Palm Frond Injury - any advice?

buckle

Today whilst working a sharp spur from a palm frond was lodged in my elbow about 2 inches deep. I pulled it out, felt ok and kept working for a few hours then started experiencing great pain and discomfort. Went to a medical centre, given anti-biotics, and told to keep a close eye on it, if worse tomorrow go to a hospital. Any advice guys? Cheers, Buckle.

Done it

Date Palm? Sorry, but your not going to have a good night, and it'll be really stiff & sore in the morning. Did it hit the bone? I hope not, that really hurts.

Jeff Darby

Hi Buckle,
You have had professional advice,You need to listen to them. With an injury like you mentioned imo, you will have some time of pain maybe some pain killers..make sure they mix with your antibiotics.If pain and discomfort persist after a period of healing time has passed return to the doctor for more professional treatment
Think about where the punture is it is moving most of the times,be concious of movement and in the begining only move it when you have to.

Palms have a way of taking revenge...take care it could have just as easy been your eye!
Hope This Helps

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buckle

thanks guys..sore is correct it is f ing killing me..it was a date palm and the spike went straight into my elbow joint 2 inches deep..cheers guys

Done it

A bad one, it'll take a few days. [Yeah a bit more than sore]

Eric Frei

The very tip of many date palm fronds is either yellow looking or dead looking.

I have found a few times that never came out resulting in the doctor having to cut it open, go looking and get it out, then stitch it up. That tip breaks off in there.

Did you see the piece carefully that came out? I hope for your sake it all came out.

Even if the lot came out, yes, like the other guys your in for a shit week. If it's still in, it will buldge and fester in there unless someone digs it out.

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Raven

While going through jungle survival school in Panama we had been warned about Black Palm thorns. A very nasty toxic? thorn. Anyway a general type didn't want to comply with regulation boots for the jungle and he nearly lost his leg from a Black Palm thorn.

Just follow the doctors instructions faithfully (hopefully he/she has some tropical medicine training) .
Good luck!
Raven

StrictlyPalms

Keep an eye out for any red streaking of the tissue around the injury, specifically up the arm this can be a sign of infection and should be looked at by a doc. Joint injuries can be a serious problem down the road if infection sets in, so take extra care and do everything the doc's tell you to.

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buckle

Cheers for all the advice guys. It seems to be getting better, I can actually move my arm now. I'm quite positive the whole spike came up but think I may get an ultrasound just to be sure considering it went into my joint. Thanks again for all the help - really appreciate it.

vitex42

SP is right about the red streaking. Any rash or radiating red lines = visit to doctor.

On another note, Arnica cream /tablets is a naturopathic treatment for inflammation which is brilliant for impact injuries like bruises or haematomas, as well as really good for sprains and other muscular injuries.

I know it's not like what Real Men use but believe me it works well.

Ibuprofen is also great for muscular injuries or inflammation, but not advisable to take anti-inflammatory drugs before you have to climb.....

newguy18

Can't really say much since i've never been injured by a palm frond.

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Bermy

Date Palms...I put an injury premium every time I work on them!
Sounds like you are improving, keep an eye on it, there is a lot going on in the elbow joint....even iff its all out, it will hurt like a bugger for a while

My worst was a multi-stem date, the thorn went right into my elbow from the inside, pinned it, broke off under the skin, couldn't bend my arm! Thank God it missed everything vital, I nearly passed out once I realized where it was, took an hour at the ER to cut it out...no ill effects at all except a rash from the super strong antibiotics they gave me.

The next one went lengthways into my forearm, just under the skin like someone was trying to take blood...ER again

the last was about a month ago, just hand trimming some small Canary Island dates, got pricked in the foot, knee and wrist, nothing major but enough to cause my wrist to have a real painful lump for about a week!

The fronds, twist and turn on the way down and there are so many thorns sometimes you can't avoid them....

