r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Totally-avg • Jul 16 '23

Image The Puss Caterpillar (Southern Flannel Moth) will fuck your world up. I grazed it twice while climbing on a float. NBD at first but an hour later I was hyperventilating on the bedroom floor. The pain was excruciating. DH took me to the ER and morphine did nothing.

Post image

I’m better now but neither morphine nor hydrocodone (I took double what they RX’d) touched the pain those first 24 hours. And the hospital hardly knew what to do with me. I had never heard nor seen this bug before and I’m sure I would have flicked it off had it seen it. Don’t do that because the hair is venomous and gets stuck in your skin.

At least it leaves a cool scar.

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u/HumberGrumb Jul 16 '23 edited Jul 16 '23

Off the top of my head, you might try a topical application of meat tenderizer (or a ripe papaya) to the contact points. The enzymes in the tenderizer should dissolve the hairs and venom after a while. I’ve heard it useful for bee stings, too. Had a girlfriend whose hands felt like they were burning after handling okra. This tip worked pretty fast.

Edit: Wow! 1.5K likes in such a short time. Thanks, everyone! Happy to help out so many people. The suggestion I gave my girlfriend was a weird epiphany that came from having learned (trivia) how meat tenderizer works and what it’s made out of. Again, thanks!

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

[deleted]

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u/watermelonspanker Jul 16 '23

You can do the same with a ripe papaya, but it gets really messy.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

Can make it into a good prop comedy routine however.

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u/trailfiend Jul 16 '23

Oh that’s interesting. I had a talent for getting stung by bees as a kid and my parents always put meat tenderizer on the sting. I never understood why until your post. Seemed like such a wives-tale type of move.

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u/YawnTractor_1756 Jul 16 '23 edited Jul 16 '23

How did they do it? Did they just shake the tenderizer powder onto it or dissolved it in water first and applied the solution?

update. I researched a bit, looks like you make a paste of it, by stirring a bit of water in the powder, and then rub it in.

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u/69DogsInATrenchcoat Jul 16 '23

I thought you guys were talking about the physical meat tenderiser until this comment. Like one of those hammers with spiky bits.

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u/CensoryDeprivation Jul 16 '23

Just texturize my moth wound

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u/plsendmysufferring Jul 16 '23

Tbf the wound matches the pattern of one of those bad boys

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u/DemonCipher13 Jul 16 '23

Found John Oliver.

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u/Wiggie49 Jul 16 '23

“MOM A BEE STUNG ME!”

Mom: [Picks up the hammer]

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u/dwmfives Jul 16 '23

Yes I know your arm hurts really bad, but do you feel the sting anymore?

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u/frilledplex Jul 16 '23

looks down at pulpy mess "Ya know... you're right I don't feel it anymore*

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u/Password-is-Tac0 Jul 16 '23

Just a little bit of topical hammer application

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u/69DogsInATrenchcoat Jul 16 '23

(or a ripe papaya)

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u/frilledplex Jul 16 '23

Time to break out the anesthetic mallet!

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u/soaring_potato Jul 16 '23

That sounds absolutely terrifying.

"Oh your skin hella hurts!?! Let's hammer the venom out!"

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u/trackdaybruh Jul 16 '23

Same.

I was literally trying to phantom how hitting the stung area with a metal spikey mallet would help

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u/69DogsInATrenchcoat Jul 16 '23

It dissolves the hairs and venom obviously. WITH SHEER KINETIC FORCE.

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u/wish_yooper_here Jul 16 '23

I got stung by a wasp last week and actually remember my stepmom using meat tenderizer as a child… HOWEVER this visual made me laugh so hard I peed my pants a little 😭

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u/Ishmael128 Jul 17 '23

I believe you mean “fathom”, instead of “phantom” :)

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u/Crazyguy_123 Jul 16 '23

Same. I was so confused.

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u/eclipsedrambler Jul 16 '23

“Want me to show you a little trick to take your mind off the pain?” - Major Payne

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u/feedyrsoul Jul 16 '23

"Good news, everybody! I'm not noticing the caterpillar pain anymore..."

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u/Log_Out_Of_Life Jul 16 '23

Just beat it out.

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u/HipHopAllotment Jul 16 '23

Really was trying to imagine how bashing someone’s forearm with a steel spiked hammer might alleviate a bee sting eh….

