What to Do If You Get Pricked by a Cactus? Detailed Guide to the Correct Treatment

The cactus is also known as the immortal's palm, overlord tree, ox tongue, and so on. It is a clumping succulent shrub plant of the genus Opuntia in the family Cactaceae, with a great many varieties that can be divided into the prickly pear cactus group, the segmented cactus group, the crab claw cactus, the leaf-type forest cactus group, the globular cactus, and so on. It often grows in dry environments such as deserts and is called the “hero flower of the desert”. Now let us take a look together at what to do if you get pricked by a cactus!

Which part of the cactus are the spines?

The spines of the cactus evolved from leaves. The green body is the stem, which can replace green leaves in carrying out photosynthesis to produce nutrients, while the green leaves that should originally have produced nutrients have degenerated into needle-like spines, becoming slender and hard. The cactus's living environment is the dry, rain-scarce desert, and the needle-shaped leaves reduce the transpiration area to the minimum, while those sharp, hard needle-like spines can effectively prevent it from being eaten by animals in the desert.

Are cactus spines poisonous?

Cactus spines are generally non-toxic, but some cacti contain alkaloids and have weak toxicity, and at the same time have a nerve-numbing function. After entering the skin along with the spines, they can cause the skin to become red and swollen and make a person feel pain and itching. If not handled well, they can also cause redness, swelling, or purulent infection, so you should still take care not to be injured by cactus spines.

What to do if you get pricked by a cactus?

1. After being pricked by a cactus, be sure not to rub it, as this will break off the tips of the spines on the surface. Use your mouth or a hair dryer to blow air at the part pricked by the cactus.

2. Wrap a hot dough ball around the surface of the pricked palm, gently rotate the fingers, endure a little stinging pain, and after doing this back and forth several times, discard or throw away the dough ball.

3. Use a magnifying glass to check whether there are still small spine-like objects that have not been removed at the pricked area. If there are no spines but there is still a stinging sensation, first stop and observe for five to ten minutes.

4. After being pricked by a cactus, the above treatment will almost always leave no problem. If there is still some, repeat the above steps until the painful sensation disappears, then apply sesame oil and everything will be fine.