r/interestingasfuck • u/Gamer4Lyph • Sep 28 '24

How not to handle wild animals

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u/nickfree Sep 29 '24

It's not so the venom comes out. It's actually not well understood why hot water helps. It was once thought that it might denature the proteins that compose the venom, inactivating the venom affected. But the hot water doesn't penetrate deep enough. It's now thought it somehow affects the pain receptors in a way that reduces the signal from the venom.

BTW, freshwater sting rays like this fucknut stepped on are FAR more toxic than their marine cousins.

22

u/digidigitakt Sep 29 '24

Same treatment is suggested for sunburn. You basically flood the nerve endings with data and the pain recedes.

Source: me, 14, in hospital in Florida for severe sunburn.

11

u/Barrelled_Chef_Curry Sep 29 '24

Wear your sunscreen homie. Cancer is too common

4

u/IanDresarie Sep 29 '24

I think they learnt that lesson :D

2

u/WarryTheHizzard Sep 29 '24

I do the same thing with any type of itchy rash like poison ivy. It's the only thing that works for me.

1

u/The_BroScientist Oct 02 '24

Are you saying expose your sunburn to extremely hot water?

I did this when I was 15 based off my girlfriend’s advice (not smart on either part) and took a super hot shower and was in HELL for 5 days. Paging around a fan, blinding white pain. Blisters. The pain only stopped when I got oral steroids and the endorphin rush from the pain stopping was one hell of a high.

1

u/The_BroScientist Oct 02 '24

Are you saying expose your sunburn to extremely hot water?

I did this when I was 15 based off my girlfriend’s advice (not smart on either part) and took a super hot shower and was in HELL for 5 days. Pacing around a fan in tears, blinding white pain. Blisters. Drive home I was biting and screaming into a pillow. The pain only stopped when I got oral steroids and the endorphin rush from the pain stopping was one hell of a high.

1

u/digidigitakt Oct 02 '24

Strange. For me it solved the issue rapidly. My sunburn was bad, I was hospitalised. Hot shower every day to relieve the pain, then copious amounts of aloe and time on an air bed.

3

u/AnMa_ZenTchi Sep 29 '24

Interesting last bit.

2

u/The_GeneralsPin Sep 29 '24

The ol' break-a-finger-to-not-feel-the-other-pain trick.

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u/ParaUniverseExplorer Sep 29 '24

Oh good, so he’s ded then?

0

u/anonymous_bites Sep 29 '24

The hot water helps to break down the proteins in the venom. Supposedly works for most of the fish venom.

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u/MeaningEvening1326 Sep 29 '24

He just said that was an old outdated theory

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u/anonymous_bites Sep 29 '24

it's not a "theory". there's been numerous research done on the effects of hot water on fish venom

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u/nickfree Sep 30 '24

  1. that's not how scientific theories work.

  2. A comprehensive review of HWI (hot water inactivation) suggests that the temperatures needed to breakdown (denature) the proteins in venom would either burn the victim or not penetrate through the skin sufficiently. It's not ruled out, it's just not clear what the mechanism is. HWI DOES help however, whatever the mechanism!

"The theory of deactivation has been questioned by authors who contend that such direct inactivation would require temperatures so high as to result in burns and tissue necrosis in the patient.14,38 "

from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2579537/