How to Handle a Texas Jellyfish Sting Without Panicking

Texas is great and all, but have you ever visited our beautiful coastline and seen that someone must have left a plastic bag filled with hand sanitizer in the sand? Either you're having that weird dream again or you've just come foot-to-face with a jellyfish.

Whichever the case, your best bet is to stop where you are and remember to make your next actions very carefully. For jellyfish, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has some great steps to follow that will prevent you from accidentally high-fiving nature's stun gun.

Before you ask, no, peeing on a jellyfish sting does not help. In fact, you'd actually be making matters worse by increasing the pain and provoke the stingers to release more venom.

What Exactly are Man-of-Wars in Texas?

First of all, Portuguese Man-of-Wars, despite their name, are NOT exotic mercenaries. These are actually a collection of organisms that make up this hot-air-balloon-looking sea creature.

The gas-filled bubble is used as both a floatation device and a sail, and the tentacles can reach up to 15 meters in length. Oh yeah, and accidentally stepping on these fake jellyfish can cause hours of intense burning.

How to Avoid Jellyfish in Texas

Jellyfish, on the other hand, are not classified as fish, even though the name suggests otherwise. These tricksters are actually related to corals and are just as dangerous, if not more, as Portuguese Man-of-Wars.

It's typically pretty obvious if you see a jellyfish on the beach, but sometimes they are invisible in shallow water. Both cases require you to be hyper vigilant when having summer fun with the fam.

If you DO get stung, however, you should immediately splash the area with salt water and apply--get this--unseasoned meat tenderizer to the sting area. That's obvious, right? Everyone travels with a packet of meat tenderizer in their purse, especially at the beach...

If, for some ridiculous reason, you left your meat tenderizer at home, you can always apply vinegar or a solution of one part bleach to 10 parts water to alleviate the pain.