It all started with innocence. A few years ago while walking the trail at the El Modena Open Space in Orange, I lost my balance and dropped my arms for stability. That’s when I backhanded a coastal prickly pear cactus.
As I looked up, my right wrist and hand looked like the recipients of an acupuncture session from a small child: half a dozen toothpick-like spines buried in my skin at different depths. Channeling the rigors of the ancient Spartans (or at least Gerard Butler’s “300”), I pulled out each spine one by one. I felt like I had been bitten by a number of bees but it wasn’t something Ibuprofen could handle. I finished my race, then went home to have the puncture cleaned and bandaged.
Over the next few days my hand and wrist began to throb to the point of wandering. The area was injured and swollen, and the slightest movement caused a lot of pain – to the point where I couldn’t even type. I tried to reduce the severity of the injury, but after about a week, the pain persisted and I developed a fever and a hot pink rash around the puncture. I finally texted my doctor. His answer: Come in now, or go to ER.
I went to his office and got a blood test and X-ray. Diagnosis: A secondary bacterial infection develops on top of the swollen joints.
Fortunately, after a few weeks of not being able to use my right arm for the simplest tasks, and after losing about a week’s work, I recovered. But I am now well aware of the lesser known potential dangers of cactus sucking.
There is a hotbed for California cactus –35 varieties Call the state home – and the coastal prickly pear is the most common in the Los Angeles area. Is scientifically known Opuntia littoralisAccording to John Trigger, curator of the Desert Collection at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, coastal prickly pears are native to Southern California and are important to the ecosystem.
Coastal Pearly Pear Cactus (Opuntia littoralis).
(John Trigger / The Huntington)
The long blooming flowers of an evergreen, prickly pear with dense clusters of oval-shaped green trees are a source of pollen and nectar for bees. (Not to mention, pads and fuchsia-colored fruits play a delicious role in Mexican cuisine.)
Yet, as dear as they are, the coastal Princley pear is, in Trigger’s opinion, one of the worst cacti. Their backs are a double-edged sword of 12-inch beige needles – the classic spikes we’re used to seeing – and small, transparent glochy, hairy little needles that are hard to see but harmful. Both types of spines are prickly and difficult to remove, and they cover the surface of the pads. “With all these recorded barbs, it’s harpoon-like,” said Trigger. “It’s easy to see why it’s so hard to get the spinal cord out.” A 2018 study Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found that a similar type of cactus, the backbone of a robe can lift a half-pound piece of pork (shaking!).
Before you close the area trails and rid your landscaping of cactus, know that my complications were minimal. Trigger estimates that during his nearly 40-year career at Huntington, he has bitten himself at least once a month, and has never had a bacterial infection or the need for emergency medical attention.
“It’s usually just superficial irritability, which lasts from a few days to a few weeks at its worst, and it clears up,” he said. But cactus puncture needs to be taken seriously. The plant’s backs are covered with dirt, which “collects all kinds of debris, and is so dirty that it can infect you,” Trigger said. In addition to bacterial or fungal infections, cactus injuries have other side effects. Recorded spinal cord Need surgery Osteoarthritis of plant thornsNecrosis and tetanus.
Here’s what to do if you are bitten by a seagull pear or any species of cactus:
1. Work fast.
Try to remove the spinal cord immediately. “Don’t wait for hours,” said Dr. Farid Banimahad, an emergency medicine doctor, wound care specialist and owner of the WoundCareOC clinic in Santa Ana. “You start having reactions around the spinal cord and you start getting tissue around it, and it’s hard to get out. As long as those little spines are there, they will be upset.
2. But don’t pull uncomfortably.
Wear gloves when you stretch your spine. If you’re in the woods and bare hands are the only option for you, Trigger recommends keeping an eye on which direction you’re heading. Make sure the spinal cord does not fly over your face, your clothes or anyone else. And do not touch your face or anything else until you have thoroughly rinsed your hands, which may contain hidden glochids.
3. Try different strategies.
Tweezers are the overall MVP for removing the long spine and glottis, according to both Trigger and Banimahd. Deeper vertebrae may require a stronger grip, in which case using a trigger player or hemostat clamp. Either way, he said, hurry up. “It’s actually better to shake them off and get them out in one fell swoop.”
For hair-like glochids, light and sticky are the way to go. Because glochids are difficult to see, Trigger prefers to use sunlight backlighting. Flashlights and smartphone lights also work.
Cover the punctured area with a sticky to make sure you have removed all the glochids on the surface. When peeled off the skin, the adhesive can remove the remaining glochid. Trigger has tried duct tape, and in the emergency room Banimahd uses a skin-protective glue and gauze. Rubber cement or hair removal wax works the same way.
Whatever you do, don’t use your teeth, as a friend of Trigger did. “He had an incident where he pulled them out with his teeth and accidentally took a glochy breath,” said Trigger. “It didn’t feel good in the throat.”
Don’t worry if you can’t get everything out. Trigger has a broken spinal cord that was too deep or difficult to remove. “In that case, it’s usually two or three more than a week when it works its way up,” he said.
4. Clean and monitor the area.
According to Banimahd, the simplest way to care for a wound is the simplest: rinse with water. “Even if there is no soap, you want to irrigate very well with water, all the wounds, whatever.”
Turn your faucet into a full blast and flush the skin for several minutes, and do not clean it with anything other than mild soap. That’s right: no hydrogen peroxide, no iodine or alcohol. Why? “These things are irritating,” Banimahad said, “and it makes the tissue tear.”
Wash the punctures, cover them with a clean bandage, then keep an eye on them. If you start to see a reaction – redness, swelling or blisters (fluid-filled blisters) – Benimahd suggests applying 1% hydrocortisone cream to calm the inflammatory reaction and triple antibiotic ointment to prevent infection.
Get medical help if infection starts. The symptoms are classic: “Redness, pain, swelling, discharge of pus, fever, nausea and vomiting. If it starts to progress, I won’t mess with it. You need to go in and take antibiotics inside your mouth or veins. “You may also need a tetanus booster and imaging as I did.
5. Prevent future injuries by evaluating your yard and surroundings.
If you have children or pets, it may not be helpful to have a cactus in your landscaping, especially if it is a prinkly pear species. Even if you avoid being bitten by long spines, Trigger said, a little brush against the plant can release glochids, which “float around and get into your skin and make you itch after a while.”
It goes without saying that shaking a beach pear should be left to chance. For example, for small or less endangered cactus, inspect the species and consult a safety professional before attempting to transport it. Triggers and crews at Huntington typically use gloves, eyewear, and various tweezers and forceps to handle cactus and prevent it from being planted.