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.....ten minutes into a 70 mile ride, wearing baggies. A six hour ride, half an hour in the bath and my legs are still tingling. The stings have got stings. Tried to MTFU but feel like whimpering like a girl.
you won't like this but if you pissed yourself it would help
and you're lucky, something bit the gf in deepest Surrey last weekend, about a 4 inch diameter circle of slightly raised, red, hardened leg flesh capped with a 1" wide and 1" high (*honest) burn blister of fluid (which took several days of draining via a sharp), a week later it looks like a burn - very weird
*edit -get your own back, take some home and do soup
I didn't do biology so forgive the question...where on the body is 'deepest Surrey'? Sounds very painful...I hope it doesn't scab!
Trying to sleep is gauny be fun!
Antihistamines.... I take em everyday for midge bites/stings
apparently vinegar is the way to go, I have it on the authority of a lot of walkers who face it daily.
#waves at GC#
Nettles have been really potent this year. Everytime I have to move the sheep fence near the hedge I come back with swollen arms from catching myself on nettles. I've got a bit used to them on rides now but it's funny when everyone starts screaming like little girls.
Or lemonjuice. Same thing happened to me yesterday. Scratched myself awake at 5.30 this morning. My legs have just successfully auditioned for a zombie film.
about a 4 inch diameter circle of slightly raised, red, hardened leg flesh capped with a 1" wide and 1" high (*honest) burn blister of fluid (which took several days of draining via a sharp), a week later it looks like a burn - very weird
Sounds like Giant Hogweed
Wus! Could have been worse, could have been a wasp nest you stumbled into...
I once crashed landing in a thicket of brambles and nettles. I knew straight away if I tried to pick myself out gently it'd be agony so I relied on post-crash adrenaline and tore myself out. Not that scratched, but stung to buggery. My skin looked like the surface of a poppadom over 1/3 my body.
Otherwise uninjured though, the thicket was quite springy and soft at the same time as being very scratchy and stingy.
I've been strimming the nettles all summer, I thought I had more of an immunity as my arms have been regularly coated in stingy pulp. I always wear chainsaw trousers when strimming, it's like they knew there was fresh flesh to sting. I'm dreading going to bed.
not sure about Giant Hogweed, I **think** I got done by it a while ago, in my case about a 4"x 4" part of my leg went like it was burnt - lots and lots of little bubble blisters (say from 2 to 5 mm across and high, some of which then joined up), with yellow seeping fluid, took over a week to clear, including medical help.
gf leg had two small puncture wounds, and was a very pronounced single blister so more inclined to think a bite ..., she thought it was a horsefly - as she saw one on her leg, the two on her bum were 'normal' bites (*IMHO) about 1/1.5" circle of red/hard flesh with a small middle raise.
"Nettles have been really potent this year."/"immunity" - agreed. My normal immunuty didn't work this year, I think that if you get nettled when they're growing the sting isn't as bad, and you build up tolerance as the nettles grow, as I can usually just pedal through not too bothered, this year as I didn't really get out in spring and I've found it a bit 'wincy' and my legs have actually scabbed and bled (*not helped by me scratching)
I am surprised at how bad the nettles are given that we are late August. I was stung a lot riding XC loop nr Devils Punchbowl yesterday. But even worse in that part of Surrey is the gorse. It's sharper than ever and all over Thursley Common. I felt like an extra in The Passion of Christ as hands and legs covered in cuts and blood.
Gorse cuts seem weird. A bizarely "nice" ❓ pain, short and sharp, instant blood, then dries very quickly but sore in the shower long after pain and blood has subsided.
I've been thinking of getting long fingered gloves they are so bad this year, I think it's all the rain as everything seems twice as high as normal. I've found that it helps to pedal as hard as possible through them and for the next 10 minutes or so.
Nettles do appear to be stronger this year. I love getting stung by them. That buzz feels great. Especially if you have had a real battering, your whole leg feels like a great big vibrator.
There seem to be lots of little biters around this year as well. My legs are covered in mini bites that really itch after a ride.
Sounds like some of you may be allergic to the countryside..
A butterfly brushed past me yesterday and all my skin fell off into a big steaming heap on the floor..
Nettle rash is caused by formic acid, use something alkaline to neautralise them i.e. a doc leaf.
Yeah, dockleaves, always found nearby to nettles, aren't they? Isnt that the point of them?
😆 @ yunki
I think the nettles have eaten all the dock leaves cos i cant find em anywhere near!
Nettles and brambles are growing better round here this year, its probably the combination of wet and warm weather through most of the summer. I like quiet trails so I get scratched and stung every ride at the moment but, like molgrips said, charging through fast seems to work better than mincing along. I must have a lower pain threshold than some people, by evening its usually settled down to a warm tingle, doesn't keep me awake.
much better than dock leaves is nettle juice. pick some nettles and squeeze the juice out onto the stings
Riding to work, got stung at the top of my arms. The nettles are huge this year. Must be something when I have to wear longer sleeves to avoid being stung.