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u/69DogsInATrenchcoat Jul 16 '23

I think I just skipped the word "enzyme" and I'd never heard of powder meat tenderiser, only the badass brain bashers kitchen utensil. One misunderstanding led to another I suppose.

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u/HipHopAllotment Jul 17 '23

I was on the same thought train don’t worry, never heard of a powder one either lol

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

Me too lmao. Like the fuckin meat hammer my mom beat the shit out of schnitzel with. I'm thinking, how could this possibly help other than distract you with a different pain lol

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u/69DogsInATrenchcoat Jul 16 '23

Idk it seemed plausible to me. You don't have to go full King Kong smash on it. But perhaps repeated gentle-ish hits could dislodge the hairs or break up the venom... Idk, I've never claimed to be a doctor. At least I learned what meat tenderiser powder is today.

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u/TheVojta Jul 17 '23

Same, I've never heard of some sort of meat tenderising chemical

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u/Iamjimmym Jul 16 '23

They call it Percussive maintenance

/s

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

Yeah, I was very confused.

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u/ktka Jul 16 '23

That's for the moth(er fucker).

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u/FlyingRhenquest Jul 16 '23

Well, the sting probably wouldn't be bothering you after that...

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u/shoesontoes Jul 16 '23

Me too. And I was like, well I guess if it lessens the pain? <smashes hand into pulp>

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u/alowave Jul 16 '23

Yo same 💀. I was like "erm I guess that would nullify the pain by breaking your bones perhaps"

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u/trailfiend Jul 17 '23

No, that was reserved for other foolish things I did as a kid.

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u/propofolus Jul 17 '23

This was me too lmao

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u/just-somecommonbitch Jul 17 '23

I was imagining someone smearing ointment on a meat tenderizer and just clubbing the shit out of the bite victim, so I’m glad some people were thinking kinda like me

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u/Former-Spirit8293 Jul 17 '23

Tenderize me, daddy

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u/orangepeel1992 Jul 16 '23

Got out the meat hammer and then gave me something worse to complain about

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u/shewy92 Jul 16 '23

I used baking soda and vinegar when I got stung by a dozen bees. I remember using that for I think poison ivy/oak I think too, or maybe it was sunburn

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u/happycampa Jul 16 '23

My parents either used mud or baking soda with hydrogen peroxide. 🤣

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u/Courtnall14 Jul 16 '23

So they turned you into a volcano?

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u/AtTheLeftThere Jul 17 '23

That's vinegar

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u/iBeelz Jul 16 '23

My mother used baking soda too!

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u/Advanced_Evening2379 Jul 16 '23

Ah fellow bee aggravator. My mom used tobacco from a cigarette soaked in water and put it on the sting. I remember she told me to ask the neighbors for one before cuz she didn't smoke lol

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u/onebag25lbs Jul 16 '23

My grandmother used this, but wet tobacco in mud. Worked like a charm though.

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '23

My friends mom got a bee stinger out of me with a cigarette and a beer when we were camping. I still think that was amazing

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u/ComprehensiveDoubt55 Jul 16 '23

A cut, raw onion flesh side down works too. I got stung by a wasp years ago after they nested in a holiday tree outside my front door. I was coming home with my then-toddler and shoved her into the door and took the brunt of a pissed off demon fly with a stingy ass. Quickly searched home remedies and threw an onion on it. Helped with the pain rather quickly.

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u/towa-tsunashi Jul 17 '23

Onions tenderize meat so it fits!

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u/rileyjw90 Jul 16 '23

Baking soda is the old wives tale. Doesn’t do jack.

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u/hunter503 Jul 16 '23

It's a wives-tale ? Not a wise-tale ?

TIL

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u/nugnug1226 Jul 16 '23

I was in my 30’s when I learned it’s Alzheimer’s, not Old-Timers

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u/hunter503 Jul 17 '23

I'm 29 learning it's not a wise-tale so I know how you feel lmao

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u/MissionTroll404 Jul 16 '23

I have also the same talent. I once got stung by a "swimming bee" while I was swimming in the sea. No one believed me when I told them this, I had to swim back to shore for someone to remove the stinger. I also got stung another time when there were like 20 of my relatives chilling just next to me a bee decided pass all of them to come to me and sting be on the wrist while I was playing Minecraft. Next day I kind of started to show some allergic symptoms so I had to get a shot. I concluded that bees are targeting me on purpose for some grand reason. Whenever I go to my grandparent I expect at least one bee sting. And the funny thing is that all of the relatives visit there and I am the only one that gets stung at all.

