Let me begin this post by saying I am not a smart man.
Okay, so I was walking my dog this morning when we stumbled into an overgrown field of stinging nettle, known in Germany as, “die Brennnessel.” We’d spent the previous hour navigating a narrow trail — roughly the width of my foot — lined on both sides with this evil shit. My exposed shins had already been brushed a dozen times by a few uppity leaves, and I was sick of being stung by them. Turning around was not an option. So, I switched my camera on and recorded myself attempting to leap over the nettle to a safe, clear, wonderful patch of dirt.
It did not go well.
*** WARNING: Video contains a little bit of swearing. Just a smidge. ***
And here are a few pictures of the aftermath: burning, itching, stinging and swelling — followed by the gradual diminishing of the rash — and me switching back to my “indoor” voice as I continued to swear like a sailor with the clap.
Please click one of the images to start the slideshow:
Doesn’t hurt anymore, but even as I type this — several hours after the incident — my shins still have that pins and needles sensation, like when you sit on the pooper for too long and both your legs fall asleep.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!
— OGM
Oh God, My Wife Is German. 
Here in Turkey, we actually make soups out of these. My grandparents and my family would sometimes meet up and collect these for a soup. With. Their. Bare. Hands. And would tell me to collect them as well. I was pretty young at the time so I still remember my first sting. No warning, no nothing, just my mom saying “yo son, go collect those and put them in the bag”. I brushed my hand on them and, well, you can guess what happened. Idk, they are immune to the pain I guess, they forgot they even stung so they were like “what happened”. So yeah, I am all too familiar with that pain mate.
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Haw haw! Woah. I’m impressed. Did your hands ever become accustomed to the sting?
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I was looking up stinging nettle as a remedy for allergies when I ran across your blog. You have my profound sympathy, and thanks for the warning — but you can’t blame Germany for it. It’s all over the States and Canada, too. Wikipedia: “… it is now found worldwide, including New Zealand and North America.”
I’m going out to find some now, and I’ll definitely try to profit from your experience. I’m wearing long pants and taking gloves.
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Nice! I’d never heard of it being used for allergies. It makes for a pretty good tea though.
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