The “Natural” Remedy

When we visit Kauai, I love to wake up and go for an early morning swim. The water is calm, the beach is deserted, and there is stillness within the atmosphere that is peaceful and calming. I honestly feel like there is no better way to start your day–if only I could start it that way every day…

I’m flashing back to 2009 and our first trip to Kauai. It was at the beginning of our trip and during one of my early morning swims. Not soon after I entered the water I felt a sting on my right arm and instinctively brushed it off. When I looked down I saw a lot of tiny blue dots (much like the photo below) and I instantly realized that not only had I been stung by a jellyfish but I was now surrounded by them.

Credit

I immediately made a beeline to the shore as I tried to avoid the blue speckles in the water so I wouldn’t be stung again. While walking back to the condo my first thought was to rinse my arm with hot water and my sweet husband called the front desk for advice.

Their advice: rinse the affected area with hot water–the hot water sometimes helps, pour vinegar on the area, or pee on the area.

Wait, excuse me?

Did I hear you correctly? I guess that Friends episode wasn’t exaggerating…

Well, this girl was not going to pee on herself, and she was definitely not going to let her husband take on that task. Unfortunately for myself we had no vinegar in our condo, so I continued to rinse my arm with warm water in hopes that the pain would go away.

After a few hours (and a few Mai Tai’s) the sting was almost non-existent. It may be due to the hot water, or the mai-tais, but I was not going to let a little jellyfish sting ruin a day in Hawaii!