Re: unfortuanate rose pruning incident

on 1/19/04 8:08 AM, Reid Family at pkssreid@comcast.net wrote:
c.  
> 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.

> Has anyone else ever had such a reaction or heard of it?  Does it sound like
> something to be concerned about?

Karrie,

Roses have been my specialty for half a century, and I care for large
gardens with lots of rose plants that I prune all year long, so I sympathize
with you.  I find rose punctures near the knuckles to be particularly
exasperating.  They often seem to hit a muscle or a nerve, making them
especially painful.  Your description suggests that, indeed, you have an
infection of some sort.  Before running off to the doctor, I recommend that
you wash the wound well, try squeezing it to make sure that a fragment of
thorn is not still under the skin and repeatedly sticking you, then apply
some Neosporin ointment and cover with a band-aid to give it time to absorb.
Repeat 3-4 hours later.  Removing any piece of thorn that might be present
is especially important, since it may be a reservoir of the infection as
well as a mechanical irritant, and healing will be very slow as long as it
is there.

I have found that healing rose thorn injuries is much easier and quicker
since I have been taking a liquid silicon supplement called BioSil,
available from any health-food store (I take 10 drops daily in water).  It
has thickened up my aging skin and made it more supple and perhaps a bit
tougher.

John MacGregor
South Pasadena, CA 91030
USDA zone 9   Sunset zones 21/23
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