As an avid year-round swimmer I cannot but be concerned about the the large numbers of jellyfish that have been invading our shores in the past two years.

On several occasions I have been the victim of nasty stings given by these horrendous creatures.

What irritates me as much as a jellyfish sting is the treatment advice given by well-intentioned people.

A case in point was last Sunday. Two gentlemen, Mark Gatt in The Sunday Times and Prof. Schembri writing in The Malta Independent on Sunday gave diametrically opposed versions for treating jellyfish stings.

Mr Gatt advised not to rinse the sting with fresh water while the good professor recommended to rinse the sting with fresh water.

Again Mr Gatt advised that the preferred treatment was white vinegar while the professor actually wrote that the application of vinegar could actually make the problem worse.

Despite all this confusion over the treatment of jellyfish stings, the two gentlemen’s advice is appreciated.

Incidentally, I have used both these two gentlemen’s recommendations plus a few of my own, but nothing seems to work.

One could say “rubbing salt into the wound”.

Saviour Grech

SLIEMA