Is it really true that the recommended way to remove KC thorns is to use duct tape? As far as I can tell, deeply imbedded (for 7 weeks now) osage orange thorns are wholly unaffected by this home remedy. But as a depilatory means, it may be unsurpassed.

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), January 16, 2000

Answers

Now that would explain it! If you had only said earlier you were talking about osage orange thorns! Those and the thorny locust thorns are simply not removeable by any means known to modern man. OKers know better than to get stuck with that problem. My advice - don't attempt to remove the thorns because this will only make them worse and risk a secondary infection, possibly gangrene. You must wait 12-18 months for the thorns to be reabsorbed into your skin.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), January 17, 2000.

Osage orange? You mean those long thorns that come off the trees? I ran over one once when on a long run outside of Lawrence. A kindly passerby took me to the campus hospital ER where surgery with pliers quickly ensued. I would guess that if there is nothing for the pliers to grab on that you would need to cut back a few layers of skin to make this possible. The smaller thorns will eventually, over the course of months, be exfoliated. But the larger ones, if not attended to, will NOT be absorbed and could lead to infection, gangrene and having to look forward to trail o' events. We learn how to be tough here in Kansas. (Think about what our summer season is like!)

-- Fritz Menninger (fpmenninger@hotmail.com), January 22, 2000.