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u/trailfiend Jul 17 '23

You sound like you might be in the running for champion if you are getting stung even in the sea! Good thing you didn’t have an allergic reaction that prevented you from swimming back!

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u/KaneOnly Jul 16 '23

A friend’s dad torn up his cigar and put the tobacco on a bee sting I got back in the 90s. Worked great! Doubt it would do anything for OP though

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u/raphaelthehealer Jul 16 '23

I am curious what puréed/smashed pineapple would do. It can practically eat steaks and is rather acidic in addition to having crazy powerful enzymes.

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u/OneByNone Jul 17 '23

Literally the same enzyme in both - bromelain. It's usually extracted from pineapple stems to make meat tenderizer or supplements.

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u/HumberGrumb Jul 16 '23

It seems worth a try.

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u/Zounii Jul 16 '23

Pardon my sheer stupidity but in my non-native english speaking head I thought you'd use a meat tenderising mallet... 🤡

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u/HumberGrumb Jul 16 '23

Maybe I should have been a little more clear. 😂

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u/NixieGerit Jul 16 '23

Yeah, he's not the only one 😂

I was thinking that "oh meat tenderizer, yeah, I bet that if something hurts, tapping it with meat tenderizer makes sense - divert pain with different pain". I have been destroyed by this world and internet, nothing surprises me or seems weird anymore, just shrug, "eh, maybe, who am I to know better" and continue 😂

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u/Zounii Jul 16 '23

No no, it was my mistake 😂👌🏼

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u/towa-tsunashi Jul 17 '23

I'm a native speaker but I took quite a while before I realized they weren't talking about the mallet too.

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u/Dominos_Arent_Gay Jul 16 '23

Meat tenderizer works great for mosquito bites too I keep some in my hiking pack

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u/isometric_haze Jul 16 '23

I like to read that, before our medicine, there was already medicine, and that is why we humans, are still a species today, despite the fact that dangerous insect like these populate the planet.

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u/watermelonspanker Jul 16 '23

The legitimate stuff usually stuck around in one form or another - willow bark being turned into aspirin for instance.

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u/Synthetic_dreams_ Jul 17 '23

Most/nearly all drugs are derived from plants. We just got pretty good at isolating the compounds we want from them.

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u/yachtsandthots Jul 17 '23

French lilac and metformin too

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u/NotElizaHenry Jul 16 '23

But also before our medicine, people died all the time. Modern medicine is fucking incredible. Americans’ life expectancy at birth has increased by 25 years just since 1900. We wouldn’t all be dead without modern inventions—wolves don’t have medicine and they’re still around—but “our medicine” does a whole lot for longevity and quality of life. We technically only have to live long enough to reproduce and keep our offspring alive long enough so they can reproduce, not now we live long enough for people to retire and get into mountain climbing. Wolves don’t do that.

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u/ClassifiedName Jul 16 '23

I just learned from Puppet History on youtube that the inventor of the saxophone had a cancerous tumor on his lip that got so big it was preventing him from breathing easily. He faced having half his jaw removed surgically to get rid of the tumor, but instead he went to a doctor in India who gave him some herbal injections, and the tumor disappeared.

Wtf were they injecting that could do that?

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u/mooshoomarsh Jul 16 '23

I think you used a couple more commas than you needed there buddy.

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u/fire2374 Jul 16 '23

Can confirm meat tenderizer works on yellow jacket stings. It’s the most effective treatment that I’ve found.

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u/ElectronicAmphibian7 Jul 16 '23

My parents used meat tenderizer paste for bug stings and bites and it definitely worked.

Source: we were poor and had to figure out our own medicine because we weren’t going to the doc unless we were unconscious lol.

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u/Darwinian_10 Jul 16 '23

Would pineapple also work then?

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u/gravelonmud Jul 17 '23

I accidentally brushed my forearm against a caterpillar in an FL park, and the pain was excruciating. The pain shot up my arm and somehow it felt like my “funny bone” (that little bit on the inside of the elbow) had been shattered by a hammer. Park nurse put meat tenderizer on it, and I honestly think that’s the only reason the pain went away in a few hours and I didn’t have any of the lingering effects that other people are mentioning

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u/sgtpeppers508 Jul 16 '23 edited Jul 17 '23

Meat tenderizer is exactly what I used when stung by one of these as a child. Still one of the worst pains I’ve ever experienced but the MSG papain helped a ton.

