If you walk barefoot through your yard, you will know instantly if you come into contact with a stinging nettle plant. Stinging nettles have small, hair-like stingers on their leaves, and when they come into contact with human skin they cause an irritated reaction. Your skin will swell and feel painful for a while, but eventualy the stinging will go away on its own. There are ways, though, that you can speed up the pain relief.
Instructions
1. Rub a paste of baking soda and water over the inflamed area. Let it sit on your skin until you experience relief from the pain and itching, which shouldn't take long. Rinse to remove the paste.
2. Apply sticky tape over the inflamed area if some of the spiny nettle hairs are still stuck in your skin. When you peel off the tape, the nettle hairs should be gone; if not, repeat as necessary to remove all of them.
3. Wash your skin with soap and water and pat dry. Avoid rubbing the skin dry, as this will only irritate it further. Then coat your skin with calamine lotion to soothe it; repeat as necessary until the pain and irritation have disappeared.
4. Use "Doc" leaves, otherwise known as Rumex obtusifolia leaves, to soothe your skin. Squeeze the leaves and rub them on your irritated skin; they will release a moist sap that will soothe the pain. This rubbing motion will also help to redistribute the pain, making it less severe in any one area.
Tags: your skin, come into, come into contact, contact with, inflamed area, into contact