Anybody ever touch a cactus?

I got into them last week hiking in Zion NP. I set my hiking poles down to take a picture and inadvertantly laid the handles on one of those cacti with tiny needles. Grabbed the handles and yeowch, I had two handfuls of nearly invisible hairlike needles. They were more of an irrittion than painful for me as I kept getting them imbedded all day. I used some tape to pull them out. Since your daughter won't let you touch them, try Elmer's glue. Pour it on and let it dry. Then peel it off. If that doesn't get them, try duct tape. Good luck and I hope she feels better!

Edited by mdg2003 2013-09-29 8:35 AM

Nothing at all the next day for me. Once I got them out I was fine the day it happened. Maybe she's experiencing some sort of mild allergic reaction to needles. Would aloe vera or Calomine lotion soothe the areas that hurt? Heck, try some aloe vera based sunburn lotion.

Edited by mdg2003 2013-09-29 9:49 AM

I was totally going to suggest white glue too when I started reading.

There is some goop out there called drawing salve that might help as well.

Tucson guy here, so been in cactus before.
Good advice on getting the needles out above.

However, depending on the cactus, many of their needles can have irritants on them. So the discomfort can last awhile. I think everyone had good advice though.

The only suggestion I have that hasn't already been said would be to use some Benadryl lotion on her hands and give her some OTC allergy meds to help with the discomfort.

My 11 year old son stepped on a cactus last October on a beach camping trip. We thought we got all the stickers out. A couple of weeks later, he started experiencing soreness and heat in his foot. Doc said must be irritated, prescribed antibiotic.

By December, a sort of callous area had formed where the cactus was. Doc decided need to explore and see if some of the cactus was still in foot. Due to son's age, they insisted on putting him under. Went in on Dec. 31, cut open foot to find large piece of cactus with barb on end. Explains why we didn't get it out initially. Anyway, $4,500 dollars later, his foot has healed. I think hospital bill was close to 9k.