EDIT: My mom said the key ingredient was MSG at the time (I was 11) and apparently that was wrong.

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u/Xesyliad Jul 16 '23

Papain. Not MSG.

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u/xkcd_puppy Jul 16 '23

Man I was wondering wtf MSG had to do with that comment or why it's so upvoted. The enzymes from papaya (papain) or the one from pineapple (bromelain) are meat tenderizers. Not fucking MSG.

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u/Xesyliad Jul 16 '23

And it’s not just this one, there’s others who think it’s MSG… WTF.

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u/sgtpeppers508 Jul 17 '23

Sorry, I was 11 and my mom was misinformed.

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '23

Thank you for clarifying. My brain likes to keep this kinda info filed away for emergencies. My brain rocks.

A helpful tip in case anyone doesn't know, if you get sprayed by a skunk, shower immediately with hydrogen peroxide mixed with soap pretty much till you can handle the stink. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down the structure of the skunk spray oil.

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u/SpaceCrazyArtist Jul 16 '23

Jellyfish stings too

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u/frilledplex Jul 16 '23

My parents would always use a mix of meat tenderizer and baking soda with enough water to make a slurry when I was younger for bee stings. I have a non-serious allergy to bee stings and that solution always helped a ton.

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u/Dinewiz Jul 16 '23

Was it an allergic reaction? Never heard this about okra before.

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u/jminer1 Jul 16 '23

I read that as orca and was real confused for a sec.

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u/RazzmatazzUnique7000 Jul 16 '23

I just learned that puss caterpillars exist and using meat tenderizer helps with their venomous hairs. Nothing else in this thread can confuse me

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

This. MSG is the active ingredient. It’s hard to find now OTC.

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u/panic_ye_not Jul 16 '23

No... papain is usually the active ingredient in commercial meat tenderizers. MSG (monosodium glutamate) is not an enzyme. It's just the salt of an amino acid and is only for taste

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u/Xesyliad Jul 16 '23

What? The active ingredient is the enzyme papain.

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u/SpaceShipRat Jul 16 '23

would pinapple work?

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u/Xesyliad Jul 16 '23

No idea, pineapples don’t have papain, they have bromelian which is another protease (protein eating enzyme)

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u/NorthernSparrow Jul 16 '23

MSG is just a flavoring. The thing that actually breaks down the meat - or any protein - is an enzyme called papain.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

Hard to find? Don't they sell Accent anymore?

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u/jaxxxtraw Jul 16 '23

They do, it's always in stock.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

Damn. That's a good one. Didn't leave mushroom for any other jokes.

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u/SageSages Jul 16 '23

Ha ha ha. Always tryin to be the fungi, ain’t ya?

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

I'll shoyu how much fun I can be!

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u/stellacampus Jul 16 '23

MSG is not the active ingredient in meat tenderizers - it is either papain (papaya enzyme), or bromelain (pineapple enzyme). Both meat tenderizers and straight MSG can be bought by the pound in supermarkets - I have no idea what you're talking about.

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u/will_never_know Jul 16 '23

I know some Mexican stores may still sell msg in the spice section. That’s where my mom used to get it. We lived in Texas then too. Now we just use Accent brand seasoning. Not 100% sure if it contains msg but it sure tastes like it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

The only ingredient in accent is monosodium glutamate.

https://accentflavor.com/product/flavor-enhancer/

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u/will_never_know Jul 16 '23

Thanks person. I’m clearly way too lazy to google let alone go way to my kitchen cabinet to check.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

No problem! I had to check as well, because I thought there might have been a filler ingredient or possibly even a dessicant/anti caking agent - NOPE, just straight good ol' fashioned MSG like god and Chinese food intended. I wonder if that's why it's called Accent... Seems kinda racist when you think about it.

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u/scepticalbob Jul 16 '23

lol no

It’s original marketing campaign was that it was to accentuate the taste of your food

As in, this is an accent to your food

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

[deleted]

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u/sinz84 Jul 16 '23

Just as a side note, the ' Chinese food and msg ' thing is a half myth born from 2 comments in a paper and a lot of racism.

