Yesterday I was pulling flowers and bagging dirt from about 50 flower pots so that the pots could be stowed for winter. At some point, I noticed that one of my fingers was tingling. A bit later, several fingers on both hands were tingling... and even burning. I should have taken the hint and put on gardening gloves, but I didn't. I thought I probably had picked up some micro-splinters... the kind that look like light fur on certain plant leaves and cactuses... no big deal. A little later, it felt like something actually stung me. That's when I got a clue and put on the gloves. Still, there was nothing to see: No rash, no swelling, no bugs, no splinters.
It's been about twenty hours and several of my fingers are still tingling. Whatever it is is finally subsiding, though.
I've about ruled out bug bites and stings. Many of the flower pots had small weeds that seemed inoccuous... they looked a bit like strawberry plants. I now suspect them to have been stinging nettles or close relatives. Their defense mechanism isn't as bad as a bee sting, but it's longer lasting and annoying as all get-out, especially since I've been hit in a dozen different places on both of my hands.
Live and learn. Next time I'll be more careful.
November 19, 2019
The Stinging Nettle Made My Finger Go Numb
Written by Ellen Douglas
sfgate.com
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) grows throughout much of the United States and is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 2 through 9. It comes by both the "stinging" part of its common name and the "urtica," which means "burn," part of its botanical name honestly. Touching the wild plant without gloves can lead to burning, itching, welts and numbness. Because the plant loses its prickly qualities with heat, stinging nettle is a welcome springtime spinachlike food for foragers and also is used to make what some people consider a therapeutic tea. Whether you grasp a stinging nettle on purpose or without thinking, knowing how to avoid the stinging and numbness that result is crucial when working where the plant may be present.
Botanical Composition
The physical structure and chemical compounds of stinging nettle combine to deliver a defensive one-two punch to anyone who grasps or even brushes against the plant. Stinging nettle's ability to defend itself comes from the nearly invisible hairs on its leaves and stems. Each hair includes a breakaway structure at its tip that activates when touched. After the hair's tip breaks away and stays in skin, its needlelike system reacts and injects irritants into the skin. These irritants include histamine and acetylcholine.
Impact
When your fingers or other body parts touch stinging nettle's leaves or stems, the histamine and acetylcholine in the nettle hairs cause your body to release its own histamine as a defense measure. If, for example, you grasp stinging nettle with your hand, you can expect immediate feelings of intense itching and burning in your fingers and palm. The feelings often linger for most of the day, although they settle into a numbness or tingling after several hours.
Preventive Measures
When you weed or gather stinging nettle, the two most obvious methods of avoiding the numbness associated with touching the wild plant is to wear protective clothing and to learn to recognize the plant before touching it. Put on thick gloves, thick socks, a long-sleeved shirt and long plant before pulling or clipping stinging nettle and/or when preparing it for consumption. Stinging nettle grows in meadows, on roadsides and along streams, and it has been reported in all U.S. states except Arkansas and Hawaii. Foragers gather the plant in early spring while it is still under 1 foot in height; stinging nettle ultimately reaches 3 to 20 feet in height and grows in large clumps. The plant is multistemmed with coarsely toothed leaves that are alternate, rather than exactly opposite each other, on the stems and either oval or lance-shaped. When examined closely, the plant's fine hairs are apparent on the upper surface of its leaves and on its stems. Stinging nettle has delicate, whitish-green sprays of tiny flowers that form arching spikes.
Nettle Control
Eradicate stinging nettle only in high-use areas where it can compromise your physical health or ability to grow food or cash crops, recommends a University of California Integrated Pest Management Online website article. Otherwise, people in western U.S. states are urged to leave the native plant unharmed as much as possible. If you want to remove it, wear protective clothing, grasp the plant near its base and pull it out of the ground from that position in order to remove the entire root system. Hoeing the affected ground once or twice only causes the root system to break up, allowing stinging nettle to multiply.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/stinging-nettle-made-finger-numb-90220.html
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