I've been pricked by this tree branch- will my finger be okay?

[busybeebusymee]

We have this three in our garden- I don't know what it's called- and I've been pricked by one of its b*stard thorny branches and now have a very painful finger. I'm surprised by how painful and swollen my finger is as a result- should I be worried? I can't use my finger properly and warm water on it feels like scorching. There's a bit of the thorn left in my finger but trying to get it out last night pushed it further in.

I'm a gardener and it has never crossed my mind. I've had loads of splinters and thorns stuck in me over the years, and never had anything like that happen. Never heard of it happening to anyone else either. The only thing you need to be aware of is tetanus (and cat poo if you're pregnant and they use your flower beds as a lavatory).

I use work gloves when dealing with thorny plants - the ones with reinforced palms so you can handle broken glass and ceramic tiles with. They're cheap, which is more than I can say for the admittedly lovely specialist gardening gloves you can get.

I use these and they are really good (very little gets through them. I can handle bramble safely):

amzn.eu/d/duT59Yk

I don’t know anyone it’s happened to either! It’s more the annual news story about someone losing all their limbs that reminds me and every time I get a prick I am thinking you better not be!!! 🤣

I have cats so wasn’t concerned with that when pregnant, nor am I scared of tetanus as been vaccinated.

Most of my gardening injuries have been completely bizarre and probably quite outing 🤣 I might name change and do a garden injury thread actually!

Get well soon op 💐

It’s so unlikely. It’s SUPER rare! I just wanted you to know because it is really serious and most people might feel silly going back for a worsening thorn prick. But you absolutely should if in any doubt!

Personally I just use normal gloves. My top tips are not to try touching it at all! Never found any that are actually 100% thorn proof. I use blunt secateurs to pull them out, or the shears wound round. So you cut then light pinch and drag into whatever your putting it in. Cut anything that doesn’t compress rather than trying to compact it.

Personally I just use normal gloves. My top tips are not to try touching it at all! Never found any that are actually 100% thorn proof. I use blunt secateurs to pull them out, or the shears wound round. So you cut then light pinch and drag into whatever your putting it in. Cut anything that doesn’t compress rather than trying to compact it.

Rigger type gloves offer some protection from eg brambles but some of these big thorns can go through all sorts (tip.... don't walk around in crocs if you've just been pruning pyracantha etc...).

I find the 'anvil' type of loppers are very good for cutting and then pinch&dragging.

I'm glad most people take this subject seriously. Problems may be very, very rare but the consequences can be serious - I had a relative develop septicaemia from a blackthorn prick (fortunately she realised and got timely treatment). I've got into the habit of making sure I wash any scratches well and then savlon them when I come in from prickly encounters - why not, I've never had a tube of the stuff finish before it's expiry date so may as well use it.

I've rather skimmed the thread so if no one else has mentioned it - it's a really good idea to get in the habit of using some sort of eye protection if you don't wear glasses. Safety glasses are easily obtainable, or just sunglasses in good weather. I've got ongoing eye irritation years after managing to poke one on a tough grass stalk, such a stupid avoidable thing.

Thank you everyone- I'm new to gardening and would've never in a million years thought trees and shrubs could be an occupational hazard- unless they fell directly on your head! My finger is still painful and swollen and there's also a hard lump of some sort around it. It's also itching like made. My palm feels fuzzy this morning too. I felt feverish yesterday and today feel achey all over. I'm on my way to the hand clinic. I'm hoping they tell me there's nothing to worry about.

Good point re: wearing protective eyewear @ErrolTheDragon. I almost grazed my eye against a holly leaf the day this finger prick happened 🤦🏻‍♀️ As for taking such injuries seriously- I was anxious going into hospital on Saturday because I didn't want the medical staff laugh/shout at me for being a wimp/wasting their time. I was pleasantly surprised in fact how they'd told me I'd done the right thing coming in because a small thing like this could become very serious, very quickly.

New fear unlocked. Hope you get your hand seen to quickly at clinic, OP - fuzziness etc sounds odd!

Ashamed to say I sometimes start a bit of weeding without gloves if I suddenly spot a bit... Definitely going to be more cautious now!

Feverish and achy definite suggest infection, so you're right to go back in.

Just been seen by the hand consultant and apparently one of the two nerves running at the top of my fingers has been irritated by the thorn hence the lasting tenderness and fuzziness in this finger. I've been encouraged to keep moving it and not let it become too stiff. I've now been referred to the physiotherapy team 😳 and have another follow-up with the consultant next Friday. Apparently I was absolutely right to come into hospital on Friday and wasn't being a nuisance at all!

Hospital on Saturday*

Not sure if it's an urban legend. But a friend said that a friend... was cutting back pyracantha, and had it spring back and lance their eyeball. Even if it isn't a true story, then it's a very useful reminder to be careful. I have had untold hawthorns pierce and splinter me. Eventually the thorns seem to work their way out. Even a small thorn can be pretty numbing.

The horror stories are very rare but a friend of mine who is a professional gardener was hospitalised with sepsis from a gardening scratch.

Obviously she gets loads of scratches and this was only a one off, but it can happen so it’s wise not to ignore any symptoms that persist - as OP has discovered.