I got got by giant hogweed

[reb78]

A couple of days ago I was tidying up some rough ground with the strimmer. A day or so later I noticed some marks on my arm - nothing unusual I thought and just reckoned I had caught it on some brambles. We went to the beach on Friday and the marks looked worse, a little blistered really. I showed a friend yesterday who is a tree surgeon and he immediatley said it looked like a reaction to giant hogweed - this all ties in and the thing I thought was just cow parsley probably is giant hogweed and obviously the sun had irritated the affected skin.

I slapped some factor 50 on my arm to protect against the UV but is there anything else that helps?

 

[sako243]

If it's only an arm better just amputate it!

 

[Bullet2012]

You require the following.
1) a contractor to do the trimming etc.
2) Decent Sunglasses, so you can watch the scantily clads on the beach

 

[daleyd]

Even the common hogweed can cause the reaction, usually much less severe than the giant variety but similar - if you’ve been strimming then this smashes the sap out and makes it worse.

Is Common Hogweed Poisonous? - Mo Wilde

2020 update: the following is a quote of mine that I use when teaching people who come on my foraging courses. It brings a smile and helps people to understand… Read More

monicawilde.com

 

[Seadog]

The affected areas are likely to remain photosensitive for years.

 

[reb78]

The affected areas are likely to remain photosensitive for years.

I read that. Thats depressing!

 

[Seadog]

I'd speak to my doctor. Steroid creams help.

 

[mike os]

Get out of the sun or cover the affected areas, speak to gp

 

[Brad93]

Overalls and face shields are a must when strimming or cutting where there is anything but grass.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I got exactly the same with the hogweed using a brush cutter, hand swelled up. Iirc, the Doc gave me cream.

 

[brightspark]

its bad news that stuff .theres tons of it all along the riverbank and even on the viaduct and peoples gardens. cover it up and see the doc for advice . it grows to ten foot tall round here

 

[reb78]

I've never come across the stuff before but this will certainly make me more cautious. My arm isn't too bad to be honest - just small spots affected where the strimmer has obviously spattered the sap, so no massive swelling or anything. Initially I thought it was impetigo once it started to blister! Sounds like you had it worse Slim_boy

 

[Seadog]

It's also equally as nasty when dead and dried up.

 

[reb78]

Will ammonium sulphamate kill the stuff if sprayed on the leaves?

 

[Gritineye]

When I was a kid we had some enormous hog weed on our land, dad told us never to touch it.

Red rag to a bull, we spent ages planning how to cut it all down with penknives (remember them?) without being poisoned, which we managed to do without dying!

Kids eh....

 

[Seadog]

Will ammonium sulphamate kill the stuff if sprayed on the leaves?

Definitely, but see my previous comment. It needs to be burnt.

 

[reb78]

Definitely, but see my previous comment. It needs to be burnt.

Great. Got it. What a pain!

 

[reb78]

So I think its these buggers? Not sure if these are hogweed or small giant hogweed. At least i know the difference with cow parsley now!

 

[mike os]

Best advice is if it looks like that tread carefully, there are too many similar plants to be certain and they are often mixed clumps

 

[magnet]

When I was a kid we had some enormous hog weed on our land, dad told us never to touch it.

Red rag to a bull, we spent ages planning how to cut it all down with penknives (remember them?) without being poisoned, which we managed to do without dying!

Kids eh....

When we were kids we used to fell hogweed along the local riverbank with stones from our catapults. Oh Happy dayz