A cactus thorn stuck in the skin can be a very painful and troubling experience for some time. People who have stepped on cactus thorns, in some cases, have had to wait an entire year before being able to pull the cactus thorn out. This is because, at some point, the normal process of skin renewal will force the needle to protrude from the skin where it can be manually pulled out, unless it is pushed back in again. Most would not wait this long and will run into the emergency room to have some minor surgery done.
Ideally, when anything punctures and lodges itself in the skin, the only thing to do is to remove it from the skin. Injuries from glass pieces stuck in the foot tend to require a bit more attention, squeezing, and the deft use of blade to remove any shards stuck in the foot. However, there are some wounds where the material that has punctured the skin is left deep in the skin. This can be a dangerous condition and could damage some internal organs. Like in the case of some bullet wounds, rather than surgically going in and cutting away tissue, your doctor might just advise leaving the bullet in the skin. In time, the bullet will be disinfected by the white blood cells of the skin. The bullet will then be slowly sent to the surface of the skin from where it can be simply yanked out. Cactus thorn stabbings are a bit more complicated. Once a thorn goes into your skin, it could be lodged in way that you can’t get a grip on it. Leaving a thorn like this inside the tissue can be painful because the sharp end is still in the skin and with a push, can even go further into the skin.
Removing a thorn immediately will require some nerves, tweezers, and a sterile blade. Take some rubbing alcohol and wipe the area of the wound clean. Sterilize the blade as well and then make a straight cut into the skin, which is deep enough to cause bleeding. Wipe away the blood and feel for the thorn with the tweezers. When you locate it, pull the skin apart, grip the needle tightly, and simply pull it out of the skin slowly. Pour some more alcohol over the wound and bandage it up after this.