We're supposed to go on a section hike this upcoming weekend... Can I heal up in time?
Yesterday afternoon I stepped on what I casually assumed was a sweet gum ball beside our driveway. After a bit of research I've learned that it's a Chinese chestnut. You see that super prickly thing on the left? Yes, that's it. No, it's not soft. At all.
I've been barefoot all over our yard many times and never even seen these boogers before. But this time I hit the jackpot. It looked like I'd stepped on a porcupine. Scores of half-inch spines stuck in the tenderest areas of my right foot, and a few dozen elsewhere and on my left foot. I raked a bunch of them off, and hobbled towards the house. A dear friend spent 45 minutes with a needle, tweezers, magnifying glass, and bright flashlight digging out the "easy" ones. Photo below is 24 hours later while daughter was busy pulling out several more. Every speck you see is a spine. The faint ones are where it broke off under the skin. That kind requires deeper more aggressive exploration with the needle. While both ladies were gentle as can be, I have done enough flinching to last me a whole year.
So I thought maybe I'd go to a walk-in clinic tomorrow with my story and my tree specimens and beg somebody with some local anesthetic to give it a go. Anybody ever dealt with a situation like this? Will the clinic just tell me to go home and wait for them to "work themselves out"? What should I do? I can't hike like this. I can barely limp around the house.