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Recently, a man was tending to his house plant when a split-second decision left him covered in painful thorns.
Joe, a garden enthusiast, was transplanting his cactus when he accidentally grabbed the plant to pull it up, forgetting about its spikes.
Hundreds of sharp cactus spines, also known as glochidia, immediately embedded themselves in Joe’s hand.
‘Oops! I made a big mistake transplanting a cactus,’ he shared along with a picture of his injured hand. “I had to buy wax strips to get them off.”
The tiny needles look like small hairs, but can be dangerous if not treated immediately; Millions of people describe the sensation as “thousands of needles pricking you at once.”
Hundreds of sharp cactus spines embedded in Joe’s hand
While cactus needles are not poisonous to humans or animals, leaving them on the skin can cause an infection due to bacteria or fungi on their surface.
Needles going through the muscle can also cause abscesses.
Some of the safest ways to remove thorns from cacti is to first use sterilized tweezers to remove the large thorns.
You can then use household glue or wax strips to remove the glochidia.
If you are concerned that some spikes may still remain on your skin or if you are experiencing pain or swelling, it is recommended to see a doctor immediately.
Joe isn’t the only one who made the mistake of touching a cactus, and hundreds shared their experiences.
“I was in a plant store and a kid knocked over a cactus and I instinctively caught it and it had spikes all over it,” one man shared. “I just took them out one by one.”
Another revealed: ‘I used to have a little cactus on the dashboard of my car. One day I braked particularly hard, he fell and my instinctive reaction was to catch him.’
One joked: “I’ve always wanted to touch a cactus to see if it really hits you and this answers my question so thank you for your sacrifice.”