So on the last day of my mom's visit last week, we went to Spencer beach park, on the Kona side of the island.

So on the last day of my mom's visit last week, we went to Spencer beach park, on the Kona side of the island. It's my favorite beach on the island and is very gentle and shallow (good for kids).

Less than 5 mins after getting in the water, I felt it: sea urchin! (Fun fact: the only other time I've gotten hit by sea urchin was at that same beach!)

I immediately got out of the water, tried my best to not step on the part of my foot that got it, washed my foot with water, and applied fresh aloe all over it (aloe is part of the landscaping at that park - I broke off a little piece for my own use).

Photo 1 shows how my foot looked after all that.

This time I got way more spines in my foot than the previous time, and I really wasn't sure what to do (if anything). So I dropped my mom off at the airport as planned and drove myself to the waimea queen's north hospital to go to their ER (i called them to see if they took my public insurance and they did, also it was saturday night by that point, and I figured it would be less busy than the Kona hospital, plus it was more in the direction of home, since I live ~2 hrs away from that side of the island).

Anyway, the ER was quiet as expected, except for a group ahead of me who ALSO got hit with sea urchins! Multiple people in their party got hit, and when I got in to see the doctor, she thought I was with them .

So what I found out from the doctor is that all the sea urchins in Hawai'i are non-toxic and non-poisonous. AND the body usually absorbs the spines. Trying to dig the spines out is no good because they're very crumbly and fall apart, and actually the biggest risk is infection associated with wounds in the skin, so when you try to dig them out, you're just creating wounds that can get infected. And, I basically had no pain or swelling, so it wasn't that serious. I was still concerned about future inflammation, which is why I went to the ER.

I asked the doc if there was anything I should do, and she said to go easy on the foot, and if it
hurts, you can do a warm water soak with Epsom salt.

I also told the doc that as soon as it happened, I got out of the water, washed it, and applied aloe, and she said that was good.

BUT it turns out that wasn't necessary, because by the next day, my foot looked like pic 2! I was genuinely shocked at how quickly my body absorbed the spines. I kept walking on the front part of my foot for a few days, and it pretty much got better within 2 days.

I consider myself lucky because the spines didn't go in too much and I didn't get much pain or inflammation.

I don't know anything about sea urchins in other places, but i hope my experience might help you if you ever get urchined in Hawai'i.

#medicine #ocean #hawaii

@mk30 oh my gosh! I always thought it’d look like a big three inch long spike hanging out of your foot and you’d just pull it out. Bottom of the foot injuries are rough. Glad it’s heeeeeling!