What to Do If You Get Pricked by a Cactus? Here's the Correct Way to Handle It

The cactus, also known as xianbazhang, bawangshu, niushedou and so on, is a clumping succulent shrub plant of the genus Opuntia in the family Cactaceae. It comes in a wide variety of types, which can be divided into pad cacti, segmental cacti, crab claw cacti, leaf-type forest cacti, spherical cacti and so on. It often grows in dry environments such as deserts and is called the "hero flower of the desert". Let's take a look below at what to do if you get pricked by a cactus!

Which Part of the Cactus Are the Spines?

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

Are Cactus Spines Poisonous?

Cactus spines are generally non-toxic, but some cacti contain alkaloids and have weak toxicity. They also have a nerve-numbing function. After entering the skin along with the spines, they can cause skin redness and swelling and make people feel pain and itching. If not handled well, they can also cause redness, swelling, or purulent infection, so you should still be careful not to get 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 area pricked by the cactus.

2. Wrap a hot dough ball around the surface of the pricked palm, gently rotate the fingers, and endure a slight stinging sensation. 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, uncleared spine-like objects in the pricked area. If there are no spines but there is still a stinging sensation, stop first and observe for five to ten minutes.

4. After being pricked by a cactus, the above treatment will almost always solve the problem. If it persists, repeat the above steps until the pain disappears, then apply sesame oil and everything will be fine.