It's worth carrying a couple of antihistamine tablets for this (& bee/ wasp stings)
Anyone else remember "Day of the Triffids"?
gusamc - Membernot sure about Giant Hogweed, I **think** I got done by it a while ago, in my case about a 4"x 4" part of my leg went like it was burnt - lots and lots of little bubble blisters (say from 2 to 5 mm across and high, some of which then joined up), with yellow seeping fluid, took over a week to clear, including medical help.
The reason Giant Hogweed causes burns is because it makes the affected skin photosensitive, hence the burn blisters. The the sap from the plant that causes it IIRC. Best thing is to keep the affected area covered or at least smother it with sunblock. Had it a few times over the years and generally takes a couple of weeks to sort it out.
This thread is useless without pics....
Is this an opportunity for me to post my usual article about alternative uses for nettles? 😈
It's been almost two years since I last posted it 
There does seem to be a large amount of contradictory advice about nettle stings.
I'm reasonably sure that dock leaves are a placebo, if there's any active ingredient it's the rubbing to dull the pain.
I've seen advice saying "treat with a base such as baking powder as a sting is acidic; if none available, use vinegar instead" which sounds like madness to me. Why would you use acid to treat acidic stings, outside of homeopathic woo?
go for it messiah
I quite liked Bergerac.
And
Midsommer Murders..
Leave John alone and don't pour wee nor citric acid over him (though I do feel rubbing him over with a doc leaf may incur a wry smile...)
As requested by cheese@4p
I hope the OP kept some nettles for later use
WARNING... DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU ARE A BIT SQUEEMISH OR ARE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO LIKES TO WHINGE ABOUT SOMETHING YOU'VE READ AND FIND UNPLEASANT... IT CANNOT BE UNREAD.
The following is based on experience. It is clearly not suitable for any one allergic to stinging nettles. Arm yourself with a pair of thick gloves. Cut down a good quantity of fresh nettles. The best ones are young with pliable stems. A shopping bag full is about fine. Take a nettle and brush it against the head of your penis. If you haven't got an erection so far, this should bring one on. It doesn't hurt much, the sensation is rather good in fact. Brush some more nettles against your penis, the shaft as well. Gradually a rash will appear and little bumps. Keep going. The more you do, the greater the numbing effect so the next bit will be easier. Take a handful of nettles and crush them hard onto your penis. This may hurt, but rub them in well.
You can also take a nettle stalk (which is also covered in stingers) and wrap it around the shaft or behind the head. This is a good way of getting the poison in. Keep going with more nettles. As the poison gets in, the small bumps will join up. This is the desired effect.
As you keep on, the bumps turn into a large all over swelling. The more you do, the greater the swelling until your penis will be stretched real tight, bursting against its skin. I find an increase of about 50% in girth over a normal erection. The sensation is now between pain and pleasure. The nettles hurt, but the penis becomes super sensitive. As you go on the sensitivity will increase. Eventually you will reach the point where the sensitivity takes over from the pain.
Now your penis will start throbbing, but each throb will bring you closer and closer to orgasm. You can try to resist it, but it can be hard because chances are you will come without even touching your penis, the throbbing doing the job for you. The orgasm is intense - as much pain as pleasure. After orgasm you may remain quite erect, and a second spontaneous orgasm is possible within a very short time.
When finally flaccid, the penis will retain its girth but shorten, creating a massive, heavy weight swinging between your legs. The sensation will have gone, leaving your penis very numb to the touch.
A really weird feeling. Gradually - very gradually, the swelling will go down, but a huge lump may hang below the frenum for some time – a day or more. Now the skin has been so stretched it is very sore, and the sensation may make sleep difficult. Over the next few days the skin may start to peel off in a thin layer, leaving a new layer of soft skin underneath. Whether there is any permanent increase in size I couldn't say, but I guess the effect should be the same as a pump, if from the inside rather than the out.
Rubbing the stinging nettles into the scrotum and the anus can produce a good feel, but there is no swelling in the same way as the penis. You can also try filling your pants with nettles and taking a train ride. To do this, wear two pairs of pants, slip penis and scrotum through the fly of the first, and wrap over them a plastic bag full of nettles tied on loose with a rubber band. Try keeping a straight face as you walk, jog, cycle or ride a bumpy train.
😯
😆
Nothing more to add.
How long before thats gone?
I didn't even dare read that.
10, 9, 8, 7....
...this forum is a fountain of all sorts of knowledge, but I wasn't expecting that!!
Well mcmoonter didn't mention what he was or wasn't wearing at the time 😈
But there really was no need for that! 😯
That "encounter" is quite shocking.
Can't be true can it?
😯
😯
Holy sheeet! who discovered that?
Stone the crows, that was unexpected - perhaps we should rename the forum "single track mind"
"He is not the messiah he is a very naughty boy "...
Sometimes it's best not to read some posts, regrettably, I didn't take my own advice 😯
Well mcmoonter didn't mention what he was or wasn't wearing at the time
For the avoidance of doubt, the only flesh I had exposed to stinging was below the knee and above the ankle.
Proof positive that no niche is too niche for STW.
I await publication of [i]Fifty shades of flora britannica[/i].