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Bracken splinters (Read 1188 times)

spidermonkey09

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Bracken splinters
December 02, 2020, 08:56:32 am
At eatswood a few weeks ago I was cleaning some bracken out of the top break above Corpse Crack and got a massive splinter in my thumb. It hurt like fuck and was buried really deep. Luckily I had some tweezers so pulled it out straight away, washed it with water and taped it before going home. It was painful for the next few days but started to get better so thought it was job done. However a few weeks later there is still some pain in the thumb and at the entry point there is a weird white mass below the skin, presumably scar tissue. I still can't use the thumb normally; eg pushing buttons without pain, wide pinching, applying pressure to it.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much of this can be put down to toxins in the bracken and the fact it really was quite a big splinter; there seems to be no pus below the surface or really severe inflammation so don't think it warrants a visit to the GP quite yet! Anyone had anything similar? I had a lot of similar splinters from blackthorn on a gardening job a few years ago and this reminds me a bit of that in terms of the inflammation that resulted, so might be some bacteria on the bracken? Seems a bit OTT for a splinter I know but given I need this thumb to crimp perhaps I'm overly cautious about it!

tomtom

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#1 Re: Bracken splinters
December 02, 2020, 09:11:37 am
Maybe there are some small fragments - or bits of dirt/dead bark etc.. still stuck up there and your thumb is slowly working them out. I doubt its infected otherwise it would have swollen up - glands - mild fever etc...

I 'think' that bracken is only poisonous if eaten (though cooked correctly the fresh shoots are a delicacy - apparently). (edit after some googling)

Quote
Bracken Toxicity
Bracken should not be eaten, either by humans or livestock, since it contains carcinogens linked with oesophageal and stomach cancer. Eating the young fronds, considered a delicacy in Japan and parts of North America, is not recommended.

The encroachment of bracken into grazing land reduces the area of useful farmland year by year since livestock cannot be allowed to eat it.

People who have spent all their lives living amongst bracken and breathing in the spores may be at higher risk of getting some cancers, but the danger to the general population and to casual visitors in bracken-infested areas is negligible.

People gathering bracken for composting or eradication purposes are advised not to do so in late summer when the spores are released, particularly in dry weather.

To add to the above, Bracken is also teratogenic - causes mutations in the young.

Anyway - I'm waffling... you've not got bracken pox :D

 

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