beware of rose thorns

[mark smyth]

three weeks ago while trying to take a division off a new hardy Geranium for a garden visitor I spiked my finger on a rose thorn. I had put down rose stems to stop cats crapping in the bed.

The would hasnt healed yet but the pain has gone.

When I was a wee boy we used to say thorns were tipped with poison. I think we were correct

[maggiepie]

Mark, I hope you have had a tetanus booster in the last few years.

[majallison]

Eeeuuww!

[mark smyth]

Mark, I hope you have had a tetanus booster in the last few years.

can't remember when I last had one

[Lori S.]

Whenever I get a little puncture wound like that, that doesn't heal quickly, it's because there's a bit of thorn still embedded.

[annew]

Just what I was thinking, Lori. I think it looks like there's still something in there. A trip to the doctors is called for.

[mark smyth]

I had to remove a scab twice to let out pus. Second time the thorn tip came also. My finger has been like this for a week

[Lesley Cox]

A few years ago the wife of one of our late (deceased) nurserymen spiked her finger on a rose thorn. It didn't heal properly and went septic. In the finish she lost her whole finger, needing to be amputated. Don't take such injuries lightly.

[TheOnionMan]

Mark, that is why I follow a particular garden rule, no thorny plants allowed, even if that means no roses.  I just hate getting jabbed with thorns and spiny plants.

[Anthony Darby]

Be careful Mark. If the wound gets bigger it could be infected. Lucy got impetigo from sand fly bites, not from the flies themselves, but from scratching skin bacteria into them. She needed antibiotics.

[Maren]

Hi Mark,
it looks to me also as if there is something left. If the thorn came out, it is quite possible that a piece was left behind. It obviously went in very deep. Best see your doctor, you don't want to lose your dibber finger

[Paul T]

Mark,

Not fun, and does the same to me as well.  Some of the Rosaceae have a coating on the thorn, a whitish powder that I think may be the culprit.  Pyracantha (Firethorn) for example can cause problems for months after a stabbing, as can some of the thorns that appear on some of the Prunus species.  It isn't just that the tip is sometimes left behind (which with roses is often the problem), but rather that some people react to this substance on the thorn.  It looks a bit like the bloom on the skin of a plum.... a bit like a fine white powder.  I am assuming that this is what is causing the problem.  I always react to roses, and it isn't just from tips left behind.  I think some of us are just sensitive types. 

[maggiepie]

Anyone who gardens should have a tetanus booster every ten years.

Just google gardener + tetanus