Goathead injuries?

Just recently i was stabbed in the finger by a goathead, for the next few days, the joint around the area that was stabbed was stiff and swolen feeling, do goatheads have poison in them or did the injury site just become infected or something.

Drew, I have had the same thing happen. (Only on my foot) I did a quick search on-line and find no mention of goat-heads being toxic.

Most sites just talk about bicycle flats and such.

My theory until I find out something different is that I have an allergic reaction that may not be common to everyone.

Meanwhile I will try to avoid them the best I can. Hubby tends to track them into the house on his shoes. I try to encourage him to leave the shoes on the step.

Goathead isn't poisonous unless you eat the plant itself- the prickly seedheads are used medicinally in parts of India. If you poked yourself in a joint, it may have gotten stiff and sore simply from the injury. It may also have gotten infected- hard to say without looking at it. You also say it was stiff and swollen, not that it still is, so I'm thinking it was just sore from the injury and it was your body's way of getting you to give it a rest. Most minor poking injuries like that do get sore at the spot, but they don't tend to get infected if you keep things clean otherwise. The body is pretty good at keeping things like that under control. But you don't poke holes in your parts without aggrivating something, and the soreness and swollen feeling is a pretty natural reaction to it, even without infection. Part of it is due to the natural healing process which brings increased blood supply to the area to do the healing, and preventing you from wanting to move the area while it does. Unless you are still having problems, I doubt you have much to worry about. If it is still sore or you see signs of infection, then you probably should have it looked at. Otherwise, be grateful it was a finger and not your foot. Goatheads can puncture bike tires and the soles of some shoes.