Snake Bite

[denton]

Trivia worth knowing:

If you step on a Stonefish, you are in for a miserable experience, and may die from the venom that you will get from their dorsal spines. However, some South Pacific islanders discovered that putting papaya on the wound neutralizes the venom. It contains a an enzyme that breaks down the venom.

In our family, we have experimentally determined that the treatment is effective against wasp, bee, and scorpion stings, if applied in the first few minutes. It also works on mosquito bites, but only if you are very fast in applying it... wound is small, and closes up quickly.

Getting the right enzyme used to be easier. Adolph's Meat Tenderizer was, but no longer is papaian enzyme. Then, for a while contact lens enzyme was the right stuff. Now, the best source I know of is papaya enzyme tablets from a health food store. Just grind one up, make a paste with water, and slap it on anytime in the first 3-5 minutes. In about 10 seconds, the sting is gone.