How To Treat a Thorn Puncture Wound

Stepping on or getting scratched by a thorn when you're in the garden can be really painful and can lead to infection and even a host of nasty diseases (tetanus, sporotrichosis, plant-thorn synovitis, or mycetoma, anyone?). This is even more of a risk if you've been actively gardening rather than casually brushing past a rose bush because of the dirt and soil that might already be on your skin. Luckily, it's easy enough to treat thorn injuries with some simple first-aid treatments. Read on to find out how.

First things first: If the thorn remains embedded in your skin, remove it before doing anything else. If it's a large thorn, it makes sense to remove it before even washing the area because you probably won't feel like hopping to the bathroom with a large thorn in your foot. Pull it out using some clean tweezers with pointed ends (forceps). If the thorn is too small to get a good grip on it, wash the affected area with soap and water and use a disinfected needle to push the splinter out of your skin.

Using a mild soap and warm water, wash the affected area well, paying particular attention to removing soil or dirt. Gently scrub with a clean, wet cloth to remove dirt if necessary. If you have some available in your first-aid kit, wash the area with a saline solution for extra sterilization.

Apply an antibiotic cream, like Neosporin or Polysporin, to the area and cover it with an adhesive bandage. This will minimize the chance of infection while the skin remains punctured and is especially important if you're still working with soil in the garden. Change the dressing when necessary, such as after showering or if the bandage gets dirty. Reapply the antibiotic cream when you change the bandage.

Most minor thorn injuries will heal by themselves. In some cases, you might need to see a doctor for special medicines. If you notice redness, swelling, itching, or other discomfort in the area of the thorn puncture after a few days, you may need to seek further treatment. Always make sure your tetanus boosters are up to date after a skin wound.

Some infections can take longer to appear. Cutaneous sporotrichosis is a relatively rare fungal infection that can appear between one and 12 weeks after a thorn wound comes into contact with contaminated soil. It can look like a small pink, red, or purple bump that gets bigger and possibly leads to more bumps. Sporotrichosis is usually treated with a months-long course of prescription antifungal cream.

Another problem to look out for, although it is rare in the United States, is mycetoma. There are both fungal (eumycetoma) and bacterial (actinomycetoma) forms of the disease. It starts as a firm, painless bump under the skin and turns into oozing sores that can spread to other parts of the body. It is treated with antibiotics or antifungals, although surgery and amputation may sometimes be necessary.