To pee or not to pee

Should you really urinate on a jellyfish sting? Jellyfish stings may not be that dangerous, but they make up for it in pain…Often compared to getting an electric shock, these stings leave you feeling like you’ve had a severe burn.

But is relieving yourself on it really the best way to relieve the pain? In 2016, a team of Belgian researchers set out to finally answer this ages-old question in their study entitled To Pee, or Not to Pee: A Review on Envenomation and Treatment in European Jellyfish Species. And it turns out that no, urine does not actually help with jellyfish stings.

In fact it could have the opposite effect, potentially making nematocystes (the jellyfish’s stinging cells) erupt, where they would not usually have released their venom, which increases your pain. Instead, it’s better just to rinse the sting with sea water, though we do recommend you then cover it up with sand, avoiding rubbing any in, and let it dry before you rinse it again.