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Buckle
If you stop writing then we know you've lost arm! Most of the injuries from phoenix palms tend to be followed by tetanus so make sure you have your backup jabs every five years. Fortunately its a rare occurence but some gardeners who are spiked have died from the spread of tetanus. Now you've seen the quack it'll be sorted.
Sleep tight
JG

joifulone

Hello All, As a native Floridian I have had more than one occasion to get impailed by a palm frond (Reclining Date Palms are the worst for me). I know the pain and swelling associated with such an injury. As a RN, I decided to treat my injury today just as with a wasp or bee sting. I took the trusty Windex (or household ammonia) and sprayed it on the site. It stung for a moment but I thought it was worth a shot. Well guess what, worked like a charm for me. The ammonia counteracts the protein poison me thinks, just like the venom of a wasp or bee. Hope it works as well for you too. Kind Regards, Joi

Hard-as-Stihl

OUCH! yeah bermie i agree with you on adding extra money to the bid on spiky palms. there's just no way to avoid it. your gonna get pricked or stabbed at some point durring the day. most of our phoenix and canary island palms are small and reachable with a ladder or pole saw pruner. i have removed a washingtonian robusta once and added $400 more then my competition because of the added health risk involved. the palm was over 60 feet and had a skirt about 80% down the trunk. my ground crew was constantly going "OUCH" "DANG" " OOH" AHH" OWIE" while chipping. im happy i have 2 guys to chip that stuff for me. i just get to make a bigger mess for them

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I know two guys that both had six months of each from date palms through or under the knee cap, both broke off ,but for some reason the ultrasound and x ray didnt pick them up, my guess is that the palm is close in density to fllesh and so isn't picked up. Both guys needed operations. The amount of bird shit in these things no wonder they get infected. I don't do them unless I am really really really really short of work.

dingo

My friend got pricked by what Im pretty sure was a phoenix palm spike, the tip remained in the wound and he didn't get it checked out, he ended up with septicemia which in turn damaged his heart. The damage is permanent and now he must take medication for the rest of his life, it has had a severe impact on him but at the time he barely noticed, please take care everybody.

metzler

ouch! hope your back to work soon.
puncture wounds are the worst, a friend of mine once gaffed through his boot right into under his ankle, took mos to heal, between the nature of the injury and the introduction of any foreign bacteria, it makes them very dangerous.
glad we dont have that many thorny sp in oregon, we have to watch out for the locusts, thats about it.

vitex42

These palm spines are bastard things. There are lots of them in Cape Town South Africa where I did a lot of tree work. I got about an inch of one thorn break off in my knee, but fortunately it didn't penetrate the kneecap. But it floated around in there until the wound had healed - and I had to push it out through the flesh, grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Not the least painful thing I've done.

My advice is don't climb ON a palm. Use an EPV or even scaffold, keep your distance. Work slowly and whatever you do, grab the fronds WITH the grain, not against the grain...

Alon

I haven't worked with palms for a long time and just a few weeks ago I climbed a date palm. The guy I worked with (who has worked on heaps of them here in Israel) told me to cut all the nasty spikes with my hand clippers. He did this all the time, so on the next visit they were easier to access.

I thought it would take a long time, but it wasn't too bad, and little to no thorny spikes. He also climbed into the head to get the developing fruit. I've never done that previously and it seemed odd at first, but again wasn't too bad after I removed all the spikes. Until how far do you guys normally access palms?

King koala

had one date palm spike go clean through my left index finger, pulled it out but the tip broke off in the finger , really throbbed for days swelled up etc, doc had a go at diggin it out couldn't find it. don't seem to show on x-ray
6 months later pushed itself out to the point i could slice in and pry it out, was 8mm long , puss and stuff followed it.
Have had one go clean through sole of work boot missed all toes.
British medical journal says in rare cases these wounds can become septic arthritis , sounds like fun. Get that tetnus shot.
Tried all kinds of gloves and gauntlets nothing seems to stop them,
would rather not shave another date palm as long as I live but got pay that house off so I go slow and take care when working near the fronds,
possums live in damm things and have lost track of the squewered animals and birds I have seen inside the canopy.
"Nuke em all from orbit just to be sure".