming pustular rash that itched and burned everytime I took a shower or came in contact with fresh water. (Remeber how badly chicken pox itched when you were a kid...multiply that 100 fold)
I checked this web site, I checked DAN..I called DAN. The best written advice was to debride down to blood because I obviously still had foreign material in my hand. When I called DAN they did give me the name of the only diving Doc in New Mexico...a fellow named Ole Peloso in Albuerque ...two and a half hours away. I talked to my local doc, who knows nothing whatsoever about coral, and gave her the article from the DAN site.
By this time I was two weeks past the initial contact and my hand looked like it was ready to rot off...except the skin was not broken ...just inflamed and full of bumps and swollen spots. My local Doc called the fellow in ABQ and said, "I really hate to debride intact skin and make an open wound." The TOTALLY BRILLIANT Dr. Peloso said, "Don't do that! Use wax ...for removing unwanted hair." I sent my husband off to teh local Wal-Mart with instructions to get something organic and not full of chemicals since I was already hot and itchy. He came back with a leg wax with honey in it and little linen strips. I spread the warm wax on my hand ...plastered down the linen strip...yanked it off according to directions...and immediately the itch lessed. 24 hours later it was obviously on the mend. 4 days later it is barely noticible and doesn't itch or burn. What a terrific idea for removing those pesky spines! Thought I'd pass this on as I didn't find this suggestion in my search on what to do.
I was wearing a suit but no gloves. Didn't want to body slam the coral and commit coraliside...so I reached out with my left hand to deflect the impact.
The minute I got back from the dive I washed the hand in vinegar....over the next few days the area got a little red and ten days later I had a flaming pustular rash that itched and burned everytime I took a shower or came in contact with fresh water. (Remeber how badly chicken pox itched when you were a kid...multiply that 100 fold)
I checked this web site, I checked DAN..I called DAN. The best written advice was to debride down to blood because I obviously still had foreign material in my hand. When I called DAN they did give me the name of the only diving Doc in New Mexico...a fellow named Ole Peloso in Albuerque ...two and a half hours away. I talked to my local doc, who knows nothing whatsoever about coral, and gave her the article from the DAN site.
By this time I was two weeks past the initial contact and my hand looked like it was ready to rot off...except the skin was not broken ...just inflamed and full of bumps and swollen spots. My local Doc called the fellow in ABQ and said, "I really hate to debride intact skin and make an open wound." The TOTALLY BRILLIANT Dr. Peloso said, "Don't do that! Use wax ...for removing unwanted hair." I sent my husband off to teh local Wal-Mart with instructions to get something organic and not full of chemicals since I was already hot and itchy. He came back with a leg wax with honey in it and little linen strips. I spread the warm wax on my hand ...plastered down the linen strip...yanked it off according to directions...and immediately the itch lessed. 24 hours later it was obviously on the mend. 4 days later it is barely noticible and doesn't itch or burn. What a terrific idea for removing those pesky spines! Thought I'd pass this on as I didn't find this suggestion in my search on what to do.