Hot Water (Blue)bottles for Pain Relief
A 15-month study involving 96 victims of bluebottle sting at two beaches in Newcastle, NSW, has found that treatment with hot water is more effective in reducing pain from the stings than the traditional method of applying an ice pack.
The key finding of the study is that immersion in hot water at 45-degrees-Celsius for 20 minutes is an effective and practical treatment for pain from bluebottle stings. The result should change the way that first aid is administered to bluebottle sting victims at Australian beaches.
Thousands of bluebottle stings occur each year in Australia, causing immediate, intense pain that usually resolves within an hour and is associated with a characteristic linear rash.
The first aid management of bluebottle stings is a daily problem for surf lifesavers. Currently, most first aid bodies, including the International Life Saving Federation, recommend treatment by topical application of ice packs.
There is little scientific evidence to support the ice pack treatment, and the only study to investigate ice packs was observational with no objective measure of pain, or control or comparator treatment.
But all that has now changed with the scientific results of the Australian study.
The study was conducted by:
Dr Conrad Loten, Registrar, Emergency Department, Hunter New England Area Health Service, Newcastle NSW
- Dr Barrie Stokes, Statistician, Discipline of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Newcastle
- Dr David Worsley, Resident Medical Officer, Hunter New England Area Health Service
- Dr Jamie Seymour, Senior Lecturer, Department of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns QLD
- Simon Jiang, Medical Student, School of Medical Practice and Population Health, Tropical Toxicology Unit, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin NT
- Dr Geoffrey Isbister, Senior Research Fellow and Clinical Toxicologist, Department of Clinical Toxicology, Newcastle Mater Hospital, Newcastle NSW
The Medical Journal of Australia and eMJA rapid online are publications of the Australian Medical Association.