Dude! That is harsh, I have been there many times. My friend got stuck a couple months ago and still has a little piece of needle stuck under his skin, he says it is driving him insane. Sometimes he just starts yelling and cussing about it. Good luck.
Folding scissors to cut off the ball from the needles. Then folding pliers to pull out each needle. Think pizza & beer the whole time while pulling them out.
Ouch! I once removed one from the forearm of I guy I came across on Alta trail @ SOMO. All I had was a leatherman on me, and I ripped it out of his skin................after a few tries! He was a tough SOB, barely flinched. Heck, he bombed down Alta with no helmet on, what should I have expected?
full finger gloves are not going to save you from that unless they have the plastic shell on the knuckles and fingers. That might be worth the investment, or just don't cut corners!
I was told about the comb trick when I first went out into the desert here, so I started taking a comb on my hikes and rides. When I got one on my calf, I sat on a rock, pulled out the comb and placed it behind the grabby cholla ball.
The comb worked perfectly except for one thing, it popped off and went right onto my other calf. I never carried a comb again, the folding scissors & pliers work better. If you use a comb, aim it at somebody else.
Well, the bruising is a bit better, I have like a hundred pin pricks and my finger joints are swollen but I can make a fist ! Which means - I can go riding again !
I had that swelling when I stuck my hand on barrel cactus on BCT. I was on climb just after the boyscout loop and got off balance had two choices. 1) Have 90% chance of falling into foot tall barrel cactus or 2) Put my hand on it to keep myself up right. I chose number 2.
I only had 5-6 spins in my hand, but with in 40 seconds my hand locked up. 5 min late I could ride again so I finished my ride, but the hand got swollen for the next 2 days. It did get better over time and for while I was soaking the hand in bucket of warm water and Epsom Salt. Seemed to help.
granuloma formation, the cacti spines leave a small amount of foreign body in the tissue which causes chronic inflammation, surgeon could remove the granuloma
I had an agave needle go deep into the first joint of my forefinger several years ago (like at least 5 years). Took a good year to get range of motion back, but still to this day is swollen.
Last January on the Gila100, I did a knee plant into a prickly pear. I still have needles in me trying to work their way out. Evil plants...
I thought it was just me that had a swelling reaction to cactus needles. I was not paying attention and ran over a cholla ball in the trail and the front tire picked it up and threw it on my shinbone.
Chollas and other cactii will one day evolve to defend themselves from mountain bike tires. They'll develop a special hook-knife needle capable of puncturing both tires, slicing the sidewalls, and communicating with nearby chollas to jump on you while you're fixing a flat. They'll become so fearsome we'll all become roadies in search of safety.
Hope you heal up fast, expect you're going to be in a world of pain for the next few days.
Need to get me some of those to put in the corners of the new trail I just made Lots of off camber, swoopy corners and guys are cutting them loads trying to stay ahead of, or catch up to others. Think maybe I'll stick to just finding some big a$$ rocks instead or maybe a thorn bush or two
I remember one of my first rides I clipped a cactus with my hand. I kept getting sharp pains in one of my knuckles, bad enough to wake me up at night. A few days later, a cactus needle was pushed out of the knuckle. Surprised that such a little thing hurt so bad. I crashed into another one, shoulder first, at the top of Goat Camp a while back, and I actually still have a big needle in my shoulder. That one hurt for a while too. But after a recent run in with a cactus testicle on my calf, I carry a comb now.
Seems like it's an inevitability riding in the desert.
I will never again complain about getting tagged by briar branches on the trail here in the NE. I would rather look like I fought off a dozen feral cats than get stuck by one of those evil looking cacti.
Man, I feel you pain!! Was up in the carefree area paintballing and had one of those driven into my arm by a paintball moving about 280 FPS (We try to stay under 300 FPS) Those things are no joke. 4 times I been near them and 4 times they got me, working, playing, riding...
that could have been what was going on.
The ring formation made me think it was some kind of fungal infection that the thorns left behind. It cleared up rather abruptly a few months ago. Here's an old photo from at least two years after I fingered the cholla. :skep:
I just got some cholla in my arm this am. Sucks getting them out. Still getting used to needing lights on the 5am rides again.
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