Watch out for this plant next time you are out in nature.
Stinging nettle is a common plant of the Rocky Mountains and North America. Here is a little bit of information about this plant, including why you should avoid it, how to identify it, and treatment.
The Rocky Mountains and all of nature is fun to explore with your family. However, as I talked about in a past post, there are some plants you should try to avoid because they can cause pain or a rash. Stinging nettle is one of those plants that you need to watch our for because it can be quite painful.
How Do You Identify Stinging Nettle?
This plant can be found throughout the Rockies and North America. There are several different species of it, some of which grow in Europe, Asia, and North America.
It most often can be found growing in ditches, along streams, and in the lower elevations of the mountains.
It grows in clusters of plants that can be up to 5 feet tall. The leaves are opposite, ovate shaped, have a pointed tip, and have a toothed edge (read this old post about leaf description).
Stinging nettle often grows in clusters of plants.
What Happens If You Touch Stinging Nettle?
If you are unfortunate enough to touch or walk by stinging nettle then you may feel the pain. The plant is covered in small hairs on its leaves and stems. These hairs will inject an irritant under your skin that can cause pain.
You may also feel a burning sensation or itching. Sometimes it may even cause some blisters or swelling.
The leaf is pointed and the edges are toothed or jagged.
How Do You Treat Stinging Nettle?
Fortunately, most of the time you don’t need to seek medical attention to treat this. The pain, irritation and other problems will go away over time. However, as with everything there is a chance you can have an allergic reaction to it. If you find severe pain or swelling you should seek medical help.
You can and should do a couple of things to treat the area yourself as soon as you can after encountering the plant. One of the first things you should do is to wash the area with soap and water.
To help alleviate the pain and swelling you can try to put a paste made of baking soda and water on the area.
Also, similarly to poison ivy treatment, don’t take a hot bath and don’t itch the area.