On 09/05/2011 13:50, Charlie Pridham wrote:

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
. fr...
My forearms are covered in horrible red blisters, like lots of burn
wounds, they are a real mess. Three days ago I ran the lawnmower over
some weeds / flowers which where poking through a fence onto the edge
of the lawn. It only knocked over some of the taller weeds so I pulled
them up by hand afterwards wearing leather gloves but bare arms. I
thought nothing of this and continued working in the garden for
several hours. However by the evening my arms were itching and had red
marks. By the following day they were covered in red swollen blisters.
Some long blisters too several inches long, all full of fluid. They
are still a mess and red and itching three days later.

After looking up the symptoms and degree of skin blistering on the web
it is possible the weed could have been a giant hogweed but I don't
remember mowing one of those down. It is likely that running the mower
over the weeds/flowers splattered sap all over them and when I pulling
up the flattened stragglers and carried them in my arms to the compost
bin I probably got my arms coated in sap.


Sounds like Hogweed to me, not neccesarily the giant sort, just ordinary
standard Hogweed, the damaged is made worse if the sap gets on the skin
and then is exposed to sunlight, I have the scars on my hands to this
day of a dose before I realised how damaging it could be.



It is possible, and I continued working in the full sun for several more
hours. There is certainly lots of the ordinary hogweed growing wild
around here. By the look of the burns on my arms I'm likely to be
carrying some of the scars for the rest of my life too! In all the years
I've been gardening the worst I've ever suffered from plants are mild
alergic reactions to runner bean leaves and courgette foliage; the
occasional thorn, prickle, nettle sting and slashes from pampas grass.
This is more like an industrial accident with acid! I don't think it
will warrant a hospital visit, but still quite nasty.

--
David in Normandy.
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