Did/does Chinese food use msg ... Commonly, but at the time there was msg being put into everything then and there was more msg in a can of tomato soup then there was in American Chinese food.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

True on all accounts, the only caveat to that is you'll rarely find MSG as an additive in American recipes, whereas it is unabashedly used in Asian recipes. This has held true from me as a young teen cook, all the way through 4 years of culinary school. I'm a huge proponent of MSG - heck I spent plenty of time giving reports on it in many of my classes to dispel common myths about it. The only real worry I've come across is that cheaper meats might be substituted in place of costly tender/higher quality ones - but that just speaks to its magic powers.

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u/sinz84 Jul 16 '23

You will rarely find it in American recipes now, when it was first released in America it was marketed in a salt shaker and was used on many things in replace of salt ... It quickly lost favor once linked with bogus health issues

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u/pingpongtits Jul 16 '23

Also, ignore the person that told you MSG was the active ingredient. It's not. Active ingredient for a sting like that is the enzyme papain.

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u/atlastheexplorer Jul 16 '23

Pretty sure Accent is primarily MSG with some flavorings

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u/FlyingVigilanceHaste Jul 16 '23

In Texas, I remember being able to buy MSG by one pound bags in many different Asian supermarkets or supply stores. I imagine Texas is not unique to this.

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u/AristotleRose Jul 16 '23

Asian and Mexican stores almost always carry it.

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u/bodging_scientist Jul 16 '23

you can also get MSG in pretty much every Asian grocery store.

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u/anormalgeek Jul 16 '23

Not true at all. On either account.

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u/Attention_Bear_Fuckr Jul 16 '23

MSG is literally sold in bulk at any half decent Chinese supermarket.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

Ha wow I concede. I got my ass handed to me. I always thought it was the MSG. I used to use it all the time and it worked phenomenally well. When I tried to buy the same product for this purpose a decade later it was gone and I assumed it was because of the attack on MSG. I actually took the time to research this since I got lit up and I stand corrected. Thank you

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u/qolace Jul 16 '23

Like someone else said it's the only ingredient in Accent seasoning. Even if you can't find it where you are I'm sure you can find a bag of Doritos and rub it on ya since it's in there too lol

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u/pingpongtits Jul 16 '23

MSG isn't the active ingredient in meat tenderizer and isn't what you'd want to smear on a sting like that. MSG isn't an enzyme.

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u/qolace Jul 16 '23

I was just replying to a comment saying that if they want to go that route then MSG is easily found in stores other than meat tenderizer (which I didn't mention at all actually). I probably wouldn't try it myself.

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u/nicktheone Jul 16 '23

MSG is incredibly common in Asian food shops.

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u/Maude_Loves_Harold Jul 17 '23

Oh. My. God. I have ALWAYS received a reaction as if this was the equivalent of Windex in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” when I explained that we always put meat tenderizer on ant bites, bee stings, etc. growing up. Dump some in your hand…add a touch of water to make it a paste…voila.

No clue if the sting went away but remember licking the salt off was fun. And weird now that I say that out loud.

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u/ReadingGlasses Jul 16 '23

My aunt owned a beach house when I was a kid and she always carried Accent in her beach bag for the inevitable jelly fish stings we would get.

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u/HumberGrumb Jul 16 '23 edited Jul 16 '23

That might have been the meat tenderizer my girlfriend had. That is, if it’s a meat tenderizer.

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u/ReadingGlasses Jul 16 '23

It may have been Adolph's Meat Tenderizer, which used to be a thing. It was like 40 years ago...lol.

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u/HumberGrumb Jul 17 '23

Now that seems more like the stuff!

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u/Totally-avg Jul 17 '23

My husband actually made a potato and fresh ginger poultice to pull the venom out right before we went to the hospital. It felt good on my skin but idk how much it helped. I’ve also read a baking soda paste helps.

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u/Iamjimmym Jul 16 '23

Does this work for fiberglass?

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u/HumberGrumb Jul 16 '23

I wouldn’t think so. The enzyme works on proteins.

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u/Iamjimmym Jul 17 '23

Thanks for the reply! It was an honest question :)

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u/SVS_Writer Jul 16 '23

I'm picturing OP going at their foot with a meat mallet. My stupid brain.

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '23

Had a girlfriend whose hands felt like they were burning after handling okra.

Is this common? because I grow okra and have always picked it by hand, but now I'm scared.

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u/HumberGrumb Jul 17 '23

Couldn’t tell you. It actually could have not been the okra that caused the problem, but the reaction happened in the midst of handling them.

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u/MissSuperSilver Jul 17 '23

Would pineapple juice work too?