unfortuanate rose pruning incident

Fellow gardners:
 
Does anyone else besides me find it impossible to prune shrub roses without getting a bit scratched up?  I wear long sleeves and long, gloves, neverless, I end up scratched in the oddest places as the long canes whip around, and I force my way into the mish-mash to relieve the much-dreaded crossing canes scenario.  Anyhoo, my skin has always had a bit of a tough time with rose scratches, getting inflamed and taking forever to heal, perhaps because I just always ignore them.  Not too long ago, I read somewhere that roses can host an array of bacteria and that their wounds should be thoroughly cleansed, etc.  Yesterday, while pruning a particularly vigorous Graham Thomas, I was pricked in a couple of places.  The one I cleaned the quickest (because, as my son noticed, it was gushing blood) and covered with a band-aid before reinserting into my dirty gloves, is fine.  The one on the back of my hand, on my middle finger knuckle is a bit gnarly this morning.  My hand is so stiff that making a fist is painful.  The whole knuckle is red and swollen and painful to the touch.   Now, I have to confess, I have a rather unnatural fear of necrotizing fasciitis (brought on at childhood by the eroded face of a distant cousin who had been spider-bit in her sleep.), but this seems to me a nonetheless extreme reaction to a tiny rose thorn prick.
 
Has anyone else ever had such a reaction or heard of it?  Does it sound like something to be concerned about?  I just hate running to the doctor, but I know how quickly some bacteria can spread.
On the verge of a freak-out in Folsom,
Karrie Reid
Folsom Foothill Gardener
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index