Every summer get at least a couple kina spikes in the hands and fingers. Just take off the glove see where it is and if its still got some protruding from the skin pull it out with my teeth, have to be gentle though as they do break easy. If it's broken flush wait till we get out and use the old mans trick, open a kina get the eye and break it apart and they have some long thin parts ideal for the procedure.

I have had my fair share of kina spines.  Some get infected and some don't.  Sometimes I get swelling or itchyness and othertimes I don't.  

A big rock, Tom. A big rock.

I came back from a spearing trip with a pretty swollen area at the base of a finger, and VERY painful, and very quick onset. Went to an A&E, the doctor there was very worried, immediately dosed me up and referred me to Middlemore plastics. Supposedly there is a not uncommon occurrence of cray (mainly, i think due to technique) spines being just the right depth to pierce the layer around bones/ tendons, and the bacteria can multiply and infect so quickly that within hours you will be in agony and it could cause permanent damage.

It was X-rayed at Middlemore (2am at this stage), the plastic surgeon said that it wasn't what the A&E doctor thought it was, no infection, just muscular damage. He was surprised at how painful it was and how quickly it came up as that is indicative of what the A&E doctor thought it was, except he said that if it was that, it would have been so painful I would have probably punched anyone who touched it.

Turns out the A&E doctor knew just enough to overreact haha, better that than the other way I guess.

Sorry i can't remember the type of injury they thought it was.

Chaff

ceramic wrote: I have had my fair share of kina spines.  Some get infected and some don't.  Sometimes I get swelling or itchyness and othertimes I don't.   Like a lot of other divers I have thought about toxins, surface bacteria/ biofilms, allergins etc on the kina spines but what makes it really confusing is that only the occasional spine really flares up even when spiked in multiple places.  I suspect the response to kina spines is due to a number of factors rather than a single cause. One other explanation nobody has discussed is that the kina spine could innoculate bacteria under the skin.  Considering an open cell suit is a breeding ground for bacteria (well mine is anyway) a spine could carry this bacteria with it. Sometimes even after getting a spine out infections dont clear up until you finally get out a last tiny little speck of black stuff.  I have often wondered if that speck could be a bacteria laden fragment of neoprene carried by the spine.

I also used a rock.. A BIG rock, but I hit a kina on a adjacent rock on the way down to hte burley..Spike went into the outer joint of the thumb. This was sore for a few weeks but thought nothing was in there anymore.. Until my joint started going stiff and I couldn't even hold my beer. That was when I decided to go to the doctor. They did some ultrasound, which didn't show anything. Then some Xray, which didn't really show anything other than a small hole in the bone close to the joint.

Speromedic- You might not have to wait as long as you think. I have the same gloves. Kevlar is great for crays and longevity, but kina spines seem to go straight through (I just dug the proof out of my little finger).

I had one in my finger, Took a while to go get it checked as assumed would work it's way out. instead it worked it's way right into the joint. Just visible with the right direction xray. Doc said they would need to take my finger off to get to it. No guarantee it wouldn't be permanently damaged in the process so more than 12 months later pain and inflammation got better, Took ages for my body to dissolve it. 30+ years later and knuckle is still fat and I can "lock" it.