Bristleworm/fireworm sting?

So, I sold my RSM last week and in the process as usual the water got really cloudy and dirty by the time I got all the rock out. I was fishing around with my hand along the sand and I think I got stung by a worm..

So, I am looking for someone who has also had a bad sting.

It didn't hurt right away very bad, but later it was the most intense itching and burning.. So I itched it to my hearts content.. eventually it got really really swollen. Like a small marble under my skin. So I put some hydrocortisone creame on it and that helped.

The problem though, it's been 8 days and the joint still hurts to bend. It's my pinky finger and the 1st interphalengeal joint for those who know what I am talking about. I can still flex and extend the finger as a whole without any pain, but as soon as I try to bend that joint the pain is still pretty bad.

Has anyone had this problem? It's still swollen, and the pain is there, but there isn't any burning.

I realize the simple and easy answer is go to a Dr and get it checked out, but I don' t have insurance, so doing that involves going to the insta-care and paying through the nose to have some nurse tell me to come back in a few days if the pain is still there.

So, if any of you have had this issue, I would like to know how long it lasted for you, was there anything you did to help it? Did you go to a Dr, and did they give you any useful info?

Thanks!

This doesn't help now, but you should almost always soak ocean-critter stings in vinegar followed by as hot of water as you can safely tolerate.  The vinegar will keep the remaining nematocysts from firing, dissolve any spicules or spines, and the hot water will break down many poisons.  This is just typical first-aid for scuba injuries.  Same goes for many home-aquarium incidents.  If that doesn't take care of the problem, it's time to seek medical attention.

Happen to me too!  Mine stayed swollen for about a week and a half and finally went down.  THEN... all the skin over the stung area peeled off.  It was really annoying!
I put anti-biotic ointment on it and wrapped it in a band-aid and it eventually got better.  I remember worrying that it was still bad after about a week but it eventually got better. 

Wow are bristle worms that bad? I have handled them and never felt a thing. I was under the impression that they are relatively harmless.

Maybe there are some species of aquarium worms about which I don't know, but from what I know, they shouldn't be there because of the RTV. Most harmful worms get into the aquarium with the help of a carrier. Maybe you bought some live rocks or corals which were not processed properly. That's the case of the Bobbit worms, which come from the Indo-Pacific ocean. On www.arcreef.com you can find more about them and how to remove (if they are the ones from your aquarium).

Edited by kosai1111 - October 23 2019 at 3:17pm

I wish I could take all the bristle worms in my tank and watch them squirm in a vat of vinegar until they're dead. I hate those things!

Adam Blundell wrote: Do you have an arrow crab?ÂÂ

No, but I have a coral banded shrimp and a wrasse that attacks them (his name is the Exterminator.)